German is one of the European languages ​​spoken by 120 million people. If you know him, you can communicate freely with Germans, Austrians, Swiss, residents of Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. These are not all countries where many people speak the language of Heine and Nietzsche. Learning any language starts with the alphabet, and German is no exception.

How many letters are in the German alphabet?

The German alphabet consists of 26 letters. It is also based on Latin, but has its own characteristics. Characters that make the language special are umlauts (dotted vowels like Ä-ä, Ü-ü, Ö-ö) and the ß ligature.

The language of Kafka and Mann has a phonetic basis. If you study the sound system, it will be clear how the word is spelled, and its graphic image will not cause obstacles in pronunciation.

How many vowels are in the German alphabet?

Vowels in German 8, they make twice as many sounds.

Vowels in German can be long and short, the length of vowels can change the semantic meaning completely. As in most European languages, German also has diphthongs:

• Ei - (ai);
• Ai - (ai);
• Ie - long(s);
• Eu - (oh);
• Äu - (oh);
• Au - (au).

Vowels in words form open and closed syllables. In an open or conditionally closed syllable, when the form of the word changes, the syllable can again become open.

How many consonants are in the German letter?

There are 21 consonants in the German alphabet.

Letter	Name	Pronunciation	Note
bb	(bae)	Subordinated to the same orthoepic norms as a similar sound in Russian (b)
CC	(ce)		Participates in combinations ch and chs; before e and i in some cases one "c" is pronounced as (ts). In borrowings, it can act as (c)
Dd	(de)	Like Russian (d)
FF	(ef)	Gives sound (f)	A similar sound in German gives the letter "v"
gg	(ge)	Sounds like (d)	At the end of a word, next to ig, it sounds like (xx), close to (u)
hh	(Ha)	Sound like (x)	Often, words are indicated only in writing, one of the unpronounceable consonants of the language. Often it is reduced between vowels and at the absolute end of a word.
jj	(yot)	Sometimes like (dz) or (h)
Kk	(ka)	Pronounced traditionally as (k)	The -ck remains a sound (k)
Ll	(el)	Pronunciation is similar to Russian (l)
mm	(Em)	Gives sound (m)
Nn	(en)	Gives a sound (n)
pp	(pe)	Gives a sound (p)
Qq	(ku)	Usually like (to)	If in alliance with qu, sound comes out (kv)
Rr	(er)	Slightly burry (p)	At the end of the word can be transformed into (a)
Ss	(es)	(h) at the beginning of a word	At the end of the word, stunned to (s)
Tt	(te)	Gives sound (t)
vv	(fau)	Gives sound (f)	In borrowings gives a sound (in)
www	(ve)	Gives a sound (in)
xx	(X)	(ks)
Yy	(upsilon)	Gives sounds (y) and (y:)
Zz	(tset)	Traditionally gives a combination of sounds (ts)

Features of consonants and their combinations in German

• The letter C forms an affricate with h - ch (хх) or (с);
• chs gives sound (ks);
• before e and i in some cases one "c" is pronounced as (ts).

Other cases are no less interesting:

1. The neighborhood of the letters Sch gives the sound (sh).
2. The affricate ph produces the sound (f).
3. The combination of letters ts is pronounced as (ts). The ligature ß (escet) stands apart, which expresses a short sound similar to Russian (c). It usually stands in the middle of a word or at its end.
4. DT or TH give the same sound (t).
5. The combinations of the letters tsch are like the sound (h).
6. And Z or TZ give rise to sound (c).

