Alphabet

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

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

Letter	Script	Examples

a	[a:]	long: Tag m (day)
		also in combination with h: Zahn m (tooth)

		short: acht (eight)
		also in combination with double consonants and tz: Mann m (man), Katze f (female cat)


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 with light vowels (e, i): City f (downtown)

		spoken k with 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 combination with h: zehn (ten)

		short: elf (eleven)
		also in combination with double consonants and tz: kennen (to know), 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: verstehen (to understand), ihr versteht (you pl understand)


i	[i:]	long: in combination with e=ie: sieben (seven)
		or with h: ihn (him)

		short: ich (I), Kind nt (child)
		also in combination with double consonants and tz: Engländerinnen f pl (Englishwomen),
		Witz m (joke)


j	[jɔt]	usually only at the beginning or in the middle: ja (yes), 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: gelb (yellow)
		always in front of double l: alles (everything)


m	[ɛm]	long vowels in front of m: Dame f (lady)

		short vowels in front of m: Samstag m (Saturday)
		always 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: Kind nt (child)
		always in front of double n: kennen (to know)


o	[o:]	long: orange (orange)
		also in combination with h: ohne (without)

		short: Mittwoch m (Wednesday)
		also in combination with double consonants and tz: kommen (to come), 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: türkis (turquoise)
		always 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)
		always 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: Ätna m (Mount Etna)
		always in front of double t: Mittwoch m (Wednesday)


u	[u:]	long: du sg (you)
		also in combination with h: Uhland (German poet)

		short: und (and)
		always in combination with double consonants: Ulla (female German forename) or the presyllables
		um- and un-


v	[fau]	spoken f: vier (four)

		spoken v: violett


w	[ve:]	always spoken v: woher (where from)


x	[ɪks]	always spoken ks: Xylofon nt (xylophone), faxen (to fax), Telex nt (telex)


y	['ʏpsilɔn]	spoken ü: Ypsilon nt (upsilon=letter y)

		spoken i: Yvonne (female forename),

		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: Ära f (era) also in combination with h: ähnlich (similar)

		short: Ätna m (Mount Etna)
		also in combination with double consonants and tz: kämmen (to comb), ätzend (corrosive)


ö	[ø:]	long: schön (beautiful, nice), mögen (to like)

		short: zwölf (twelve)
		also in combination with double consonants and tz: können (to be able to do something),
		Ötztal nt (valley in Austria)


ü	[y:]	long: grün (green)

		short: fünf (five)
		also in combination with double consonants and tz: Hütte f (hut), nützlich (useful)


ß (sz)	[ɛs'tsɛt]	long vowels in front of ß (ss): Straße f (street)

		short vowels in front of ss: muss (must)