German alphabet · with audio

    The German Alphabet: Hear Every Letter

    German uses the same 26 letters as English, plus Ä, Ö, Ü and ß. The letters look familiar, but many of them have different names, and a few sound nothing like you expect. Tap a key below, or type on your own keyboard, to hear how a native speaker says each letter.

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    Hear the letter the way a German speaker says it. Type a whole word to hear it spelled out.

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    Native German voice. Tinted keys are the four letters English does not have. Z and Y are swapped compared to an English keyboard.

    All 30 letters

    Each card shows the letter's name, the pronunciation in IPA, an English approximation, and a common word that starts with it.

    A

    A [aː]

    sounds like "ah"

    Apfel (apple)

    B

    Be [beː]

    sounds like "bay"

    Buch (book)

    C

    Ce [tseː]

    sounds like "tsay"

    Computer (computer)

    D

    De [deː]

    sounds like "day"

    Danke (thank you)

    E

    E [eː]

    sounds like "ay"

    Essen (food)

    F

    Ef [ɛf]

    sounds like "eff"

    Freund (friend)

    G

    Ge [geː]

    sounds like "gay"

    Garten (garden)

    H

    Ha [haː]

    sounds like "hah"

    Haus (house)

    I

    I [iː]

    sounds like "ee"

    Insel (island)

    J

    Jot [jɔt]

    sounds like "yot"

    Jahr (year)

    K

    Ka [kaː]

    sounds like "kah"

    Kind (child)

    L

    El [ɛl]

    sounds like "ell"

    Lampe (lamp)

    M

    Em [ɛm]

    sounds like "em"

    Mutter (mother)

    N

    En [ɛn]

    sounds like "en"

    Nacht (night)

    O

    O [oː]

    sounds like "oh"

    Obst (fruit)

    P

    Pe [peː]

    sounds like "pay"

    Post (mail)

    Q

    Ku [kuː]

    sounds like "koo"

    Quelle (source)

    R

    Er [ɛʁ]

    sounds like "air", with the r in the throat

    Regen (rain)

    S

    Es [ɛs]

    sounds like "ess"

    Sonne (sun)

    T

    Te [teː]

    sounds like "tay"

    Tisch (table)

    U

    U [uː]

    sounds like "oo"

    Uhr (clock)

    V

    Fau [faʊ]

    sounds like "fow", as in "fowl"

    Vater (father)

    W

    We [veː]

    sounds like "vay"

    Wasser (water)

    X

    Ix [ɪks]

    sounds like "iks"

    Xylofon (xylophone)

    Y

    Ypsilon [ˈʏpsilɔn]

    sounds like "üpsilon"

    Yoga (yoga)

    Z

    Zett [tsɛt]

    sounds like "tset"

    Zeit (time)

    Ä

    Ä [ɛː]

    sounds like "eh", as in "bed" but longer

    Äpfel (apples)

    Ö

    Ö [øː]

    sounds like "ay" with rounded lips

    Öl (oil)

    Ü

    Ü [yː]

    sounds like "ee" with rounded lips

    Übung (exercise)

    ß

    Eszett (scharfes S) [ɛsˈtsɛt]

    sounds like "ess-tset"

    Straße (street)

    The four special letters: Ä, Ö, Ü and ß

    The three umlauts are A, O and U with a changed vowel sound. They are separate sounds, not decorations: schon (already) and schön (beautiful) are different words. ß, called Eszett, is a sharp s that comes after long vowels, as in Straße (street). If your keyboard has none of these, write ae, oe, ue and ss instead.

    Ä

    Ä [ɛː]

    sounds like "eh", as in "bed" but longer

    Äpfel (apples)

    Ö

    Ö [øː]

    sounds like "ay" with rounded lips

    Öl (oil)

    Ü

    Ü [yː]

    sounds like "ee" with rounded lips

    Übung (exercise)

    ß

    Eszett (scharfes S) [ɛsˈtsɛt]

    sounds like "ess-tset"

    Straße (street)

    Letters that trick English speakers

    The alphabet is easy to memorize, but a few letters have names or sounds that pull you in the wrong direction if you think in English.

    V

    The name is "Fau" and the letter usually sounds like an English f: Vater (father) starts with an f sound. Only loanwords like Vase keep the v sound.

    W

    The name is "We" and the letter sounds like an English v. Wasser (water) sounds like "vasser". There is no English w sound in native German words.

    J

    The name is "Jot" and the letter sounds like an English y. Jahr (year) sounds like "yar", and ja (yes) sounds like "ya".

    Z

    The name is "Zett" and the letter sounds like "ts". Zeit (time) starts with "ts", not with the buzzing English z.

    E and I

    These two are swapped compared to English. German E is said "ay" (like the English letter A), and German I is said "ee" (like the English letter E). When someone spells a word for you, this is where most mistakes happen.

    R

    The name is "Er", but the r comes from the back of the throat, a bit like a soft gargle. At the end of a word it often softens to an "ah" sound: Mutter (mother) ends almost like "mutta".

    Y

    The name is "Ypsilon" and the letter is rare in German. It appears mostly in loanwords like Yoga and Typ (type), where it sounds like ü.

    Practice with games

    Once the letters feel familiar, put them to work. These games make you read and rearrange German letters in real words.

    Word Salad Game (Buchstabensalat)

    Play free
    New

    Word Match Grid

    Play free

    Guess the Word (Multiple Choice)

    Play free

    Frequently Asked Questions

    How many letters are in the German alphabet?
    The German alphabet has 26 letters, the same as English, plus four extra characters: Ä, Ö, Ü and ß. So learners usually count 30. The three letters with dots are called umlauts, and ß is called Eszett or scharfes S (sharp s).
    How do you pronounce the German alphabet?
    Most letter names are close to English but with German vowels: A is "ah", E is "ay", I is "ee", O is "oh", U is "oo". The names that surprise English speakers most are J ("yot"), V ("fau"), W ("vay"), Y ("ypsilon") and Z ("tset"). Use the keyboard at the top of this page to hear every letter.
    What is ß and how do you say it?
    ß is called Eszett or scharfes S. It stands for a sharp, unvoiced s sound, like the ss in "kiss". It appears after long vowels and diphthongs, as in Straße (street) and heißen (to be called). It never starts a word. In Switzerland it is not used at all and is replaced by ss. If you cannot type it, ss is an accepted replacement.
    What are Ä, Ö and Ü?
    They are umlauts: A, O and U with a changed vowel sound. Ä sounds like the e in "bed", Ö is like saying "ay" with rounded lips, and Ü is like saying "ee" with rounded lips. If your keyboard has no umlaut keys, write ae, oe and ue instead. Umlauts matter for meaning: schon means "already" and schön means "beautiful".
    Why are Y and Z swapped on a German keyboard?
    German keyboards use the QWERTZ layout. Z is a common letter in German and Y is very rare, so Z gets the easier position in the top row. The keyboard on this page uses the German layout so you get used to it.
    How do Germans spell words out loud?
    Germans use the letter names on this page, and on the phone they often use a spelling alphabet where each letter gets a name: A wie Anton, B wie Berta, C wie Cäsar, and so on. Knowing the letter names well is enough for everyday situations like giving your name or an email address.

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