The German Alphabet

One of the best ways to get you started is with the alphabet. NO, don't learn it by heart, just take a look and if you have further problems get back here and see the letters again. Also, I'm going to give you some examples how to pronounce each letter.

a (long) as in father
(short) when followed by two consonants,
as in cart

ä (umlaut) as in any
ai as in aisle

au (diphthong) as in mouse
äu (diphthong) as in moist

b as in bread
after a consonant, at the end of a syllable
or word as in lip

c (used only in foreign words) as in huts

ch as in the Scottish loch

ck as in neck

d as in drive
after a consonant, at the end of a syllable
or word as in bent

e (long) as in bay
(short) as in belt

ei (diphthong) as in my

eu (diphthong) sounds like äu

f as in fun

g as in good
after a consonant, at the end of a syllable
or word as in dark

h as in hold

i (long) as in machine
(short) as in fit

j as in yes

k as in kilo

l as in land

m as in milk

n as in night

o (long) as in tone
(short) as in often

ö (umlaut) as in fur

p as in past

q as in quick (q is always followed by u)

r rolled as in Scots

s as in zero

sch as in shoe

st as in wish to

ß (sharp s) as in gas

t as in tell

u (long) as in moon
(short) as in foot

ü (umlaut) as in music (use only second sound of vowel: meeusic)

v as in fast

w as in very

x as in box

y sounds like ü
at the end of a word it sounds like i
as in any

z as in nuts