German alphabet and speech. 15 interesting facts

1. Until about the 12th century, runic writing was widespread in Germany.
2. Since the 15th century, the Schwabacher font, which belongs to the Gothic style of writing, has spread. It was common until the beginning of the last century. However, in the century before last, it began to be supplanted first by fraction, and later by antiqua. They were officially recognized only after the Revolution of 1918.
3. Since the 20s of the twentieth century, the Zütterlin font has become popular.
4. In 1903, a special telephone directory was published for reading German words by sounds. Initially, they tried to convey the letters as numbers, but this was a hard-to-remember way.
5. In military affairs, when encrypting, the ligature ß and the affricate ch were replaced by letter combinations.
6. During the reign of Hitler, they tried to revive the imperial type, but the idea did not take root.
7. The stress in German usually falls on the first syllable. When a word has an unstressed prefix, the stress shifts to the second syllable.
8. All nouns in German writing, regardless of their place in a sentence, are capitalized.
9. The word "girl" in German is neuter. And this is not an isolated case: such inconsistencies often occur in the language.
10. Some phraseological units in German are funny when translated directly. The phrase, which we would translate as "You have a pig!", Means that a person was called lucky. With the words "This is not your beer!" Germans remind each other not to interfere in other people's business.
11. The word "fraer", which is considered jargon in Russian speech, came from German. They call him the groom.
12. The longest German word still used in speech and writing consists of 63 letters.
13. The words “treasure”, “Romeo” and even “stallion” often become affectionate words in relation to the beloved among the Germans.
14. John Gutenberg printed the first book on his machine not in German, but in Latin. The famous Bible in German translation appeared 10 years later.
15. German could become the official language in the USA. After the Civil War, at a meeting of Congress, the English won by chance. It received one more vote than the German language.

Related videos

In the German alphabet there is 26 latin letters, three characters "a-umlaut", "o-umlaut", "u-umlaut", which are indicated using a diacritical mark in the form of two dots above the letter - spelling: ä, ö, ü, and ligature - ß.

Umlaut says that the sound, supplemented by two dots above the letter, is phonetically different from the sound that is indicated by this very letter without umlaut, and is read, respectively, in a different way:

ä - reads like "e",

ö - similar to the Russian "ё", pronounced together with "o",

ü - like "yu" in a word, for example, "Lucy".

The ß sign, called escet, stands for a long "s". At the same time, he also indicates that the previous vowel has an elongated sound, and the combination of two letters s ("ss") in a row shortens the sound of the vowel in front of them.

Set of German characters ä, ö, ü and ß on a keyboard without a German layout

Due to the fact that Esset and letters with umlauts have a sound different from the double "s" and letters without dots above them, the umlaut cannot be omitted in order to prevent ambiguity.

When typing German text on the keyboard if the German keyboard layout is not installed, the question arises of the designation of special German characters. There are several ways to fix this problem.

We print in German or Common ways to replace German characters

A sign with an umlaut can be replaced when writing with the following letter combination: a letter without an umlaut + the letter "e":

Ä - ae,

Ö - oe,

Ü-ue.

In the case of characters with an umlaut, there are designations for lowercase and uppercase letters.

Replacement "escet"

You can use ss instead of ß.

Given that the ß ligature has only a lowercase style, then if necessary, write a word with ß in capital letters, you can use the same method - replace the escet with the letter combination SS. With such a replacement of escet, you need to be careful, since there are words in which replacing the ligature ß with a double s can lead to the formation of three consecutive consonants s, which is not very correct, although it is currently acceptable.

In such cases

• it is better to replace ß with sz (Maszstab)
• or separate the word with a hyphen between the double ss, which replaces the ß sign, and the letter s following in the word (Mass-stab).

Using German characters in "Microsoft Word"

• Find in the "Microsoft Word" menu in the "Insert" tab, select the "Symbols" section - the corresponding window will open in which you need to find the corresponding symbol and then click the "Insert" button.
• You can use the keyboard shortcut listed at the bottom of this window. For example, the following keyboard shortcuts correspond to certain German characters:

Ctrl+Shift+W, U - Ü,

Ctrl+Shift+W, A - Ä,

Ctrl+Shift+W, O - Ö,

ctrl+? S-ß.

Copy method

The easiest way is to find the already typed German text, which is in the computer's memory or on the Internet, and copy all the necessary for printing characters ä, ö, ü, ß to the buffer. Subsequently, insert these characters as needed, referring to the clipboard.

This method, like the previous one, is good if you type German texts rarely, from time to time. If you need to constantly use the German layout, then the above methods are not very convenient. So, it is necessary to write the necessary characters to the clipboard every time after turning on "Microsoft Word", since after turning off the computer, the clipboard is reset to zero, the information in the buffer is not saved.

