Das deutsche Alphabet
German uses the same 26 letters as English, plus four extra characters. Once you know the sounds, German is highly phonetic — what you see is what you say.
Die vier Sonderzeichen — The Four Special Characters
DeutschEnglish
ä
like 'e' in 'bed' — Mädchen (girl), Käse (cheese)
ö
like 'er' with rounded lips — schön (beautiful), Öl (oil)
ü
like 'ee' with rounded lips — über (over), Tür (door)
ß (Eszett)
sharp 'ss' sound — Straße (street), heißen (to be called)
💡 Can't type an umlaut? Write ae, oe, ue instead. ß becomes ss. These substitutions are widely accepted in informal writing.
Wichtige Buchstaben — Key Letter Sounds
DeutschEnglish
W
sounds like English V — Wasser sounds like 'Vasser'
V
sounds like English F — Vater sounds like 'Fater'
J
sounds like English Y — ja sounds like 'ya'
Z
sounds like 'ts' — zehn sounds like 'tsehn'
ei
sounds like 'eye' — Eis (ice), drei (three)
ie
sounds like 'ee' — wie (how), sie (she/they)
eu / äu
sounds like 'oy' — neu (new), Häuser (houses)
ch
after a/o/u: throaty 'kh'; after i/e: soft 'sh' hiss
Buchstabieren — Spelling Out Loud
Germans spell names on the phone and at reception desks all the time. Each letter has a standard phonetic name you must learn.
DeutschEnglish
A — Anton
B — Berta C — Cäsar D — Dora
E — Emil
F — Friedrich G — Gustav H — Heinrich
I — Ida
J — Julius K — Kaufmann L — Ludwig
M — Martha
N — Nordpol O — Otto P — Paula
Q — Quelle
R — Richard S — Samuel T — Theodor
U — Ulrich
V — Viktor W — Wilhelm X — Xanthippe
Y — Ypsilon
Z — Zacharias
Mein NameistMüller.
ENMy name is Müller.
Ich buchstabiere:M-Ü-L-L-E-R
ENI spell: M-Ü-L-L-E-R
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