Read the example aloud, then listen and repeat. English sound hints are approximations; use the video to hear vowel length and mouth position.
| Spelling | Sound cue | Example → meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ß / ss | Both represent a voiceless s. ß usually follows a long vowel or diphthong; ss a short vowel. | Straße → street; Wasser → water |
| ä | Short ä resembles e in “bed”; long ä varies by speaker. | Männer → men; spät → late |
| ö | Round your lips while making an e-like sound. | schön → beautiful |
| ü | Round your lips while making an ee-like sound. | fünf → five; müde → tired |
| au | Like ow in “cow”. | Haus → house |
| s | Often voiced before a vowel; voiceless at the end. | sagen → say; das → the |
| h | Often lengthens the preceding vowel when silent. | wohnen → live; zehn → ten |
| b / d / g at word end | Often sound like p / t / k. | ab → off; und → and; Tag → day |
| ei | Like “eye”. | eins → one |
| ie | A long ee sound. | sie → she / they |
| eu / äu | Like “oy”. | heute → today; Häuser → houses |
| sch | Like sh. | Schule → school |
| ch | Soft after i, e, ä, ö, ü, ei, eu/äu and consonants; back-of-mouth after a/o/u/au. | ich → I; Buch → book |
| sp / st | At the start of a word stem, usually shp / sht. | sprechen → speak; Straße → street |
| j / w | j like English y; w like English v. | ja → yes; Wasser → water |
| v / z | v often sounds f in native words; z sounds ts. | Vater → father; Zeit → time |