Purpose
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to pronounce the German alphabet correctly, including the three umlauts and the eszett, which do not exist in English.
Lesson Explanation
German uses the same 26 letters as English, plus four genuinely distinct additional characters:
ä — a fronted "a" sound, similar to the "e" in "bed": Mädchen ö — a rounded vowel with no direct English equivalent: schön ü — a rounded vowel with no direct English equivalent: müde ß (eszett) — pronounced like a sharp "s": Straße
A genuinely important, specific detail: ß is never used at the start of a word, and in some contexts (particularly in Switzerland) is replaced entirely with ss — Straße and Strasse can both be seen, depending on regional convention.
German consonants also differ genuinely from English in specific ways: w is pronounced like the English “v” (was sounds like “vahs”), while v is usually pronounced like the English “f” (Vater sounds like “fah-ter”).
Practice Questions
1. How many letters does the standard English/German shared alphabet have?
View Answer
26
2. Name one of the three German umlauts.
View Answer
Any of: ä, ö, ü.
3. What is the eszett character?
View Answer
ß
4. How is “ß” pronounced?
View Answer
Like a sharp “s.”
5. Is “ß” ever used at the start of a word?
View Answer
No.
6. What can “ß” be replaced with, particularly in Switzerland?
View Answer
ss
7. How is the German “w” typically pronounced?
View Answer
Like the English “v.”
8. How is the German “v” typically pronounced?
View Answer
Like the English “f.”
9. How would “was” sound to an English speaker, given German “w” pronunciation?
View Answer
Like “vahs.”
10. How would “Vater” sound to an English speaker, given German “v” pronunciation?
View Answer
Like “fah-ter.”
11. Give a word from this lesson using the umlaut “ö.”
View Answer
schön
12. Give a word from this lesson using the umlaut “ü.”
View Answer
müde