das Alphabet The German Alphabet and Its Sounds Buchstabe Letter Aussprache Pronunciation Aa ah ab (from), der Apparat (appliance, phone) Ää ay der Äther (ether), die Fähre (ferry) Bb bay bei (at, near), das Buch (book) Cc say die City (downtown), der Computer Dd day durch (through), dunkel (dark) Ee ay elf (eleven), wer (who), er (he) Ff eff faul (lazy), der Feind (enemy) Gg gay das Gehirn (brain), gleich (same, equal) Hh haa die Hand (hand), halb (half) Ii eeh der Igel (hedgehog), immer (always) Jj yot das Jahr (year), jung (young) Kk kah der Kalender (calendar), kennen (know) Ll ell Mm emm mein (my), der Mann (man) Nn enn die Nacht (night), nein (no), nicht (not) Oo oh das Ohr (ear), die Oper (opera) Öö ooh Österreich (Austria), öfters (once in a while) Pp pay das Papier (paper), positiv (positive) Qq koo die Quelle (source), quer (crossways) Rr err das Rathaus (city hall), rechts (right) Ss ess die Sache (matter), das Salz (salt), seit (since) Beispiele / Examples langsam (slow, slowly), die Leute (people) Lower case only. Replaces "ss" in some words. Not used in Swiss German. groß (big, great), die Straße (street) BUT: das Wasser (water), dass (that), muss (must) ß ess-zett (s-z ligature) Tt tay der Tag (day), das Tier (animal) Uu ooh die U-Bahn (subway, metro), unter (below) Üü uyuh Vv fow der Vater (father), vier (four) Ww vay wenn (if, whenever), die Woche (week) Xx ixx x-mal (umpteen), das Xylofon über (over, about), die Tür (door) Moin Uddin Ahmed – SPEAK GERMAN IN A MONTH – 0300 399 2006 germanFreeEducation@gmail.com 1 Yy oop-seelohn Zz zett der Yen (yen), der Typ (type) zahlen (pay), die Pizza, zu (to, too) Diphthongs Diphthong Double Vowels Aussprache Pronunciation Beispiele / Examples ai / ei eye bei (at, near), das Ei (egg), der Mai (May) au ow auch (also), das Auge (eye), aus (out of) eu / äu oy Häuser (houses), Europa (Europe), neu (new) ie eeh bieten (offer), nie (never), Sie (you) Grouped Consonants Buchstabe Consonant Aussprache Pronunciation Beispiele / Examples ck k ch >> After a, o, u and au, pronounced like the guttural ch in Scottish "loch" - das Buch (book), auch (also). Otherwise it is a palatal sound as in: mich (me), welche (which), wirklich (really). TIP: If no air is passing over your tongue when you say a ch-sound, you aren't saying it correctly. No true equivalent in English. Although ch doesn't usually have a hard k sound, there are exceptions: Chor, Christoph, Chaos, Orchester, Wachs (wax) pf pf Both letters are (quickly) pronounced as a combined puff-sound: das Pferd (horse), der Pfennig. If this is difficult for you, an f sound will work, but try to do it! ph f das Alphabet, phonetisch - Some words formerly spelled with ph are now spelled with f: das Telefon, das Foto qu kv die Qual (anguish, torture), die Quittung (receipt) sch sh schön (pretty), die Schule (school) - The German sch combination is never split, whereas sh usually is (Grashalme, Gras/Halme; but die Show, a foreign word). sp / st shp / sht At the start of a word, the s in sp/st has a sch sound as in English "show, she." sprechen (speak), stehen (stand) th t dick (fat, thick), der Schock (shock) das Theater (tay-AHTER), das Thema (TAY-muh), topic - Always sounds like a t (TAY). NEVER has the English th sound! Moin Uddin Ahmed – SPEAK GERMAN IN A MONTH – 0300 399 2006 germanFreeEducation@gmail.com 2 Letters in Words Spelling Aussprache Pronunciation Beispiele / Examples final b p Lob (LOHP) final d t Freund (FROYNT), Wald (VALT) final g k genug (guh-NOOK) silent h - gehen (GAY-en), sehen (ZAY-en) When h follows a vowel, it is silent. When it precedes a vowel (Hund), the h is pronounced. German th t Theorie (TAY-oh-ree) German v f Vater (FAHT-er) In some foreign, non-Germanic words with v, the v is pronounced as in English: Vase (VAH-suh), Villa (VILL-ah) German w v Wunder (VOON-der) German z ts Zeit (TSITE), like ts in "cats"; never like an English soft z (as in "zoo") Similar Words Pronunciation Pitfalls Wort Word Aussprache Pronunciation Comments Bombe bomb BOM-buh The m, b, and e are all heard Genie genius zhuh-NEE The g is soft, like the s sound in "leisure" Nation nation NAHT-see-ohn Papier paper pah-PEER The German -tion suffix is pronounced TSEE-ohn Stress on the last syllable Moin Uddin Ahmed – SPEAK GERMAN IN A MONTH – 0300 399 2006 germanFreeEducation@gmail.com 3