- Final consonants are often pronounced voiceless (e.g. lieb → /liːp/).
| Ä /ɛ/ | Bär (Bear) | K oder CK /k/ | Katze, backen (Katze, backen) |
| Ö /øː/, /œ/ | schön, öffnen (beautiful, to open) | M /m/ | Mutter (Mother) |
| Ü /yː/, /ʏ/ | früh, fünf (early, five) | N /n/ | Nacht (Night) |
| CH (weich) /ç/ | ich (ich) | NG /ŋ/ | singen (singen) |
| CH (hart) /x/ | Buch (Book) | PF /pf/ | Pferd (Pfhorse) |
| EU oder ÄU /ɔʏ̯/ | heute, Häuser (today, houses) | QU /kv/ | Quelle (Quell) |
| EI /aɪ̯/ | Ei, mein (Egg, my) | R /ʁ/ | Rot (Red) |
| H /h/ | Haus (House) | S (am Wortanfang) /z/ | Sonne (Sun) |
| IE /iː/ | Liebe (Love) | V /f/ | Vater (Father) |
| J /j/ | Jahr (Year) | Z /ts/ | Zeit (Zime) |
Exceptions!
- The 'r' is pronounced differently depending on the region – in the south often as a tongue-tip 'r', in the north as a guttural sound.
- Umlauts ä, ö, ü are independent vowels – they do not sound like simple variants of a, o, u and often change the meaning of a word (e.g. "schon" vs. "schön").
Exercise 1: Multiple Choice
Instruction: Choose the correct solution
1. Ich heiße Anna. Und du? Wie ______ du?
(My name is Anna. And you? What is your name?)2. Der Herr Müller sagt: "______ mich!"
(Mr Müller says: "Pleased to meet you!")3. Ich ______ jetzt nach Hause.
(I am going home now.)4. Das deutsche Alphabet ______ 26 Buchstaben.
(The German alphabet has 26 letters.)5. Wie ist deine ______? Herr oder Frau?
(What is your salutation? Mr or Mrs?)6. Ich ______ mich vor: Ich heiße Peter Schmidt.
(Let me introduce myself: My name is Peter Schmidt.)