German Pronunciation

The German Alphabet

German uses the same 26 letters as English plus: ä, ö, ü, and ß (Eszett/sharp s)

Vowel Sounds

• Short vowels: a, e, i, o, u
• Long vowels: aa, ee, ie, oo, uh
• Umlauts: ä (like 'e' in bet), ö (no English equivalent), ü (like French 'u')

Consonant Combinations

• ch: soft after e, i (ich) or hard after a, o, u (ach)
• sch: like 'sh' in ship
• st/sp: at beginning of word = 'sht/shp'
• ß: like 'ss' in class