Setting the German keyboard layout

If, nevertheless, you often have to type texts in German, for example, to correspond with partners from Germany, Austria, etc. or communicate on social networks with German-speaking interlocutors, then The best way is still to set the German keyboard layout.

To install such a layout, you can use the Start menu, following the algorithm:

Start - Settings - Control Panel - Regional and Language Options - Languages ​​- Installed Services - Add - German (Germany).

At the same time, it is also desirable to remember where the signs with umlauts and escet are located on the keyboard. So, in the German layout, the ß ligature is located to the right of zero on the alphanumeric block, and the signs ä, ö, ü are also located on the right side of the keyboard on the same keys with the Russian letters e, zh, x, respectively.

In addition, Y is used quite rarely in German, so this letter on the keyboard is in a different place compared to the standard Latin layout. In the German keyboard layout, the positions of the letters Z and Y are reversed.

Writing characters ä, ö, ü, ß through the English layout

It is possible to set distinctive German characters using the English layout (US - International). In this case, the signs ä, ö, ü, and ß correspond to combinations of the Alt key with the letters q, p, y, s, respectively, that is

Ä - Alt + q,

Ö - Alt + p,

Ü - Alt + y,

ß - Alt + s.

In any case, the choice of how to type special German characters is up to the user. :))

Also, the methods are also described in this video on my LifeIstGut channel on Youtube!))

Subscribe to blog updates + get a free book with German phrases, + subscribe toYOU-TUBE channel.. with instructional videos and videos about life in Germany.

Each language has its own special, unique sound system, which you need to get acquainted with, since a person who does not know the correct pronunciation will not be able to correctly perceive foreign speech by ear and will not be able to be understood correctly. The German language, along with sounds peculiar only to him, has a number of sounds, the pronunciation of which practically coincides with the corresponding sounds of the Russian language.

In German 42 sounds, for which records are used 26 letters Latin alphabet. Both in German and in Russian, vowels and consonants are distinguished. The German language has 15 simple vowels, 3 complex two-vowel sounds (diphthongs) and 24 consonants.

German alphabet

Ha

upsilon

Additional German letters to the Latin alphabet:

a-umlaut

u-umlaut

o-umlaut

escet

Vowel sounds The German language has two features:

1. At the beginning of a word or root, vowels are pronounced with a strong attack, resembling a slight click, which gives the German speech a jerky sound that is not characteristic of the Russian language.

2. Vowels are divided into long and short, which explains their greater number in comparison with the Russian language.

Long vowels are pronounced more intensely than the vowels of the Russian language, and do not change their character during the entire time of sounding. The consonant following the long vowel freely adjoins it, as if with a short pause. When transmitting German sounds in Russian letters, the length of vowels is indicated by a colon after the corresponding letter.

short vowels are pronounced more briefly than Russian vowels. The consonant sound following the short vowel tightly adjoins it, as if cutting it off.

Please update/change your browser if you experience problems with the audio player below.

The length and shortness of vowels often have a semantic meaning and determine the general character and rhythm of German speech:

Stadt	state	city	-	Staat	state	state
offen	about fan	open	-	Ofen	about: fan	stove

Vowel pronounced for a long time:

a. in an open syllable, that is, a syllable ending in a vowel:

Vater f a:ta

Leben l e:Ben

b. in a conditionally closed syllable, i.e., a syllable that, when a word changes, can be opened:

Tag t a:to

Ta-ge t a:ge

On the letter, the length of the vowel is indicated:

a. doubling the letter

meer me:a

b. letter h after a vowel

Uhr y: a

in. letter e after i

Sie zi:

Vowel pronounced briefly, if followed by a consonant or group of consonants:

Consonants The German language has the following features:

a. they are pronounced more intensely than the corresponding Russian consonants;

b. German voiceless consonants p, t, k are pronounced with a breath, especially at the end of a word;

in. German consonants, unlike the corresponding Russian consonants, are never softened;

d. unlike the Russian language, where the voiceless consonant is voiced under the influence of the voiced consonant following it (from is tunnel, but: out from at home), in German the opposite phenomenon occurs: a voiceless consonant partially deafens the voiced one following it, remaining deaf (das Bad das bpa:t).

stress in German, it usually falls on the root of a word or on a prefix, that is, on the first syllable. When you change a word, the stress does not change. The pronunciation of German words is transmitted in this manual in Russian letters without the use of generally accepted transcription marks. The transcription of the word and the stressed vowel are in different fonts. Such transcription allows (with some exceptions) to pronounce German words and sentences quite correctly.

