Introduction to the German Alphabet
The German alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet. It contains 26 main letters, from A to Z, which are the same as in English. In addition to these, German has four special characters: Ä, Ö, Ü (called umlauts) and ß (called Eszett or sharp S). These special letters affect pronunciation and meaning. German pronunciation is mostly phonetic, which means words are usually pronounced as they are written, making reading easier for learners.
German Alphabet Pronunciation
German Letters with English Pronunciation Guide
A – ah
B – bay
C – tsay
D – day
E – eh
F – ef
G – gay
H – hah
I – ee
J – yot
K – kah
L – el
M – em
N – en
O – oh
P – pay
Q – koo
R – air (rolled in speech)
S – es
T – tay
U – oo
V – fow
W – vay
X – ix
Y – oopsilon
Z – tset
Special Letters
Ä – eh / ae
Ö – like “ir” in bird (rounded lips)
Ü – like “ee” with rounded lips
ß – ss (sharp S)
ADMIN OF GERMAN LANGUAGE - RAKIDU GIMHAN