German uses the Latin alphabet, so it looks familiar, but letters and letter groups are read in their own way. The good news: German spelling is far more regular than English. Once you know the rules, you can read an unfamiliar word correctly and write down a word you have only heard. This topic is the foundation for everything else — learning vocabulary, listening and speaking all depend on correct pronunciation.
§1. The alphabet and letter names
German has the 26 basic letters plus three umlauts and the eszett:
Ä ä · Ö ö · Ü ü · ß (eszett, "sharp S")
You need the letter names to spell out (buchstabieren) a name, surname or address — a common task in oral exams and on the phone:
A "ah", B "bay", C "tsay", D "day", E "ay", F "eff", G "gay", H "hah", I "ee";
J "yot", K "kah", L "ell", M "em", N "en", O "oh", P "pay", Q "koo", R "air";
S "ess", T "tay", U "oo", V "fow", "vay", "iks", "üpsilon", "tset".
Note that V is called "fow" and W is "vay" — the commonest beginner’s slip.
§2. Umlauts and ß
An umlaut is the pair of dots over a vowel. It changes the sound and often carries grammar: plural (der Apfel → die Äpfel), comparison (alt → älter), verb forms (fahren → er fährt).
ä — an open "e" as in "bed": Mädchen (girl), Käse (cheese), Männer (men).
ö — round your lips for "o" and say "e": schön (beautiful), Öl (oil), hören (to hear).
ü — round your lips for "oo" and say "ee": über (over), Tür (door), müde (tired).
ß — a voiceless "s" after a long vowel or diphthong: Straße, groß, heißen, Fuß.
After a short vowel write ss: Fluss, muss, , .
Long vowel or diphthong + "s" sound → ß; short vowel + "s" sound → ss.
Germans replace umlauts with two letters when a keyboard lacks them, but in exams and correct writing always use the real umlaut. Dropping it changes the meaning: schon (already) ≠ schön (beautiful), zahlen (to pay) ≠ zählen (to count).
§3. Long and short vowels
Vowel length changes meaning: Staat (state) — Stadt (city), bieten (to offer) — bitten (to ask), Miete (rent) — Mitte (middle). A vowel is long when:
it is doubled: Tee, Boot, Haar;
it is followed by a silent h: fahren, Uhr, sehen;
it is ie: Liebe, vier, spielen;
it ends a syllable or stands before a single consonant: Name, Brot, gut.
A vowel is short before two or more consonants: Bett, Mutter, kommen, Kind.
A double consonant (tt, mm, ss, ck) marks a short vowel; h, a doubled vowel or ie marks a long one.
Why does this matter? German spelling encodes pronunciation: the h in ihn (him) only shows that the "i" is long, while the double t in Bett shows that the "e" is short.
§4. Diphthongs and letter groups
ei/ai = "eye": mein, Mai · ie = long "ee": Brief · eu/äu = "oy": heute, Häuser · au = "ow": Haus
sch = "sh": Schule · ck = "k": Zucker · tsch = "ch": Deutschland · pf = "pf": Apfel · qu = "kv": Quelle
After a, o, u, au, ch is a deep throaty sound as in Scottish "loch": Buch, Nacht, auch, kochen.
Elsewhere (after e, i, ä, ö, ü or a consonant), ch is soft, like a whispered "h" in "huge": ich, Milch, Mädchen, Bücher.
-chs is read "ks": sechs, wachsen.
sp-, st- at the start of a word or stem are "shp", "sht": Sport ("shport"), Stadt ("shtat"), verstehen. Inside a word they are a plain "st": Fenster, ist.
Don’t confuse ei and ie: Wein (wine, "vine") — Wien (Vienna, "veen"). Rule: say the English name of the second letter — ei → "eye", → "ee".
§5. Consonants
w = "v": Wasser · v = usually "f": Vater, viel · z = "ts": Zeit, zehn · j = "y": ja, Jahr · s before a vowel = "z": Sonne, Rose
In loanwords v is a "v": Vase, Klavier, Universität.
Final b, d, g become voiceless: halb ("halp"), Hund ("hoont"), Tag ("tahk"). The spelling keeps the letter, and in the plural the voiced sound returns: Tage.
Final -ig is pronounced with a soft "ch": richtig, zwanzig, König.
h before a vowel is pronounced (Haus, heute); after a vowel it only marks length (gehen, Sohn).
r at the end of a word and in -er becomes a vowel-like sound: Mutter ("mootta"), hier, Lehrer.
th is read as "t": , .
§6. Stress and capital letters
Stress usually falls on the first syllable (the stem): Vater, arbeiten, Lehrer. Unstressed prefixes: be-, ge-, er-, ver-, zer-, ent-, emp- — the stem is stressed: bezahlen, verstehen, Gespräch. Separable prefixes are stressed: ankommen, aufstehen, einkaufen. Loanwords are often stressed at the end: Student, Musik, Universität, Büro. One more key spelling rule:
All nouns and nominalised words are written with a capital letter: der Tisch, das Lesen, etwas Neues.
Polite Sie (you) and its forms (Ihnen, Ihr) are capitalised too; sie (she / they) is lower case. An algorithm for reading an unfamiliar word:
Pick out the letter groups (sch, ch, ei, ie, eu, sp, st).
Count the consonants after each vowel to decide long or short.
Use the prefix to place the stress.
Worked example
How is Spielzeug (toy) read?
Sp at the start → "shp".
ie → long "ee"; eu → "oy"; z → "ts".
Final g becomes voiceless → "k".
Stress on the first syllable. Answer: "SHPEEL-tsoyk".
Worked example
Read Bäckerei (bakery).
ä → open "e"; ck follows, so the "e" is short and ck = "k".
-er- → "er", ei → "eye".
The suffix -ei takes the stress.
Answer: "beh-keh-RYE".
Worked example
Spell out the surname Weiß on the phone.
W — "vay".
E — "ay", I — "ee".
ß — "eszett".
Answer: "vay – ay – ee – eszett".
Check yourself
How is St read at the start of Stein?
How is ie read in Wien?
Is the a in Stadt long or short?
What sound ends the word Tag?
Which goes in gro__ (big): ß or ss?
Which syllable is stressed in verstehen?
What is the name of the letter V?
Is the ch in ich hard or soft?
Common mistakes
Reading w as English "w": ✗ "wasser" → ✓ "vasser" (Wasser).
Reading z as English "z": ✗ "zite" → ✓ "tsite" (Zeit).
Mixing up ei and ie: Bier (beer) — bei (at, near).