German pronunciation can seem a little unfamiliar.

You might look at a word packed with consonants or spot vowels with tiny dots over them and wonder, “How on earth do I say that?”

As someone who has spent years teaching German, I can tell you this:

German pronunciation is actually very logical.

Unlike English, where the letter “a” can make five different sounds depending on the word, German is highly phonetic.

Once you learn the rules, you can read almost any German word out loud correctly.

In this guide, I’ll break down the trickiest sounds for beginners, including those famous dotted letters called umlauts.

What are umlauts in German?

An umlaut is a vowel that has two tiny dots over it.

In the German alphabet, there are three of these: Ä, Ö, and Ü.

Those two little dots are incredibly important. They completely change the sound of the letter. If you ignore the dots, you’re saying a completely different word!

For example, schon means “already”, but schön means “beautiful”.

If you’re typing on an English keyboard and can’t find the umlauts, don’t worry. The official way to write them without a German keyboard is to add an “e” after the vowel.

• Ä becomes ae
• Ö becomes oe
• Ü becomes ue

How to pronounce German umlauts

Getting your mouth to make these sounds can feel a bit strange at first, but there’s a very simple physical trick for each one.

Here’s a simple breakdown of how to pronounce the Ä, Ö, and Ü.

The Ä (a-umlaut)

The Ä is the easiest umlaut for English speakers to master. It sounds very similar to the “e” in the English word “ten” or “melon”.

Here’s how you might use an Ä in a sentence:

The Ö (o-umlaut)

The Ö doesn’t have a perfect equivalent in American English, but it sounds a lot like the “i” in the British pronunciation of “bird”.

The trick to saying Ö:

1. Shape your lips into a tight circle, exactly like you’re about to say an “O”.
2. Keep your lips frozen in that “O” shape.
3. Now, try to say the English letter “A” (as in “say”).

The Ü (u-umlaut)

The Ü is usually the trickiest one for English speakers, but the physical trick works perfectly here too.

The trick to saying Ü:

1. Shape your lips into a tight circle, exactly like you’re about to say “OO” (like in “moon”).
2. Keep your lips frozen in that tight “OO” shape.
3. Now, try to say the English sound “EE” (like in “see”).

Other tricky German sounds

Umlauts aren’t the only letters that trip up beginners. Here are a few other common German sounds you should know about.

The German R

The German “R” changes depending on where it sits in a word.

If it’s at the beginning of a word, it’s usually pronounced in the back of your throat. It sounds a bit like you’re gargling water.

If it’s at the end of a word (like in Mutter or Wasser), it softens up completely. It drops the “r” sound entirely and sounds like a short “uh” (like the “a” in “sofa”).

The CH sound

The “CH” combination has two different sounds in German, depending on the vowel that comes before it.

• The soft CH: When “ch” comes after i, e, ä, ö, or ü, it makes a hissing sound. It sounds like a cat hissing, or the “h” sound at the very beginning of the English word “huge”. Example: ich (I).
• The hard CH: When “ch” comes after a, o, or u, it makes a rough, raspy sound in the back of the throat. It sounds like the “ch” in the Scottish word “Loch”. Example: Buch (book).

The W and V sounds

These two letters love to swap places with English!

• The German W is pronounced like an English “V”. (e.g., Wasser sounds like “Vasser”).
• The German V is pronounced like an English “F”. (e.g., Vater sounds like “Fater”).

The Eszett (ß)

You’ll often see a letter that looks like a capital B with a tail. This is called the Eszett or scharfes S (sharp S).

It’s not a B at all. It’s simply a way to write a sharp, double “S” sound. You just pronounce it exactly like the “s” in the English word “snake”.

Regional variations in German pronunciation

It’s important to know that the German you hear on TV is called Hochdeutsch (Standard German). However, people sound different depending on where you travel in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland!

Here are a few common regional differences you might notice:

• Rolling the R: In Standard German, the R is made in the back of the throat. But in Southern Germany (like Bavaria), Austria, and Switzerland, people often “roll” their R’s using the tip of their tongue, just like in Spanish or Italian.
• The “ig” ending: Words that end in “-ig” (like zwanzig meaning “twenty”) are pronounced with a soft “ch” sound at the end in Standard German (zvan-tsich). But if you go to Southern Germany or Austria, they pronounce it with a hard “k” sound (zvan-tsik).
• The Swiss “CH”: In Switzerland, almost all “ch” sounds are pronounced with a very hard, raspy throat sound, even the soft ones!

Summary and practice tips

German pronunciation is very consistent. Once you learn that “W” sounds like “V”, or how to shape your lips for the “Ü”, you’ll be able to read brand new words correctly without guessing.

Here are my top tips for beginners:

• Use a mirror when practicing the Ö and Ü. Make sure your lips are actually freezing in that circle shape!
• Don’t worry about sounding perfect right away. Even if you use a normal English “u” instead of a “ü”, Germans will usually still understand you through context.
• Listen to German audio every day. The more you hear the language naturally, the faster your brain will absorb these new sounds.