A1.2 - Telling your name

Pronunciation

Aussprache

Aussprache deutscher Buchstaben und Laute.

(Pronunciation of German letters and sounds.)

What this page trains: German spelling = German pronunciation

Good news: German is much more “phonetic” than English.

  • If you learn a few letter combinations, you can read names and words confidently.
  • Pay attention to: umlauts (ä/ö/ü), ch (two sounds), and final consonants (often become voiceless).

Umlauts ä / ö / ü: not “a/o/u with dots”

Ä, Ö, Ü are separate vowels. They can change meaning.

Letter Closest English hint Example Meaning contrast
ä like “e” in bet (often) Bär schon (= already) vs schön (= beautiful)
ö no perfect English sound; lips rounded + “e” schön, öffnen Konig (wrong spelling) vs König
ü no perfect English sound; lips rounded + “ee” früh, fünf Jürgen ≠ Jurgen (different sound)
  • Quick mouth trick: say “ee” (as in see) and keep the tongue there, then round your lips.
  • Spelling matters: leaving out the dots can create a different word or a “wrong name”.

CH has two sounds: “soft” and “hard”

CH type When it’s common Example How to form it (simple)
CH (soft) often after i, e, ä, ö, ü ich like a gentle “h” with the tongue close to the palate (no “k” sound)
CH (hard) often after a, o, u Buch throat friction sound (similar to Scottish loch)

Self-check: In ich your throat stays relaxed; in Buch you feel more “back of the throat”.

End consonants become voiceless (final devoicing)

Rule: at the end of a word, some consonants are pronounced “hard”.

Written Often pronounced at word end like Example
b p lieb → sounds like “liep”
d t (common in many words)
g k (common in many words)
  • Important: spelling does not change, only pronunciation at the end.
  • This helps when you hear a final p/t/k: it might be written b/d/g.

Fast reading guide for the letter combinations on the page

Spelling Say it like… Example
EU / ÄU “oy” (as in boy) heute, Häuser
EI “eye” Ei, mein
IE long “ee” Liebe
J English “y” Jahr
Z “ts” Zeit
PF “pf” (both sounds) Pferd
QU “kv” (quickly together) Quelle
NG like “ng” in sing singen
K or CK both are a clear “k” sound Katze, backen
S (word start) often like English “z” Sonne

Mini self-check before you continue

  1. Can you see the dots and immediately read them as ä/ö/ü (not a/o/u)?
  2. Can you decide: ich (soft CH) vs Buch (hard CH)?
  3. When a word ends in -b/-d/-g, do you remember it may sound like -p/-t/-k?
  4. Can you read these quickly: Jürgen, König, heute, Zeit?
  1. “Final consonants are often pronounced voiceless (e.g. 'lieb' → /liːp/).”
Ä Bär (bear)K oder (or) CK Katze, backen (cat, to bake)
Öschön, öffnen (beautiful, to open)M Mutter (mother)
Üfrüh, fünf (early, five)N Nacht (night)
CH (weich)  ((soft) )ich (I)NGsingen (to sing)
CH (hart)  ((hard) )Buch (book)PF Pferd (horse)
EU oder (or )ÄU heute, Häuser (today, houses)QU Quelle (source)
EI Ei, mein (egg, my)R Rot (red)
H Haus (house)S (am Wortanfang) ((at the beginning of a word))Sonne (sun)
IE Liebe (love)V Vater (father)
J Jahr (year)ZZeit (time)

Exceptions!

  1. Umlauts ä, ö, ü are independent vowels – they do not sound like simple variants of a, o, u and they often change the meaning of a word (e.g. "schon" vs. "schön").

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This content has been designed and reviewed by the coLanguage pedagogical team: About coLanguage

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Sophie Schmidt

International Administration Management

Würzburger Dolmetscherschule

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Last Updated:

Wednesday, 18/03/2026 15:17