Please note that when you hover over the Russian transcription, the IPA transcription will be displayed. This is for especially advanced students, if you do not need it, use only Russian.

Pronunciation of German vowels

Sound represented by letters a, aa, Ah, pronounced like Russian a(long) in the word "brother" or a(short) in the word "tact": baden b a: Dan, Saal for: l, Fahrt fa:at, Satz zats .

Sound represented by letters ä , Ah, pronounced like Russian uh in the word "era": Väter f e: that, wahlen in e: linen , Manner m uh on the .

Sound represented by letters i, ie, ih, pronounced like Russian and in the word "blue": mir mi:a, sieben h and:ben, Ihr i:a, Mitte m and te, Tisch hush .

Sound represented by letters e, her, eh, pronounced like Russian uh or e in the words "these", "believe", "measure": nehmen n e: maine See ze:, gehen G e: en, Geld gelt, sechs zex. In an unstressed final syllable (endings -en, -er), as well as in some prefixes (for example: be-, ge- etc.) this sound is not pronounced clearly and is similar to Russian uh in the word "should": fahren f a: ren, beginnen bag and nan .

However, especially attentive listeners could notice the overtones of the "and" sound in the words Leben and See. There is no such sound in either Russian or English, pay attention to it when listening to German speech. Pronounce it like Russian [e / e], and the position of the lips is like for [i]. You can also try to pronounce the diphthong [hey] without completely pronouncing the second part of the sound, i.e. the first part of the sound is [e / e], and the second [th], [th] just to the end and is not pronounced. Let's listen again:

Sound represented by letters oh oh oh, pronounced like Russian about(long) in the word "will" or about(short) in the word "clown": Oper about :pa ohne about :ne , Boot bo:t, Rolle R about le .

Sound represented by letters u, uh, pronounced like Russian at in the word "I will": du du:, Uhr y: a, hundert X at ndat .

Sound represented by letters u, uh, is absent in Russian. It's pronounced like Russian Yu in the words "jury", "mashed potatoes": führen f Yu: ren, funf funf, Ubung Yu:bun(g). Rounding the lips, as for [y], we pronounce [and]. Although in Russian transcription it will be designated as [yu], with the sound [yu] he not is.

Sound represented by letters oh, oh, is also absent in Russian. Rounding the lips, as for [o], we pronounce [e]. Reminds me of Russian yo : schön w yo: n, Sohne h yo:ne, Loffel l yo fel, offnen yo fnen . Although in Russian transcription it will be denoted as [e], with the sound [e] he not is.

ei, ai, pronounced like Russian ah into the words "give": drei dry, Weise in a yze .

Diphthong denoted by letters au, pronounced like Russian ay in the word "howitzer": blau bl a at, Faust f a mouth .

Diphthong denoted by letters eu, au, pronounced like Russian oh in the word "your": neu Noah, Hauser X oh per .

Pronunciation of German consonants

Many consonant sounds of German are pronounced almost the same as the corresponding sounds of Russian: b b, p P, w in, f f, s c or h(before a vowel or between two vowels), k to,g G,n n, m m, z c.

Sound represented by letters ch(after e, i, ö, ü and after l, m, n) pronounced like soft Russian xx in the word "chemistry": welche in uh lhe, richtig R and htikh , manchmal m a nkhmal .

The sound represented by the letter h(at the beginning of a word or syllable) is pronounced as a noisy exhalation to the next vowel. In Russian, this sound is absent, however, it is enough to pronounce Russian [x] with a light exhalation: halt halt, Herz hertz .

Sound represented by letters l, ll, pronounced as an average between Russian soft l(in the word "summer") and solid l(in the word "lacquer"): Ball ball, alt alto .

