Back
Beginner

Alphabet & Pronunciation

Umlauts, ß and consonant clusters

Umlauts ä ö ü and the ß

German adds three umlauted vowels and ß (sharp s).

📊 Special letters
Letter Sound Example
ä like 'e' in bed Mädchen
ö rounded e schön
ü rounded ee über
ß sharp s (ss) Straße
💬 Examples
schön
shern
beautiful
📝 ö = a rounded 'e' sound
Straße
SHTRAH-se
street
📝 ß = 'ss' after a long vowel
Consonant combinations

ch, sch, sp and st spell particular sounds.

💬 Examples
ich / Buch
ikh / bookh
I / book
📝 ch = soft (ich) or hard (Buch)
Schule
SHOO-le
school
📝 sch = 'sh'
All nouns are capitalized

Every noun is written with a capital letter.

💬 Examples
der Tisch
the table
📝 Nouns are always capitalized
das Wasser
the water
📝 Even ordinary common nouns