How to Say the German Alphabet
Name every German letter correctly, avoid the E, I, J, V and W traps, and spell your name over the phone.
German uses the 26 letters you know plus Ä, Ö, Ü and ß. Vowel names are just the vowel held long, and most consonants are either the sound plus 'ay' (B = 'bay') or 'e' plus the sound (F = 'eff').
Learn the handful of traps — E, I, J, V, W and Z — and you can spell your name, email or street on the phone.
Tap any word to hear it.
Vowels and umlauts
Each vowel's name is simply its long sound, with no glide at the end. German E sounds like English 'A', and German I sounds like English 'E'.
A a[aː]
open 'ah' as in 'father'
E e[eː]
'ay' as in 'day', without the glide
I i[iː]
'ee' as in 'see'
O o[oː]
pure 'oh', lips rounded, no 'w' glide
U u[uː]
'oo' as in 'moon', lips pushed forward
Ä ä[ɛː]
like 'e' in 'bed', held longer
Ö ö[øː]
say 'ay', then round your lips
Ü ü[yː]
say 'ee', then round your lips
English 'ee' is the German I
same tongue, add rounded lips
Consonants mostly like English
These letters sound close to English, with small twists at the end of words. R and S are the ones to watch.
B b[beː]
'b'; sounds like 'p' at word end
C c[tseː]
rare alone; mostly in ch, ck, sch
D d[deː]
'd'; sounds like 't' at word end
F f[ɛf]
'f' as in 'fish'
G g[ɡeː]
hard 'g' as in 'go', never 'j'
H h[haː]
'h' as in 'hat'; silent after vowels
K k[kaː]
'k' as in 'kit'
L l[ɛl]
clear 'l' as in 'leaf', never dark
M m[ɛm]
'm' as in 'man'
N n[ɛn]
'n' as in 'no'
P p[peː]
'p' with a puff of air
R r[ɛʁ]
throaty r at the back, near the 'k' spot
S s[ɛs]
buzzing 'z' before vowels, 's' elsewhere
T t[teː]
't' as in 'top'
X x[ɪks]
'ks' as in 'box'
Letters that surprise English speakers
These seven are where learners slip, both in the letter name and in the sound. Drill them until they feel automatic.
J j[jɔt]
'y' as in 'yes'
Q q[kuː]
always qu, said 'kv'
V v[faʊ̯]
usually 'f'; 'v' in loanwords
W w[veː]
English 'v' as in 'van'
Y y[ˈʏpsilɔn]
mostly like ü; varies in loanwords
Z z[tsɛt]
'ts' as in 'cats', even at word start
ß[ɛsˈtsɛt]
sharp 's' as in 'bus', never 'b'
V sounds like f, W like v
v says f, w says v
Spelling your name out loud
On the phone, Germans spell with letter names and clarify tricky letters with a word: 'A wie Anton'. A 2022 standard switched to city names ('A wie Aachen'), but many people still use the classic first names.
- Say the letter, then clarify: 'M wie Martha, N wie Nordpol'.
- Double letters: say 'Doppel-L' or 'zwei L'.
- Umlauts: say 'Ü' or 'U-Umlaut'; ß is 'Eszett' or 'scharfes S'.
- Capitals rarely matter; if needed, say 'großes M'.
Wie schreibt man das?
How do you spell that?
Können Sie das bitte buchstabieren?
Could you spell that, please?
Schmidt, mit D T am Ende.
Schmidt, with D-T at the end.
Common mistakes
✗ “ee” (the English E)
✓ [eː] — like English 'A' without the glide
English 'ee' is the German I, not E.
✗ “jay”
✓ [jɔt] — 'yot', starting with a 'y' sound
German J is a 'y' sound, in its name too.
✗ “vee”
✓ [faʊ̯] — rhymes with 'how', starts with f
The name matches its usual sound: f.
✗ “double-u”
✓ [veː] — one syllable, 'vay'
German W is one syllable, starting with a v sound.
How to practise
- Spell your full name in German twice, without pausing between letters.
- Say A, E, I, O, U slowly; keep every vowel pure, no glide.
- Drill the traps E, I, J, V, W, Z until they come automatically.
- Spell your email address aloud, using 'Punkt' for dots and 'at' for @.
Questions learners ask
How many letters are in the German alphabet?
Twenty-six, plus Ä, Ö, Ü and ß — 30 in total. In dictionaries the extra four are sorted with a, o, u and ss rather than as separate letters.
How do you say W in German?
W is called 'vay' [veː] and sounds like English v. The German V, in turn, usually sounds like f.
Is there a capital ß?
Yes, ẞ has been officially allowed since 2017. Most people still write SS in all-caps text, as in STRASSE.