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Das Alphabet

The German alphabet — read it, hear it, spell it

What you will be able to do

Read German aloud and spell words on the phone.

Zum Lesen · For reading

Das deutsche Alphabet hat sechsundzwanzig Buchstaben. A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y und Z. Dazu kommen drei Umlaute: ä, ö und ü. Und einen Buchstaben hat das Englische nicht: das scharfe S, das Eszett.

The German alphabet has twenty-six letters. A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y and Z. On top of that come three umlauts: ä, ö and ü. And there is one letter that English does not have: the sharp s, Eszett.

German spelling is predictable

Zimmer, Wasser, Rock. Zahl, Uhr, Wahl. heißt, neu, Haus, Liebe.

German spelling is mostly predictable: what you hear, you can write. Three rules cover most words. First, after a short vowel, double the consonant — Zimmer, Wasser, Rock. Second, after a long vowel, put an h after it — Zahl, Uhr, Wahl. Third, ei, eu, au and ie are always long — heißt, neu, Haus, Liebe. And two rules about the words themselves: every noun starts with a capital letter, and compound nouns are written as one single word — Hausaufgabe, Krankenhaus.

Short vowel → double the consonant

Zimmer · Wasser · Rock
The vowel is short, so the consonant is doubled: Z-immer, W-asser, R-ock.

Long vowel → h after the vowel

Zahl · Uhr · Wahl
The vowel is long, so an h makes it visible: Z-ahl, U-hr, W-ahl.

ei, eu, au, ie are always long

heißt · neu · Haus · Liebe
These four letter combinations are always a long vowel. No doubling, no h.

Every noun is capitalised

der Tisch · die Straße · mein Name
If a word names a thing, a person or a place, it starts with a capital letter.

Compound nouns are one word

Hausaufgabe · Krankenhaus · Bahnhof
German glues words together and writes them as one long word: Haus + Aufgabe = Hausaufgabe.

The 26 German letter names

Anton, Berta, Cäsar, Dora, Emil, Friedrich, Gustav, Heinrich, Ida, Julius, Käthe, Ludwig, Martha, Nordpol, Otto, Paula, Quelle, Richard, Samuel, Theodor, Udo, Viktor, Wilhelm, Xanthippe, Ypsilon, Zeppelin.

When you spell a word out loud in German, you do not say "A, B, C". You say the German name of each letter — and those names are ordinary German words. "Buch" is spelled Berta, Udo, Cäsar, Heinrich. This is the same list you will use on the phone for your own name.

LetterGerman nameEnglish nameExample word
AAntonA / AlphaAuto
BBertaB / BravoBuch
CCäsarC / CharlieCafé
DDoraD / DeltaDach
EEmilE / EchoEcke
FFriedrichF / FoxtrotFenster
GGustavG / GolfGarten
HHeinrichH / HotelHaus
IIdaI / IndiaInsel
JJuliusJ / JuliettJahr
KKätheK / KiloKaffee
LLudwigL / LimaLampe
MMarthaM / MikeMutter
NNordpolN / NovemberNacht
OOttoO / OscarOfen
PPaulaP / PapaPeter
QQuelleQ / QuebecQuelle
RRichardR / RomeoRegen
SSamuelS / SierraSonne
TTheodorT / TangoTisch
UUdoU / UniformUhr
VViktorV / VictorVogel
WWilhelmW / WhiskeyWasser
XXanthippeX / X-rayXylophon
YYpsilonY / YankeeYacht
ZZeppelinZ / ZuluZug
ßEszettsharp sStraße

Quick check

c-cnameHow do you say the letter C when you spell a word on the phone?
c-countFill in the gap. Write the number as a German word.
Das deutsche Alphabet hat Buchstaben.
c-spellWhich spelling is correct: „Zahl" (number) or „Zal"?

Match the German letter names

c-matchWhich letter does each German name stand for?

Vocabulary

der Buchstabe, das Alphabet, der Vokal, der Konsonant, der Umlaut, das Eszett. Buchstabieren, schreiben, sprechen, heißen, aussprechen, die Aussprache.

The twelve words of this lesson. Every noun keeps its article here — that is the whole trick of German: once you know the article, you can use the word almost anywhere.

  1. der Buchstabethe letter
  2. das Alphabetthe alphabet
  3. der Vokalthe vowel
  4. der Konsonantthe consonant
  5. der Umlautthe umlaut
  6. das Eszettthe sharp s (ß)
  7. buchstabierento spell out
  8. schreibento write
  9. sprechento speak
  10. heißento be called
  11. aussprechento pronounce
  12. die Aussprachethe pronunciation

Write

Write your own name and your city in German spelling. Then spell your name out loud, letter by letter, using the German letter names.

Every noun in German starts with a capital letter, and compound nouns are written as one word.

Write your own name and your city in German spelling. Then spell your name out loud, letter by letter, using the German letter names.

Ich heiße Damian Schmidt. Damian: Dora, Anton, Martha, Ida, Anton, Nordpol. Schmidt: Samuel, Cäsar, Heinrich, Martha, Ida, Dora, Theodor. Regensburg: Richard, Emil, Gustav, Emil, Nordpol, Samuel, Berta, Udo, Richard, Gustav.

Model answer

Ich heiße Damian Schmidt. Damian: Dora, Anton, Martha, Ida, Anton, Nordpol. Schmidt: Samuel, Cäsar, Heinrich, Martha, Ida, Dora, Theodor. Regensburg: Richard, Emil, Gustav, Emil, Nordpol, Samuel, Berta, Udo, Richard, Gustav.

More free practice

What you can do now

  1. Ich kann das deutsche Alphabet vorlesen. — I can read the German alphabet aloud.
  2. Ich kann ein Wort am Telefon buchstabieren. — I can spell a word on the phone, letter by letter.
  3. Ich höre den Unterschied zwischen einem kurzen und einem langen Vokal. — I hear the difference between a short and a long vowel.
  4. Ich schreibe ein deutsches Wort nach Gehör auf. — I can write down a German word I only heard.

Next: Die Laute — the sounds that English does not have.

Everything above is also in the workbook, with the answers at the end. Download the vocabulary as an Anki deck in the Vocabulary section.

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