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 Pronunciation Alphabet        

Alphabet

Here is the German alphabet with audio files, as always. There are also some example words you can listen to. Just click on the little button in front of the respective letter or word.

To learn more about pronunciation, click the sites under the topic "Phonetic Script".

Letter Script Pronunciation Rules Example Words
         
  a [a:] long:
 Tag m (day)
also in front of a lengthening h:
 Zahn m (tooth)
   
short in front of double consonants: Mann m (man)
  and in front of grouped consonants: Katze f (female cat)
        acht (eight)
         
         
  b [be:] spoken b at beginning and in the middle: blau (blue),
  sieben (seven)
   
spoken p at the end: gelb (yellow)
     
         
  c [tse:] spoken ts or s in front of light vowels (e, i): City f (downtown)
     
spoken k in front of dark vowels (a, o, u): Computer m (computer)
         
         
 d [de:] spoken d at the beginning and in the middle:
 Dienstag m (Tuesday)
  Kinder nt pl (children)
   
spoken t at the end: Kind nt (child)
         
         
 e [e:] long:
 Eva
also in front of a lengthening h: zehn (ten)
   
short in front of double consonants: kennen (to know)
and in front of grouped consonants:
 elf (eleven)
        Netz nt (net, web)
         
         
  f [ɛf] always spoken f: fünf (five)
         
         
  g [ge:] spoken g at the beginning and in the middle: gelb (yellow)
  mögen (to like)
   
spoken k at the end: Tag m (day)
         
         
  h [ha:] spoken at the beginning: Hamburg
   
not spoken in the middle (lengthening h): verstehen (to understand)
        ihr versteht (you pl understand)
         
         
  i [i:] long: in combination with e=ie:
 sieben (seven)
or in front of a lengthening h: ihn (him)
   
short in front of double consonants: Engländerinnen f pl (Englishwomen),
      and in front of grouped consonants: ich (I)
        Kind nt (child)
        Witz m (joke)
         
         
  j [jɔt] usually only appears at the beginning: ja (yes)
      or in the middle: Soja f (soya)
         
         
  k [ka:] always spoken k: kommen (to come)
        Amerikaner m (American)
         
         
  l [ɛl] long vowels in front of l: lila (lilac)
   
short vowels in front of l in combination with other consonants:
 gelb (yellow)
and in front of double l: alles (everything)
         
         
  m [ɛm] long vowels in front of m: Dame f (lady)
         
      short vowels in front of m in combination with other consonants:
 Samstag m (Saturday)
      and in front of double m: kommen (to come)
         
         
  n [ɛn] long vowels in front of n: schön (beautiful, nice)
         
      short vowels in front of n in combination with other consonants: Kind nt (child)
      and in front of double n: kennen (to know)
         
         
  o [o:] long:
 orange (orange)
also in front of a lengthening h: ohne (without)
   
short in front of double consonants:
 kommen (to come)
      and in front of grouped consonants: Mittwoch m (Wednesday)
        Klotz m (block)
         
         
  p [pe:] always spoken p: pink (pink)
        sprechen (to speak)
         
         
  q [ku:] most of the time in combination with u and spoken kv: Qualität f (quality)
   
         
         
  r [ɛr] long vowels in front of r: orange (orange)
   
short vowels in front of r in combination with other consonants:
 türkis (turquoise)
and in front of double r: Herren m pl (Gentlemen, Messrs)
         
         
  s [ɛs] long vowels in front of s: rosa (rose-coloured)
   
short vowels in front of s:
 bis (until)
short vowels in front of s in combination with other consonants: sitzen (to sit)
      and in front of double s: ein bisschen (a little)
         
         
  t [te:] long vowels in front of t: rot (red)
         
      short vowels in front of t in combination with other consonants:
 Ätna m (Mount Etna)
      always in front of double t: Mittwoch (Wednesday)
         
         
  u [u:] long: du sg (you)
also in front of a lengthening h: Uhland (German poet)
and often in front of ch: Kuchen m (cake)
  Buche f (beech)
   
short vowels in front of grouped consonants:
 und (and)
  always in combination with double consonants: Ulla (female German forename)
      or the prefixes um- and un-  
         
         
  v [fau] mostly spoken f: vier (four)
         
      spoken [v] in foreign words: violett (violet)
         
         
  w [ve:] always spoken [v]: woher (where from)
         
         
  x [ɪks] always spoken ks: Xylofon nt (xylophone)
    faxen (to fax)
    Telex nt (telex)
   
         
         
  y ['ʏpsilɔn] often spoken ü: Ypsilon nt (upsilon=letter y)
   
sometimes spoken i:
 Yvonne (female forename)
   
      sometimes spoken [j]: Yen m (yen)
         
         
  z [tsɛt] spoken ts: zehn (ten)
  Pizza f (pizza)
   
short vowel in combination with t=tz: Katze f (female cat)
         
         
  ä [ɛ:] long:
also in front of a lengthening h:		 Ära f (era)
ähnlich (similar)
   
short in front of double consonants:
 kämmen (to comb)
and in front of grouped consonants: ätzend (corrosive)
        Ätna m (Mount Etna)
         
         
  ö [ø:] long: schön (beautiful, nice),

  mögen (to like)
   
short in front of double consonants:
 können (to be able to do something)
   
and in front of grouped consonants: zwölf (twelve)
  Ötztal nt (valley in Austria)
   
         
  ü [y:] long: grün (green)
   
short in front of double consonants:
 Hütte f (hut)
   
and in front of grouped consonants: nützlich (useful)
  fünf (five)
         
         
  ß(sz) [ɛs'tsɛt] long vowels in front of ß (ss): Straße f (street)
   
short vowels in front of ss: muss (must=1st or 3rd person sg)