German Alphabet & Pronunciation

The German alphabet has the same 26 letters as English, but several of them are pronounced completely differently once you say them out loud, plus three umlauts (ä, ö, ü) and one letter English doesn't have at all: ß. Tap play on any entry to hear it, then use the sound-combination guides below to handle the parts a plain letter list can't cover, like ch, sch, and ei.

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pronounced "a": ah (/aː/)

pronounced "be": beh (/beː/)

pronounced "ce": tseh (/tseː/)

pronounced "de": deh (/deː/)

pronounced "e": eh (/eː/)

pronounced "ef": ef (/ɛf/)

pronounced "ge": geh (/geː/)

pronounced "ha": hah (/haː/)

pronounced "i": ee (/iː/)

pronounced "jot": yot (/jɔt/)

pronounced "ka": kah (/kaː/)

pronounced "el": el (/ɛl/)

pronounced "em": em (/ɛm/)

pronounced "en": en (/ɛn/)

pronounced "o": oh (/oː/)

pronounced "pe": peh (/peː/)

pronounced "ku": koo (/kuː/)

pronounced "er": er (throaty, from the back of the throat) (/ɛʁ/)

pronounced "es": es (/ɛs/)

pronounced "te": teh (/teː/)

pronounced "u": oo (/uː/)

pronounced "fau": fow (rhymes with 'how') (/faʊ/)

pronounced "we": veh (/veː/)

pronounced "ix": iks (/ɪks/)

pronounced "ypsilon": üp-see-lon (/ʏpsilɔn/)

pronounced "zet": tset (/tsɛt/)

like the 'e' in 'bed', held a bit longer (/ɛː/). No German keyboard? Type "ae" instead.

say 'ur' (as in 'fur') with rounded, pushed-forward lips (/øː/). No German keyboard? Type "oe" instead.

say 'ee' while rounding your lips like you're about to whistle (/yː/). No German keyboard? Type "ue" instead.

a sharp, unvoiced 's' sound (/ɛsˈtsɛt/). No German keyboard? Type "ss" instead.

The Two Sounds of "V"

German "v" can sound like an English "f" (Vater, father) or like an English "w" (Vase, vase). The "w" pronunciation is reserved for loanwords, and only when the "v" starts a word or syllable. At the end of a word or syllable, "v" is always pronounced like "f" (brav, kreativ).

Rare Letters

"Q", "X", and "Y" are uncommon in native German words. When they do appear, it's almost always in a loanword: Quadrat (from Latin), Xylofon (from Greek), Yoga (from Sanskrit).

Why German Capitalizes So Many Words

Unlike English, German capitalizes every noun, not just proper nouns, so ordinary sentences are full of capital letters mid-sentence (e.g. der Tisch, die Zeit, das Buch).

Letters Are Grammatically Neuter

Even though "letter" itself is masculine (der Buchstabe), each individual letter is treated as a neuter noun: das A, das B, das C.

The German Spelling Alphabet

To spell a name aloud clearly (e.g. over the phone), Germany uses an official city-based spelling alphabet set by the German Institute for Standardization, similar in purpose to English "Alpha, Bravo, Charlie". For example, spelling "Julia" as J wie Jena, U wie Unna, L wie Leipzig, I wie Ingelheim, A wie Aachen.

Regional Differences

Of the three main German-speaking countries, only Germany and Austria use ß. Switzerland replaces it with "ss" everywhere. Letter names can also vary slightly by region (e.g. "j" is sometimes pronounced /jeː/ in southern Germany, Austria, and Switzerland).

Total Letter Count

Because of how umlauts and ß are counted, the German alphabet is sometimes described as having 26 letters and sometimes as having up to 30. Both are correct depending on whether umlauts/ß are treated as separate letters or variants.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many letters are in the German alphabet?+

The German alphabet has 26 base letters, the same as English. Add the three umlauts (ä, ö, ü) and the Eszett (ß), and it's sometimes described as having up to 30 characters. Both counts are correct, depending on whether umlauts and ß are treated as separate letters or as variants of existing ones.

What are umlauts in German?+

Umlauts are the two dots placed over a, o, and u (ä, ö, ü), and they change both the vowel's pronunciation and, often, the word's entire meaning (zählen "to count" vs. zahlen "to pay"). They're not optional accents; leaving them off is a spelling mistake.

How do you type ä, ö, ü, and ß without a German keyboard?+

Use the standard keyboard substitutes: ae for ä, oe for ö, ue for ü, and ss for ß. Native German software and most websites accept these interchangeably with the accented forms.

Does ß ever appear at the start of a word?+

No. The Eszett (ß) only ever appears in the middle or at the end of a German word, never as the first letter.

Is ß used in Switzerland?+

No. Switzerland replaces ß with ss everywhere, so Swiss German spells "Straße" (street) as "Strasse". Germany and Austria are the only countries that still use ß.