Der Vokal Vowels
The German alphabet, just like the English, has five main vowels: A E I O U
A (a) as a in hard
E (e) as ay in say
I (i) as i in ink
O (o) as o in open
U (u) like oo in boot.
{ ‘ ‘ } Umlaut – mutated vowel
The German umlaut is recognisable by 2 little dots above a letter. The German um- laut is found on 3 letters a, o and u, umlauts are used to signify a certain sound. Whenever the use of umlauts is not possible e.g. for technical reasons, you can use extra “e” instead of Umlaut.
For Example : “ae” = ä, “oe”= ö, “ue” = ü.
A (a) – as a in hard
Ä (ä) – similar to ‘ai’ in ‘air’ O (o) – as o in open Ö (ö) – like “ur” in the word “burn” U (u) – like oo in boot. Ü (ü) – like ‘y’ in ‘Tyrell’
German Alphabet
| German Alphabet | Sound | Pronunciation Example |
| A a | ah | as A in ask |
| B b | beh | as B in Begin |
| C c | tseh | as C in Celsius |
| D d | deh | as D in Date |
| E e | eh | as E in Elevated |
| F f | eff | as F in Fast |
| G g | geh | as G in God |
| H h | ha | as H in Hen |
| I i | ee | as I in Ink | |
| J j | yot | as Y in Yacht | |
| K k | kah | as K in Kite | |
| L l | ell | as L in Lamp | |
| M m | emm | as M in Mother | |
| N n | enn | in N Name | |
| O o | oh | as O in Oh | |
| P p | peh | as P in Pink | |
| Q q | kuh | as Q in Quest | |
| R r | err | as R in Robin | |
| S s | ess | as S in Siegfried | |
| ß | ess-testt | as S in Super | |
| T t | the | as T in Top | |
| U u | uh | as U in Ulrich | |
| V v | fow | as V in Victory | |
| W w | veh | as W in William | |
| X x | iks | as X xylophone |
| Y y | upsilon | as Y in Yes |
| Z z | tsett | as ts in sits |
‘ß’ German has an additional character ‘ß’, which is either called eszet. It sounds exactly like “ss”. You can also use “ss” instead of ‘ß’,
How to pronounce German diphthongs
au: like ow in how ae: transcription for ‘ä’ if not available on a keyboard ah: like “a” in Jar. äu: like “oy” in Boy ei: like “i” in mine eu: like “oy” in Boy ie: like “ee”in seek oe: transcription for ‘ö’ if not available on a keyboard oo: like “oo” in door ue: transcription for ‘ü’ if not available on a keyboard ** tion: tsee -ohn