Alphabet & Pronunciation
අකුරු සහ උච්චාරණය
All 30 German letters, how each one sounds, and the pronunciation rules that make German one of the most consistent languages to read aloud.
The German alphabet has 30 characters - the same 26 as English, plus 4 extra: Ä, Ö, Ü, and ß. The great news: German is spelled almost exactly how it sounds. Learn these letters and their sounds once, and you can pronounce almost any German word you see - even before you know what it means.
ජර්මන් අකුරු මාලාවේ අකුරු 30ක් ඇත - ඉංග්රීසි භාෂාවේ 26 අකුරු + විශේෂ 4ක්: Ä, Ö, Ü, ß. ජර්මන් ලියන විදිහටම කියවෙනවා - ඒකෙ ලොකු වාසිය නම් ඔබ දකින ඕනෑම වචනයක් ශබ්ද රටා ඉගෙන ගත්තාම කියවන්න පුළුවන්.
All 30 German Letters - Das Alphabet
| Letter | Name (how Germans say it) | Sinhala pronunciation | Example word | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A a | A (ah) | ආ | Apfel | apple |
| B b | Be (bay) | බේ | Banane | banana |
| C c | Ce (tsay) | ට්සේ | Couch | couch |
| D d | De (day) | ඩේ | Donnerstag | Thursday |
| E e | E (ay) | එ | Elefant | elephant |
| F f | Ef (eff) | එෆ් | Fisch | fish |
| G g | Ge (gay) | ගේ | Gitarre | guitar |
| H h | Ha (hah) | හා | Haus | house |
| I i | I (eeh) | ඊ | Ich | I |
| J j | Jott (yot) | යොට් | Jahr | year |
| K k | Ka (kah) | කා | Kaffee | coffee |
| L l | El (ell) | එල් | Liebe | love |
| M m | Em (em) | එම් | Mann | man |
| N n | En (en) | එන් | Nagel | nail |
| O o | O (oh) | ඕ | Orange | orange |
| P p | Pe (pay) | පේ | Pinguine | penguins |
| Q q | Qu (koo) | කූ | Quiz | quiz |
| R r | Er (err) | එර් | Rot | red |
| S s | Es (es) | එස් | Sonne | sun |
| T t | Te (tay) | ටේ | Tee | tea |
| U u | U (ooh) | ඌ | Uhr | clock |
| V v | Vau (fow) | ෆව් | Vogel | bird |
| W w | We (vay) | වේ | Wolke | cloud |
| X x | Ix (iks) | ඉක්ස් | Xylofon | xylophone |
| Y y | Ypsilon (oopsilohn) | ඉප්සිලොන් | Yak | yak |
| Z z | Zett (tset) | ට්සෙට් | Zebra | zebra |
| Ä ä | Ä (eh) | ඇ | Mädchen | girl |
| Ö ö | Ö (ouh) | ඔ් | Zwölf | twelve |
| Ü ü | Ü (uuh) | ඉ් | Fünf | five |
| ß | Eszett (ess-set) | එස්-සෙට් | Straße | street |
The German alphabet has 30 characters - 26 from English + Ä, Ö, Ü, and ß. No German word ever begins with ß.
ජර්මන් අකුරු මාලාවේ අකුරු 30ක් ඇත - ඉංග්රීසි 26 + Ä, Ö, Ü, ß. කිසිදු ජර්මන් වචනයක් ß අකුරෙන් ආරම්භ නොවේ.
Special characters - the German extras
Ä ä - Eyyy
/ɛ/
Like 'e' in 'bed'. Hidden 'e' after the 'a'. Example: Bär (bear), Mädchen (girl)
Ö ö - Eyo
/ø/
Like 'i' in 'girl' - say 'ee' and round your lips. Example: Zwölf (twelve), schön (beautiful)
Ü ü - Eyu
/y/
Like 'oo' in 'dude' with pursed lips. Example: Fünf (five), früh (early)
ß - Eszett
/s/
Sounds exactly like 'ss'. Used after a long vowel or two vowels. Example: Straße (street), weiß (white)
Critical sounds - letters that differ from English
| Letter / Combo | Sounds like | Sinhala guide | Examples from the book |
|---|---|---|---|
| J | English 'Y' sound | ය | Jahr (year), Joghurt, Januar, Jung |
| V | English 'F' sound | ෆ | Vater (father), Vogel (bird), viele (many) |
| W | English 'V' sound | ව | Wasser (water), Woche (week), Winter |
| Z | 'ts' as in 'cats' | ට්ස | Zebra, Zeit (time), Zimmer (room), Zucker |
| ei / ai | 'eye' - like English 'I' | අයි | mein (my), sein (his), Mai (May), Bei (near) |
| ie | long 'ee' sound | ඊ | wie (how), Sie (you), Liebe (love), bieten |
| au | 'ow' as in 'cow' | ඔව් | auf (on), aus (from), auch (also), Auge (eye) |
| eu / äu | 'oy' as in 'boy' | ඔයි | heute (today), neu (new), Häuser (houses) |
| sch | 'sh' as in 'ship' | ෂ | Schule (school), Fisch (fish), Englisch |
| ch | soft throat / 'sh' at start | ශ් / ශ | ich (I), Buch (book), Chemie (chemistry) |
| sp / st | 'shp' / 'sht' at word start | ෂ්ප / ෂ්ට | sprechen (speak), Sport, Stühle (chairs) |
| qu | 'kv' sound | ක්ව | Qualität (quality), Quittung (receipt) |
| pf | both p+f pronounced fast | ප්ෆ | Pferd (horse), Pfennig (penny) |
| -ig (end) | 'ish' sound at word end | ඉශ් | zwanzig (twenty), richtig (correct), billig |
| tion | 'tsion' sound | ට්සිऔ | Lektion (lesson), Station, Situation |
| -e (end) | soft 'uh' at end of word | ෙ | Banane (banana), Lampe (lamp), Frage (question) |
| ß vs ss | ß after long vowel; ss after short | - | Straße / dass, heißen / bisschen |
Umlauts - the two dots that change everything (Ä, Ö, Ü)
The two dots above ä, ö, and ü are called an Umlaut. They signal that a hidden 'e' follows the vowel - so ä = ae, ö = oe, ü = ue. They completely change how the vowel sounds.
