🇩🇪Learn Deutsch2% learned
← A1.1 lessons
Lesson 1 of 9
Mark as done

A1.1 — Lesson 1: Alphabet & Pronunciation

Intro

German uses the same 26 Latin letters as English, plus four extra characters: ä, ö, ü (umlauts) and ß (Eszett / "sharp s"). Unlike English, German spelling is highly phonetic — once you learn the rules, you can pronounce almost any word correctly just by reading it. This lesson covers the alphabet, the extra letters, and the core pronunciation rules you'll use in every lesson after this.

Core Vocabulary

GermanArticleEnglishExample sentence
das Alphabetdasthe alphabetDas deutsche Alphabet hat 26 Buchstaben. (The German alphabet has 26 letters.)
der Buchstabederthe letter"A" ist der erste Buchstabe. (A is the first letter.)
Hallo—helloHallo! Wie geht's?
Tschüss—bye (informal)Tschüss, bis morgen!
ja—yesJa, das stimmt.
nein—noNein, das ist falsch.
bitte—please / you're welcomeEin Kaffee, bitte.
danke—thanksDanke schön!

Grammar Point: Pronunciation Rules

German spelling maps closely to sound. Key rules:

Vowels

  • a = "ah" (like father) — Mann
  • e = "eh" (like bed) — Bett
  • i = "ee" (like machine) — mit
  • o = "oh" (like note) — rot
  • u = "oo" (like boot) — gut

Umlauts

  • ä = like short "e" — Mädchen
  • ö = round your lips and say "e" — schön
  • ü = round your lips and say "ee" — müde
  • ß = just an "s" sound (used after long vowels/diphthongs instead of "ss") — Straße

Vowel combinations

  • ei = "eye" — Wein, nein
  • ie = long "ee" — Sie, Bier
  • au = "ow" (like house) — Haus
  • eu/äu = "oy" — neu, Häuser

Tricky consonants

  • w = English "v" — Wasser sounds like "VAH-ser"
  • v = usually English "f" — Vater sounds like "FAH-ter"
  • z = "ts" — Zeit sounds like "TSITE"
  • s (before a vowel) = "z" — sagen sounds like "ZAH-gen"
  • sch = English "sh" — Schule
  • ch (after a, o, u) = throaty "kh" — Buch
  • ch (after i, e, umlauts) = soft "hy" — ich
  • sp/st at the start of a word = "shp"/"sht" — Sport, Stadt
  • j = English "y" — ja sounds like "yah"

Stress: German words are usually stressed on the first syllable (e.g. HAL-lo, DAN-ke).

Exercises

  1. How do you pronounce the letter combination ie, as in Sie?
  2. Fill in the blank: W in German sounds like the English letter ___.
  3. What sound does ß represent?
  4. Multiple choice: which word contains the "sh" sound? a) sagen b) Schule c) Zeit
  5. Multiple choice: Vater is pronounced closest to: a) "VAH-ter" b) "FAH-ter" c) "WAH-ter"
  6. True or false: German stress is usually on the last syllable.
  7. Translate to English: Hallo, danke, bitte.
  8. Which letters are the umlauts?
  9. Fill in the blank: z in German is pronounced ___.
  10. Read aloud (no written answer needed) and mark the stressed syllable: Buchstabe.

Answer Key

  1. Long "ee" sound (like bee)
  2. V (as in "vase")
  3. An "s" sound
  4. b) Schule
  5. b) "FAH-ter"
  6. False — usually the first syllable
  7. Hello, thanks, please
  8. ä, ö, ü
  9. "ts"
  10. BUCH-sta-be

Dialogue

Anna: Hallo! Ben: Hallo! Wie geht's? Anna: Gut, danke. Und dir? Ben: Auch gut, danke. Anna: Tschüss! Ben: Tschüss, bis bald!

(Translation: Anna: Hello! Ben: Hello! How's it going? Anna: Good, thanks. And you? Ben: Also good, thanks. Anna: Bye! Ben: Bye, see you soon!)

Greetings →