The German alphabet
A.B.C.D.E.F.G.H.I.J.K.L.M.N.O.P.Q.R.S.T.U.V.W.X.Y.Z.Ä.Ö.Ü.ß
Letter
|
Example
|
Meaning
|
Letter
|
Example
|
Meaning
|
A
|
der Arm
|
arm
|
P
|
das Pack
|
pack
|
B*
|
der Ball
|
ball
|
Q
|
die Quelle
|
source
|
C
|
circa
|
about
|
R***
|
das Racket
|
racket
|
D*
|
die Dame
|
lady
|
S****
|
die Sahne
|
cream
|
E**
|
die Ebene
|
platform
|
T
|
die Tür
|
door
|
F
|
der Fall
|
case
|
U
|
die U-Bahn
|
subway
|
G*
|
die Geige
|
violin
|
V
|
das Vieh
|
cattle
|
H
|
der Hafen
|
harbor
|
W
|
das Wasser
|
water
|
I
|
die Idee
|
idea
|
X
|
die X-Beine
|
knock-knees
|
J
|
die Jacke
|
jacket
|
Y
|
die Yacht
|
yacht
|
K
|
Kabel
|
cable
|
Z
|
die Zahl
|
number
|
L
|
die Lampe
|
lamp
|
Ä
|
Ägypten
|
Egypt
|
M
|
die Melone
|
melone
|
Ö
|
das Öl
|
oil
|
N
|
die Nacht
|
night
|
Ü
|
die Übung
|
exercise
|
O
|
die Oper
|
opera
|
ß
|
die Straße
|
street
|
*When the letters b/d/g are in at the end of a word
they are pronounced as follows: p/t/k
** The ‘’e’’ is pronounced at the end of words.
**** The letter
‘’r ‘’ is pronounced like the French ‘’r’’ however it is pronounced in the
middle or the end of a word like the British ‘’r’’ in the word (number)
*** When the letter ''s'' is followed by vowels it is pronounced: z. If it is sp or st at the beginning of a word it is pronounced like the English ''sh''
Diphthongs
(Diphthonge)
Vowel Diphthong
|
Example
|
Meaning
|
ai/ei
|
Laib/Ei
|
body/egg
|
au
|
Haus
|
house
|
äu/eu
|
Häuser/heute
|
houses/today
|
ie
|
sie
|
she
|
ien
|
Belgien
|
Belgium
|
consonants
|
Example
|
Meaning
|
ck
|
Rock
|
skirt
|
ch*
|
Nacht/Licht
|
night/light
|
pf
|
Apfel
|
apple
|
ph
|
Alphabet
|
alphabet
|
qu
|
Qualität
|
quality
|
sch
|
schön
|
nice
|
sp/st
|
spät/Straße
|
late/street
|
th
|
Theater
|
theater
|
ng
|
Übung
|
exercise
|
* When the vowels (a,o,u) come before the German ‘’ch’’ it will be pronounced [x] and after the other vowels it will be pronounced [ç] and when there is the letter s after the ‘’ch’’ it will be pronounced [k] and also at the beginning of some words.