The sound represented by the letter j, pronounced like Russian th before the corresponding vowels (for example: "Christmas tree", "pit", "south"): Jacke ya ke, jemand ye:manta .

R pronunciation

Consonant sound denoted by a letter r, can also sound like a vowel sound close to the Russian sound a.

1. After long vowels (with the exception of long "a") in stressed and unstressed syllables that are final, for example:
   factor f a who: a,wir in and:a, Clavier clave and:a, Nature nat at:a .

   There may be exceptions:
   Haar ha:r, Ha: ; Bart Bart, ba:at ; Arzt arts, a:tst ; Quark quark, kva:k ; Quartz quartz, kva:c ; Harz harz

2. In unstressed prefixes: er-, her-, ver-, zer-, for example:
   erfahren eaf a:ren , verbringen February and:n(g)en , zerstampfen zeasht a mpfeng , hervor heaf about:a .
3. In the final unstressed - er, and also when consonants follow it, for example:
   Vater f a that, immer i:ma, besser b uh:sa, anders a ndas, Kindern to and ndang, auf Wiedersehen auf in and:daze:en .

In other cases, it is pronounced as a consonant sound. There are three types of pronunciation of the consonant sound "r" (the 2nd option is now more common):

1. If you touch your fingers at the base of your neck and try to pronounce "r" so that your fingertips feel it, you get the first "r".
2. If you pronounce "g", try to continue the sound ("gggggg..r.."), you get the second sound ("growl of the tiger").
3. The sound pronounced with the tip of the tongue is thus the "Russian" "r".

Remember the rules for reading some letter combinations:

ch after a, o, u it is read like Russian X: Buch boo:x, Fach fah; after all other vowels, as well as after l, m, n is read as xx: recht recht, Wichtig in and htikh Milch milch .

chs, as well as the letter X, read like Russian ks: wechseln in uh kseln .

ck reads like Russian to: Stuck piece, Ecke uh ke .

sch reads like Russian w: Schuh shu:, waschen in a: sheng .

st PCS: Stella PCS uh le .

sp read at the beginning of a word or root like Russian sp: Spiel spire, sprechen sprechen .

tz reads like Russian c: Platz parade ground, sitzen h and tsen .

ng reads like ... English sound [ŋ]. The back of the tongue closes with the lowered soft palate, and air passes through the nasal cavity. In order to achieve the desired position of the organs of speech, one can inhale through the nose with the mouth wide open, then pronounce the sound [ŋ] while exhaling air through the nose. In Russian transcription, we will denote as n(g), because G there still sometimes they pronounce, as in the first word: Übung Yu:bung, verbringen February and:n(g)en , Ding dyn(g). Also this sound is in combination nk: bank baŋk, links liŋx, tanken t aŋken .

