German Alphabet

The German alphabet has 26 letters (A-Z) plus 4 additional letters: ä, ö, ü (Umlauts) and ß (Eszett). Below you can see how each letter is pronounced.

A

ah

B

beh

C

tseh

D

deh

E

eh

F

eff

G

geh

H

hah

I

ee

J

yot

K

kah

L

ell

M

emm

N

enn

O

oh

P

peh

Q

koo

R

err

S

ess

T

teh

U

oo

V

fau

W

veh

X

iks

Y

üpsilon

Z

tsett

Ä

eh (like bed)

Ö

eu (like bird)

Ü

ü (like see with rounded lips)

ß

ss

Tips

The Umlauts (ä, ö, ü) are very important for pronunciation and meaning.
ß is only used after long vowels or diphthongs and sounds like “ss”.
Practice by saying each letter aloud and gradually try spelling simple German words.

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