ä sounds like 'e' in melon
ඇ - 'bed' හි 'e' ශබ්දය
Bär (bear), Äpfel (apples), Mädchen (girl)
ö sounds like 'i' in girl
ඔ් - 'girl' හි 'i' ශබ්දය
schön (beautiful), hören (listen), mögen (like)
ü sounds like 'oo' with pursed lips
ඉ් - තොල් රවුම් කර 'ඊ' කියන්න
Füße (feet), müde (tired), Bücher (books)
Double vowels & consonants - Doppelvokale
When you see aa, ee, or oo the vowel sound is simply long (held longer). When you see double consonants like nn, mm, ss, ff, the vowel before them is short.
Haare (long 'ah')
හාරෙ
hair - double 'a' = long vowel
leer (long 'ay')
ලේර්
empty - double 'e' = long vowel
offen (short 'o')
ඔෆෙන්
open - double 'f' = short vowel before it
Wasser (short 'a')
වසා
water - double 's' = short vowel before it
Spelling your name - Buchstabieren
In German, when asked 'Buchstabieren Sie bitte Ihren Namen?' (Please spell your name), you say each letter using its German name. This comes up in the A1 speaking exam.
Buchstabieren Sie bitte Ihren Nachnamen?
බූශ්ෂ්ටාබීරන් සී බිටෙ ඉරෙන් නාශ්නාමෙන්?
Please spell your surname?
N – E – U – M – A – N – N
එන් – එ – උ – එම් – ආ – එන් – එන්
Spelling 'Neumann'
Vowel combinations - always the same sound
ei / ai → 'eye'
mein (my), sein (his), dein (your), Mai (May), Ei (egg)
au → 'ow' (as in cow)
auf (on), aus (from), auch (also), Auge (eye), August
ie → long 'ee'
wie (how), Sie (you), bieten (offer), Sieben (seven), nie (never)
eu / äu → 'oy' (as in boy)
heute (today), neu (new), Europa, Häuser (houses)
Four rules to tattoo on your brain: J sounds like Y · V sounds like F · W sounds like V · Z sounds like TS. Ignore these and every German word sounds wrong. Get these right and you'll instantly sound more German.
හිතේ ලියාගන්න රීති 4ක්: J = Y ශබ්දය · V = F ශබ්දය · W = V ශබ්දය · Z = TS ශබ්දය. මේ 4 හරිට ඉගෙන ගත්තාම ජර්මන් ශබ්ද රටා ඉතාම හොඳින් කියවෙනවා.
Consonant sounds - from the book (Deutsche Aussprache)
| Sound | Rule | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| r | Raspy, back-of-throat gargling sound | rot (red), reiten (ride), Lehrer (teacher) |
| ch (after a,o,u,au) | Like 'ch' in 'Loch Ness' | Buch (book), auch (also), Nacht (night) |
| ch (other positions) | Soft sound, like 'sh' with friction | ich (I), mich (me), welche (which) |
| ch (start of word) | Sounds like 'sh' | Chemie (chemistry), China, Chef (boss) |
| pf | Both p and f, said quickly | Pferd (horse), Pfennig (penny), pflücken (pick) |
| qu | Sounds like 'kv' | Qualität (quality), Quittung (receipt) |
| sp (start) | Sounds like 'shp' | sprechen (speak), Sport, Spiel (game) |
| st (start) | Sounds like 'sht' | Straße (street), stehen (stand), studieren (study) |
| -ig (end) | Sounds like '-ish' | zwanzig (20), richtig (correct), ruhig (calm) |
| tion | Sounds like 'tsion' | Lektion (lesson), Station, Situation |
| -e, -er (end) | Soft 'uh' sound | Banane (banana), Frage (question), Vater (father) |
| -chen (end) | Soft 'shen' + word is always neuter | Mädchen (girl), Brötchen (bread roll) |
| chs | Sounds like 'ks' or 'x' | sechs (six), wachsen (grow) |
| vowel + h | H makes the vowel long (silent h) | fahren (drive), sehr (very), nehmen (take) |
The Eszett (ß) is not a 'B' - it is a sharp 'ss' sound. Use ß after a long vowel or two vowels (Straße, weiß). Use 'ss' after a short vowel (dass, Wasser). If you're unsure, writing 'ss' is always acceptable.
ß අකුර 'B' නොවේ - එය තියුණු 'ss' ශබ්දයකි. දිග ස්වරයකට හෝ ස්වර දෙකක් ඇති තැන ß භාවිතා කරන්න (Straße, weiß). කෙටි ස්වරයකට 'ss' භාවිතා කරන්න (dass, Wasser).
Check your understanding
How is 'J' pronounced in German? (as in 'Jahr' = year)