From letter to sound

Letters of the German alphabet	Russian transcription	Examples
ah, ah, ah	a:	Rat	pa:t
		Saat	per:t
		fahren	f a:ren
a	a	wann	van
ah, ah	e:	spat	sp:t
		zahlen	c uh:linen
ai	ah	Mai	May
au	ay	also	a wow
au	oh	Hauser	X about yza
b, bb	b	bitte	b and te
		ebbe	uh bae
(at the end of a word)	P	ab	up
With	to	Cafe	cafe e:
ch (after a, o, u)	X	Nacht	nakht
(after other vowels and after l, m, n)	xx	ich	uh
chs	ks	sechs	zex
ck	to	wecken	in uh ken
d, dd	d	dort	dort
		Kladde	class a de
(at the end of a word)	t	bald	balt
dt	t	Stadt	state
e, her, eh	e:, e:	er	e:a
	e: (and)	Tee	those: (and)
		gehen	ge:en
e	uh	etwas	uh yours
		dieses	d and: ze
ei	ah	mein	lane
eu	oh	neun	noin
fff	f	frei	fry
		Schiff	cipher
g, gg	G	gut	gu:t
		flagge	fl a ge
(at the end of a word)	to	Tag	So
(in suffix -ig)	xx	zwanzig	color a ncih
h  (at the beginning of a word and syllable)	X	haben	X a:ben
		behalten	bah a lten
(unreadable after vowels)		sehen	h e:en
i, ie, ih	and:	wir	w:a
		sieben	h and:ben
		Ihnen	i:nen
i	and	Zimmer	c and ma
j	th	Jahr	th a:
k	to	kind	kint
l, ll	eh	elf	elf
		halle	X a le
m, mm	m	machen	m a hyung
		comment	to about maine
n, nn	n	Name	n a: me
		Dann	Dan
ng	n(g)	Ding	dyn(g)
oh, oh, oh	about:	oben	about: ben
		Boot	bo:t
		Ohr	o:a
o	about	night	nox
oh, oh	"yo:"	Mobel	m yo: belle
		Sohne	h yo: ne
		Öl	yo: eh
ö	"yo"	zwolf	zwölf
		offnen	and about: fnen
p, pp	P	parken	P a rken
		knapp	knap
pf	pf	Pfennig	poof
qu	sq.	Qualitat	qualite e: t
r, rh	R	Arbeiter	a rbyte
		Rhine	R a yin(Rhine)
r	a	wir	in and:a
		erfahren	eaf a:ren
		Vater	f a that
s  (before vowels or between vowels)	h	sagen	h a:gen
		unser	at nza
		Kase	to uh:ze
(at the end of a word)	With	das	das
ss, ß	With	lassen	l a sen
		Fuss	fu:s
sch	w	Schule	w at:le
sp	sp	sprechen	spr uh hyung
st	PCS	stellen	PCS uh linen
t, tt, th	t	Tisch	hush
		satt	zat
		Theater	te a: that
tz	c	setzen	h uh tsen
u, uh	at:	Dusche	d at: she
		Uhr	y: a
u	at	und	unt
u, uh	"Yu:"	Tur	ty:a
		fuhren	f Yu:ren
		uber	Yu: ba
ü	"Yu"	funf	funf
		uppig	Yu shove
v  (in German words)	f	vier	fi:a
(in foreign words)	in	visite	visas and: te
		November	new uh mba
w	in	Wagen	in a: gene
x	ks	Taxi	t a xi
y	"Yu:"	Lyrik	l Yu:rick
y	"Yu"	Zylinder	tsul and nda
z	c	zahlen	c a:linen

It's time to reinforce this skill on the other hand - learn how to write German letters by hand. Moreover, not printed letters, namely written ones.

What is it for?

1. First, by writing words by hand, we connect motor memory to the learning process. This is a valuable resource when learning a foreign language, it must be used!
2. Secondly, you are learning German not for virtual purposes, but for real life. But in real life, you really may need to fill out some forms, questionnaires in German, perhaps handwritten applications, etc.

But - you ask - are not those Latin letters that we know from mathematics or from English lessons enough? Aren't they the same letters?

And you will be partly right: of course, these are the same letters, but, as it should be for original cultures, there are some features in the German written font. And it is useful to know them so that when faced, to be able to read what is written.

And for many people, handwriting is far from the school norm, to put it mildly. And in order to parse this kind of handwritten "fonts", it is important to have your own writing skill, which has evolved through different situations - writing in a hurry, on scraps of paper, in uncomfortable positions, on a school board with chalk or marker, etc. But most importantly, you need to clearly imagine to himself the original, which each hand-writer undergoes his own individual changes. This original will be discussed later.

German written fonts

At the moment, there are several written German scripts that are used for teaching in elementary school, and, accordingly, are used later in life. In one Germany, for example, there are several "standards" adopted at different times. Some federal states have clear guidelines for the use of a certain font in elementary school, while others rely on the choice of the teacher.

latin script(Lateinische Ausgangsschrift) was adopted in Germany in 1953. In practice, it differs little from its predecessor of 1941, the most noticeable is the new look of the capital letter S and the new cursive spelling of the letters X, x (the horizontal dash in the center also left the capital X), plus the "loops" were abolished - in the center of capital letters E, R and in connecting dashes (arcs) of the letters O, V, W and Ö.

