A1 Full lesson
The German alphabet is the first thing you learn and the thing you’ll use every time you spell your name, an email address or a street on the phone. If you can read English, you already know 26 of its 30 letters. This lesson walks you through every letter, its German name and sound, the umlauts ä, ö and ü, the ß, the letter combinations that trip up English speakers, and how Germans spell words out loud.
Quick answer
The German alphabet has 26 basic letters (A to Z, the same as English) plus four special letters: Ä, Ö, Ü and ß. The letters look familiar, but many have different names and sounds: J is “yott”, V is “fau”, W is “veh” and Z is “tsett”. German spelling is very regular, so once you know the alphabet you can pronounce most words you read.
This lesson is part of our German alphabet and pronunciation guide.
The 26 letters (chart)
Here is the full German alphabet chart. The “name” column is how you say the letter when spelling; the “sound” column is how it usually sounds inside a word.
| Letter | Name (say it like) | Sound in words | Example word |
|---|---|---|---|
| A a | ah | “ah” (long) or short a | der Abend (evening) |
| B b | beh | b; p at the end of a word | das Brot (bread), gelb |
| C c | tseh | ts before e/i, k before a/o/u (mostly loanwords) | das Café, der Computer |
| D d | deh | d; t at the end of a word | das Dach, der Hund |
| E e | eh | “ay” (long), “e” as in bed (short), “uh” at word end | der Esel, das Bett, danke |
| F f | eff | f | der Fisch |
| G g | geh | hard g as in “go”; k at word end | gut, der Tag |
| H h | hah | h at the start; silent after a vowel | das Haus, gehen |
| I i | ee | “ee” (long) or “i” as in bit (short) | der Igel, ich |
| J j | yott | y as in “yes” | ja, jung |
| K k | kah | k | die Katze |
| L l | ell | clear l | die Lampe |
| M m | emm | m | die Mutter |
| N n | enn | n | die Nase |
| O o | oh | “oh” (long, no glide) or “o” as in pot | der Ofen, oft |
| P p | peh | p | die Post |
| Q q | koo | always qu = “kv” | die Qualität |
| R r | err | throat r; “uh” after a vowel | rot, der Lehrer |
| S s | ess | z before a vowel; s elsewhere | die Sonne, das Haus |
| T t | teh | t | der Tisch |
| U u | oo | “oo” as in food or short u | die Uhr, und |
| V v | fau | f; v in many loanwords | der Vater, die Vase |
| W w | veh | English v | das Wasser |
| X x | iks | ks | das Taxi |
| Y y | üpsilon | like ü (or y in loanwords) | der Typ, das Handy |
| Z z | tsett | ts as in “cats” | die Zeit |
The four letters English speakers mix up
J = y, V = f, W = v, Z = ts. Say Volkswagen the German way: “FOLKS-vah-gen”. If you get those four right, you’ll avoid the most common beginner pronunciation mistakes.
Vowels: long or short?
A, E, I, O and U each have a long and a short version. The spelling tells you which: a vowel is usually long before a single consonant (der Tag), when doubled (das Meer) or before a silent h (der Sohn), and short before two consonants (das Bett, die Hand).
Umlauts: ä, ö, ü
The three umlauts are separate letters with their own sounds and names (äh, öh, üh):
| Letter | How to say it | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Ä ä | Like “e” in bed (short), or a long “eh” | der Käse, die Männer, spät |
| Ö ö | Say “ay” and round your lips | schön, das Öl, können |
| Ü ü | Say “ee” and round your lips tightly | über, die Tür, fünf |
Umlauts change meaning: schon (already) vs schön (beautiful), Mutter (mother) vs Mütter (mothers). The full guide to one of them is here: Ü (u umlaut): how to pronounce and type it. No umlaut key? Write ae, oe, ue.
The Eszett (ß)
The ß, called Eszett (“ess-tsett”) or scharfes S, is pronounced like a sharp “s”. It never starts a word in lowercase text and appears after long vowels and diphthongs: die Straße, groß, weiß. After a short vowel you write ss: der Fluss, dass. An official capital letter ẞ has existed since 2017, but in all-caps text most people still write SS (STRASSE). In Switzerland, ß isn’t used at all.
