The German Alphabet
The German alphabet has 26 regular letters, just like English. In addition, German uses the special letters Ä, Ö, Ü and ß. Learning the alphabet is the first step to better pronunciation, reading and spelling in German.
Regular Letters
German uses the same basic alphabet as English: A to Z. Most letters look familiar, but some letters are pronounced differently.
Special German Letters
The letters Ä, Ö, Ü and ß are very important in German. They can change the pronunciation and sometimes even the meaning of a word.
German Alphabet Table
| Letter | German Name | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | ah | Apfel | apple |
| B | beh | Ball | ball |
| C | tseh | Café | café |
| D | deh | Dach | roof |
| E | eh | Elefant | elephant |
| F | eff | Fisch | fish |
| G | geh | Garten | garden |
| H | hah | Haus | house |
| I | ee | Igel | hedgehog |
| J | yot | Jacke | jacket |
| K | kah | Katze | cat |
| L | ell | Lampe | lamp |
| M | emm | Mutter | mother |
| N | enn | Nase | nose |
| O | oh | Oma | grandma |
| P | peh | Papa | dad |
| Q | kuh | Quelle | source |
| R | err | Rose | rose |
| S | ess | Sonne | sun |
| T | teh | Tisch | table |
| U | oo | Uhr | clock |
| V | fow | Vogel | bird |
| W | veh | Wasser | water |
| X | iks | Taxi | taxi |
| Y | ypsilon | Yoga | yoga |
| Z | tsett | Zug | train |
Like in Äpfel, apples.
Like in Öl, oil.
Like in Tür, door.
Like in Straße, street.