The GDR also made adjustments to the primary school curricula, and in 1958 the Schreibschrift-Vorlage script was adopted, which I do not show here, since it repeats the above version almost exactly, except for the following innovations:

• new cursive lowercase t (see next font)
• slightly modified spelling of the letter ß (see next font)
• the right half of the X, x is now slightly separated from the left
• dots over i and j became dashes, similar to dashes over umlauts
• the horizontal line at the capital Z disappeared

And 10 years later, in 1968, in the same GDR, in order to make it easier for schoolchildren to write, this font was further modified, radically simplifying the writing of capital letters! Of the lowercase, only x has been changed, the rest is inherited from the 1958 font. Once again, note the spelling of ß and t, as well as the slight differences in f and r compared to writing in the "Latin" font. As a result, the following happened.

school writing font(Schulausgangsschrift):

Germany also went in the direction of simplification, having developed its own version of a similar font in 1969, which they called “simplified”. The innovation and feature of this font was that all connecting dashes were brought to the same level, to the rather "line" of small letters.

Simplified written font(Vereinfachte Ausgangsschrift):

In general, it is not the same as the "school" font above, although there are some stylistic similarities. By the way, dots over i, j have been preserved, while strokes over umlauts, on the contrary, have become more like dots. Notice the lowercase s, t, f, z (!), as well as the ß.

It is worth mentioning one more option, under the solid name "base font" (Grundschrift), all the letters of which, both lowercase and uppercase, are more similar to printed ones, and they are written separately from each other. This variant, developed in 2011, is being tested in some schools and, if adopted at the national level, could replace the above three fonts.

Austrian script fonts

To complete the picture, I will give two more variants of the capital German alphabet, which are used in Austria. I will leave them without comment, for independent comparison with the above fonts, drawing your attention only to a couple of features - in the 1969 font in lowercase t and f, the crossbar is written the same way (with a "loop"). Another feature no longer concerns the alphabet itself - the spelling of the number 9 differs from the version to which we are accustomed.

Austrian school font 1969:

Austrian school font(Österreichische Schulschrift) 1995:

What written German font should I use?

With such a variety of "standard" fonts, a reasonable question is which one to follow in writing? There is no definitive answer to this question, but some recommendations can be made:

• If you are learning German with the aim of applying it to a specific country, such as Austria, choose between the written samples of that country. Otherwise, choose between the German variants.
• For independent learners of German at a conscious age, I would recommend the "Latin" written script. This is a real classic and traditional German writing. For an adult, it will not be difficult to master it. One way or another, you can try each of the above options and choose the one that you like best.
• For children who are just learning to write letters and it is important to learn them faster, you can choose between "school" and "simplified" fonts. The latter is perhaps more preferred.
• For language learners in a general education school, this issue is not particularly important, you need to follow the model that the teacher or textbook gives (and requires to follow). As a rule, in our schools this is the "Latin" script. Sometimes - his GDR modification of 1958, which gives out the way the lowercase t is written.

What should be the outcome of this lesson:

1. You must decide on the German font that you will follow on the letter. Try different options and make your choice.
2. You must learn to handwrite all the letters of the alphabet, uppercase and lowercase. Repeat the lesson, then practice writing all the letters of the alphabet (in order) from memory. When self-checking, carefully compare each of your strokes with the sample. Repeat this paragraph until you make a single mistake - neither in the spelling of the letters, nor in their order.

In the future, when doing writing assignments, from time to time compare your notes with a font sample, try to follow it always (including drafts), correct your handwriting. However, I will remind you of this.

A - pronounced like Russian a.

Please note that at the end b reads like voiceless Russian n.

C - used extremely rarely and usually in words of foreign origin. It is most often used in the letter combination CH, which sounds like the Russian Х after the German vowels A, O, U and the diphthong (letter combination) AU, in other cases it is pronounced like ХЬ. It should be noted that the German CH- very soft.

But there is still a difference from the Russian X. It is usually quite faintly audible and similar to English H. In Russian, a similar sound is observed in the word verse, fur.

In very few foreign words, CH can be read as Russian Sh or Ch.