Letter combinations
These combinations are where German really differs from English. Learn them once and you’ll read German with confidence.
| Combination | Sounds like | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ei | “eye” | mein, das Ei |
| ie | “ee” | die Liebe, vier |
| eu, äu | “oy” | neu, die Häuser |
| au | “ow” as in how | das Auto |
| ch | “kh” (after a, o, u) or soft hiss (after e, i) | das Buch, ich |
| sch | “sh” | die Schule |
| sp, st (at the start) | “shp”, “sht” | der Sport, die Stadt |
| pf | “pf” together | der Apfel |
| tsch | “ch” as in church | Deutsch, tschüss |
| chs | “ks” | sechs, der Fuchs |
| ck | “k” | die Ecke |
| qu | “kv” | die Quelle |
| -ig (at the end) | like “ich” | billig, zwanzig |
Why this order works
Pronunciation is easiest to fix at the very start, before your brain stores thousands of words with an English accent. Ten minutes on letter combinations now saves you from relearning hundreds of words later. That’s why we put the alphabet first on the learning path.
Spelling out loud (Buchstabieren)
When Germans spell something on the phone, they use a spelling alphabet: “[letter] wie [word]“. There are two versions you’ll hear:
| Letter | Traditional (names) | Current standard (cities) |
|---|---|---|
| A | Anton | Aachen |
| B | Berta | Berlin |
| C | Cäsar | Chemnitz |
| D | Dora | Düsseldorf |
| E | Emil | Essen |
| F | Friedrich | Frankfurt |
| G | Gustav | Goslar |
| H | Heinrich | Hamburg |
| I | Ida | Ingelheim |
| J | Julius | Jena |
| K | Kaufmann | Köln |
| L | Ludwig | Leipzig |
| M | Martha | München |
| N | Nordpol | Nürnberg |
| O | Otto | Offenbach |
| P | Paula | Potsdam |
| Q | Quelle | Quickborn |
| R | Richard | Rostock |
| S | Samuel | Salzwedel |
| T | Theodor | Tübingen |
| U | Ulrich | Unna |
| V | Viktor | Völklingen |
| W | Wilhelm | Wuppertal |
| X | Xanthippe | Xanten |
| Y | Ypsilon | Ypsilon |
| Z | Zacharias | Zwickau |
For umlauts, say Ä wie Ärger or “A-Umlaut“, and for ß say “Eszett“. Many Germans still use the traditional names, so it’s useful to recognize both.
„Wie schreibt man Ihren Namen?“ – „S wie Samuel, A wie Anton, M wie Martha.““How do you spell your name?” – “S as in Samuel, A as in Anton, M as in Martha.”
Practice exercises
1. Say the letter names
Spell these aloud using German letter names, then check: VW, BMW, ZDF, USA.
Show answers
VW = fau-veh · BMW = beh-emm-veh · ZDF = tsett-deh-eff · USA = oo-ess-ah
2. ei or ie?
How do you pronounce “Wein” and “Wien”?
Wein (wine) = “vine”; Wien (Vienna) = “veen”.
How do you pronounce “Bein” and “Biene”?
Bein (leg) = “bine”; Biene (bee) = “BEE-nuh”.
3. Read these words aloud
Zug, Wasser, Vogel, jetzt, Straße, Schule, sprechen, Mädchen, Brötchen, Frühstück. Tip: Zug = “tsook”, Vogel = “FOH-gel”, jetzt = “yetst”.
4. Spell your own name
Write it with the spelling alphabet and practice it until you can say it without looking. You’ll need it at every doctor’s office and on every phone call.
Free: printable German alphabet chart
The full chart with letter names, sounds and the spelling alphabet, ready to print. Download the free PDF.
FAQs
How many letters are in the German alphabet?
30: the 26 standard letters plus Ä, Ö, Ü and ß. Officially, the umlauts and ß are often treated as extra letters rather than part of the basic 26.
Is the German alphabet the same as the English alphabet?
It uses the same 26 letters plus ä, ö, ü and ß, but several letters have different names and sounds, especially J, V, W and Z.
How do you say the German alphabet?
ah, beh, tseh, deh, eh, eff, geh, hah, ee, yott, kah, ell, emm, enn, oh, peh, koo, err, ess, teh, oo, fau, veh, iks, üpsilon, tsett, followed by äh, öh, üh and ess-tsett.
Why does German have umlauts?
Umlauts mark a historical sound change. They were originally written as a small e above the vowel, which became two dots over time. That’s why ae, oe and ue are accepted replacements.
What is the hardest German letter to pronounce?
For most English speakers, ü, ö and the r. The ch sound comes close behind. All of them improve quickly with a few minutes of daily practice.
You now know all 30 letters of the German alphabet, the combinations that matter, and how to spell your name like a local. Keep practicing the four tricky letters (J, V, W, Z) and the ei/ie pair, and you’ll sound clearer than many learners who’ve studied for months.
Sources and further reading: the German alphabet on Wikipedia and the official spelling reference, Duden.
Next lesson → Ü (u umlaut): how to pronounce and type the German ü
