Letter pairs
Many German sounds are written with two or three letters together. Once you know a dozen pairs, you can read nearly every German word. The most useful trick of all: in ei and ie, say the English name of the second letter.
EI and IE
The second-letter trick
ei = "eye"
say the name of the second letter: i
EU, ÄU and AU
Two more pairs
eu · äu
like oy in boy
The two sounds of CH
Ich and ach
ch (soft)
after e, i, ä, ö, ü, or a consonant
SCH, SP and ST
The sh sounds
sch
like sh
A few more
IG, PF, QU and TSCH
-ig
like ich
All the pairs at a glance
| Letters | Sound | Words |
|---|---|---|
| ei, ai | like eye | mein my · drei three |
| ie | like ee in see | Bier beer · vier four |
| eu, äu | like oy in boy | neu new · Häuser houses |
| au | like ow in now | Haus house · Frau woman |
| ch after e, i, ä, ö, ü, a consonant | a soft hiss, like h in huge | ich I · Milch milk |
| ch after a, o, u, au | from the throat, like ch in Scottish loch | Buch book · auch also |
| sch | like sh | Schule school · Fisch fish |
| sp, st at the start | shp, sht | Sport · Straße street |
| -ig at the end | like ich | zwanzig twenty · König king |
| pf | p and f together | Apfel apple · Pferd horse |
| qu | kv | Quelle spring |
| tsch | like ch in church | Deutsch German · tschüss bye |
Practice
Listen: question 1
Press Play and listen.
Which word did Daniel say?
Hint
Solution
Daniel said Wien: ie is ee. (Wein, with ei, sounds like vine.)
Listen: question 2
Press Play and listen.
Which ch did Vicki say?
Hint
Solution
In Buch, ch follows u, so it is the throat sound.
Listen: question 3
Press Play and listen.
The word Daniel said means new. How is it written?
Hint
Solution
neu: eu sounds like oy.
How does st sound at the start of Straße?
Hint
Solution
At the start of a word, st is sht: SHTRAH-suh.
Use the second-letter trick: how do you say drei (three)?
Hint
Solution
ei: say the name of the second letter, i (eye): dry.
Next: the consonants that sound different from English: w, v, z, j, s, and the end of words.