• Chef[chief] - chief, boss
• Chic[chic] - chic

Letter C often used in words of foreign origin. It can be read like the Russian K, but not always.

Example:

• Christus[christus] - Christ
• Camping[camping] - camping

The letter combination CK is read as Russian К.

Nota bene! You may be a little confused by the number of possible readings, but almost always you will only encounter phrases. CH and CK, which are read strictly according to the rules. Remember just one very frequently used word, language.

Here we hear a voiced D at the beginning of a word and a voiceless T at the end of a word.

Sometimes you will see the phrase -dt, it is usually read as a simple Russian T.

E - pronounced like a weak Russian E. According to the expert, this letter in pronunciation is something in between the Russian E and I. The main thing when pronouncing E don't overdo the accent. The German E is always pronounced weakly, not at all like the Russian E in the words “this”, “era”.

endlich	finally
eng	narrow

In German, there is also a combination of two vowels. The combination of two vowels in German is called a diphthong. We have already seen such combinations with the letter A — AI, AU. But there they were read clearly, predictably. However, there are also differences.

What is a diphthong? This is the pronunciation of two vowels one after the other as a transition from one vowel to another. You pronounce the first vowel and, as if gradually, move on to the second.

A diphthong is a smooth transition from one vowel to another.

So diphthongs:

EI - pronounced close to Russian AI. Remember! Not HEY, namely AY!

BUT! Before the letter L, the diphthong EI is read as YAY. This is due to the peculiarities of the German letter L.

F - pronounced like Russian F.

H - reads like Russian Х (only very deaf, like a simple exhalation) only at the beginning of a word, root syllables and
some suffixes. Try to pronounce this sound only with your throat, as a normal exhalation.

In all other cases, this letter is not readable, but after a vowel it indicates the longitude of the vowel. In transcription, we will indicate longitude with a colon symbol - :

The letter combination IE - reads like a long Russian AND.

Attention! Vowel length in German is very important, because this often changes the meaning of the word. Therefore, try to "pull" long vowels longer.

K - reads like Russian K.

L - usually rendered as Russian L, although this is somewhat harder than the usual Russian L. Those. this is a soft L. Look at the example with the word Liebe on an example with IE. The double LL is pronounced the same as the single L.

Attention! Remember that doubling a consonant (LL, TT, MM) is an indication that the vowel that preceded them is short.

M - reads like Russian M.

N - reads like Russian Н. There is also the phrase NG, which is pronounced like a nasal N. At the same time, G is not even close there! Only long, nasal Russian N.

O - reads like Russian O.

P - reads like Russian П. The letter combination PH is read as Russian Ф.

The letter combination PF is read as a diphthong PF. Those. a sound in which the letter P smoothly turns into the letter F.

Q - is ALWAYS used as a letter combination QU, which is read as Russian KV.

Quark	cottage cheese
quer	across, transverse

R - and here we have big problems. Until now, this letter is read differently. We will give our expert interpretation.

So! At the beginning of a word or before a vowel, the German R is read as a voiceless R. NO Russian R! Remember the burring Lenin, if it's hard for you
imagine it. But after the vowel, the German R is not actually pronounced, although it is heard. Press your tongue against your lower teeth and WITHOUT THE HELP of your tongue, try to QUIETLY pronounce R only with your throat. This will be approximately what you need.

The letter combination RH is read like a regular German R.

There are also phrases -AR, -ER, -OR, -IER. Remember a simple rule.

At the end of a word/syllable, the R sound "falls out" and the vowel becomes more open. In the middle of a word/syllable, the R sound is pronounced like a normal German R. And in the case of -ER at the end of a word / syllable, we hear a barely perceptible throat A.

S - problems again. But it's pretty easy to remember. Before and between vowels - pronounced like Russian Z, at the end of the word - like Russian C. Double SS is read like short Russian C, sometimes it is displayed as the letter es-tset (ß) - which is similar in spelling to a small capital Russian letter V.

The letter combination SCH is read as Russian Ш

T - reads like Russian T (slightly aspirated). The letter combination TH is read like a normal German T. The letter combination TSCH is read like Russian
H, but a little harder.

W - reads like Russian В.