Good to know
German is mostly written the way it sounds — once you know a letter's sound, you can read almost any word aloud correctly. The tricky part for English speakers is that several letters sound different than you'd expect, and German adds four extra characters: ä, ö, ü, and ß. Tap any letter to hear it.
The German Alphabet — Das Alphabet
LetterSaid asSounds like
aa[ah]like 'a' in "father"
ää[eh]like 'e' in "bed" — special to German
bbe[beh]like English 'b'
ctse[tseh]like 'ts' in "cats"
dde[deh]like English 'd'
ee[eh]like 'e' in "bed" (held longer)
fef[eff]like English 'f'
gge[geh]like hard 'g' in "go"
hha[hah]like English 'h'
ii[ee]like 'ee' in "see"
jjot[yot]like English 'y' in "yes" ⚠️
kka[kah]like English 'k'
lel[ell]like English 'l'
mem[emm]like English 'm'
nen[enn]like English 'n'
oo[oh]like 'o' in "go"
öö[ur]round your lips saying 'e' — no English match ⚠️
ppe[peh]like English 'p'
qku[koo]always with 'u' after it — sounds like "kv" ⚠️
rer[air]throat 'r' — softer than English 'r' ⚠️
ses[ess]like 's', but 'z' before a vowel ⚠️
tte[teh]like English 't'
uu[oo]like 'oo' in "moon"
üü[ew]round your lips saying 'ee' — like French 'u' ⚠️
vvau[fow]sounds like English 'f' ⚠️
wwe[veh]sounds like English 'v' ⚠️
xiks[icks]like English 'x'
yüpsilon[ip-si-lon]like German ü
ztset[tset]like 'ts' in "cats"
ßEszett[ess-tset]sharp 's' — same sound as "ss" ⚠️
Spelling Words Aloud — Buchstabieren
In German exams — and real life, like on the phone or at a hotel desk — you'll often be asked to spell your name or a word letter by letter. Tap to hear each word spoken normally.
WordSpelled outMeaning
☀️Tagte — a — geday
📖Buchbe — u — tse — habook
🏠Hausha — a — u — eshouse
🪪Nameen — a — em — ename