The German alphabet is more or less like English. They have only four more letters (Ä, Ö, Ü and ß). One problem you encounter is the different pronunciation of the letter though there are also several sounds in the German letter or two letter combination. There is also a long and short version of German vowels, A, E, I, O, U and Ä, Ö, Ü. Take a look at the following alphabet table.
Read the syllabus of Level A – Elementary use of German Language
In this post, I am sharing the writing the Pronunciation of Alphabets only (Combination of alphabets is not discussed).
Unique Characteristics of the German Alphabet
- More than 26 letters in the alphabet – German has a so-called extended Latin alphabet
The extra letters are ä, ö, ü and ß - The pronunciation of some of these letters do not exist in the English language
Several letters are pronounced more from the back of the throat: g, ch, r (though in Austria the r is trilled). - The W in German sounds like the V in English
- The V in German sounds like the F in English
- Most of the time the S in German sounds like Z in English when placed at the beginning of a word followed by a vowel.
- The letter ß will never appear at the beginning of a word.
List of German Alphabet with Pronunciation
Das Deutsche Alphabet (The German Alphabet)
| Buchstabe/ Letter | Aussprache des Buchstabenamens/ Pronunciation of letter name | Aussprache des Buchstaben – wie in/ Sound of Letter – as in |
| A a | ah | astronaut |
| B b | approximate: bay | baby |
| C c | approximate: tsay | creative, Celcius (soft c sound in German sounds like ts) |
| D d | approximate: day | dollar |
| E e | approximate: ay | elegant |
| F f | eff | effort |
| G g | approximate: gay | gorgeous |
| H h | haa | hammer |
| I i | eeh | Igor |
| J j | yot | yellow |
| K k | kah | camel |
| L l | ell | love |
| M m | em | man |
| N n | en | nice |
| O o | oh | oven |
| P p | approximate: pay | party |
| Q q | koo | coral |
| R r | approximate: er | rich |
| S s | es | zoo, shine, mouse |
| T t | approximate: tay | tyrant |
| U u | ooh | ou sound in you |
| V v | fow | father |
| W w | approximate: vay | van |
| X x | ix | sounds like kz |
| Y y | uep-si-lohn | yellow |
| Z z | tset | sounds like ts |
Umlaut + ß
| Buchstabe/ Letter | Aussprache des Buchstabenamens/ Pronunciation of letter name | Aussprache des Buchstaben – wie in/ Sound of Letter – as in |
| Ä ä | aah | sounds similar to the e in melon |
| Ö ö | ohh | sounds similar to the i in girl |
| Ü ü | uhh | no equivalent nor approximate sound in English |
| ß | ess set | double s sound |
I want to share a beautiful Song (RAP SONG) for children to Learn and known German Alphabet. Even I like to hear this song: Enjoy
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