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The German Alphabet

How to pronounce and spell German letters and letter combinations

German and English are both West Germanic languages and their alphabets share a common root. This should be welcome information for anyone learning German!

They both have the same 26 standard cardinal letters, but German has a few extra characters and standard German letter combinations.

This short guide includes all the alphabet basics, plus the fun of the German spelling alphabet. You'd be amazed how often you need it in everyday German-speaking life!

Start here: the German alphabet

Letter (Buchstabe)	Pronunciation (Aussprache)	Letter (Buchstabe)	Pronunciation (Aussprache)
A	AH	N	ENN
B	BAY	O	OH
C	TSAY	P	PEH
D	DAY	Q	KOO
E	AY	R	ERR
F	EFF	S	ESS
G	GAY	T	TAY
H	HAH	U	OO
I	EEH	V	FOW
J	YOT	W	VAY
K	KAH	X	ICKS
L	ELL	Y	IPSEELON
M	EMM	Z	TSET

Standard German letter combinations

There are several standard combinations of German letters, each with their own, consistent German pronunciation.

Letter combination	Pronunciation
Ei	EYE
Eu	OY!
Sch	SCH
Sp	Schpuh
St	Scht
Ch	CHUH
Au	OW

ß – The "Eszett"

German has an additional character, the ß, called the “Eszett” or “sharp S”.

ß	Eszett (“s” and “z” combined), this is simply a double “s” and is pronounced “Ess”.

Note:

There is no capitalized form of ß, instead SS is used.
The ß is not found in Swiss German – only the ss is used.

German umlauts

German also has 3 additional characters – ä,ö and ü, called umlauts.

These represent the shifting sounds « ae », « oe » and « ue ». They are not regarded as separate letters of the German alphabet. (More on umlauts here)

The German spelling alphabet

When speaking German you’ll soon realise how important it is to be able to "spell out" words and letter combinations in normal conversation,

E.g. "Ich fahre ein FOW-VAY Golf" ("I drive a VW Golf")

When speaking German on the phone, it’s also common to spell out words - especially names - which might otherwise be misunderstood.

Use the German version of the international radiotelephony spelling alphabet (Buchstabiertafel or Funkalphabet) as follows :

- "Mein Name ist Joanna".
- "Könnten Sie das bitte buchstabieren ?"
- "Gerne. Julius-Otto-Anton-Nordpol-Nordpol-Anton."

Letter	ENGLISH	GERMAN (Germany)	Variations (A: Austria, CH: Switzerland)
A	Alpha	Anton	....
B	Bravo	Berta	....
C	Charlie	Cäsar	....
D	Delta	Dora	CH: Daniel
E	Echo	Emil	....
F	Foxtrot	Friedrich	....
G	Golf	Gustav	....
H	Hotel	Heinrich	....
I	India	Ida	....
J	Juliet	Julius	CH: Jakob
K	Kilo	Kaufmann	A: Konrad, CH: Kaiser
L	Lima	Ludwig	CH: Leopold
M	Mike	Martha	CH: Marie
N	November	Nordpol	CH: Niklaus
O	Oscar	Otto	....
P	Papa	Paula	CH: Peter
Q	Quebec	Quelle	CH: Quasi
R	Romeo	Richard	CH: Rosie
S	Sierra	Siegfried	(Officially Samuel but seldom used) CH: Sophie
T	Tango	Theodor	....
U	Uniform	Ulrich	....
V	Victor	Victor	....
W	Whiskey	Wilhelm	....
X	X-ray	Xanthippe	A:Xaver
Y	Yankee	Ypsilon	....
Z	Zulu	Zürich	(Zeppelin still more commonly heard in all D-A-CH countries)

And don’t forget the umlaut and letter combination sounds (although I have to admit that I've never actually heard them used in practice!):

Letter	GERMAN (Germany)	Variations (A = Austria, CH = Switzerland)
Ä	Ärger	CH: Äsch
Ö	Ökonom	A: Österreich, CH: Örlikon
Ü	Übermut	A:Übel
Sch	Schule	…..
ß	Eszett	Scharfes s

Want to practice spelling out the German alphabet?

Dora-Anton-Nordpol-Konrad-Emil-Friedrich-Übermut-Richard-Siegfried-Ludwig-Emil-Siegfried-Emil-Nordpol.

Have fun!

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