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german Alphabet detail

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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
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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
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