German Made Simple: Learn to Speak and Understand German Quickly and Easily (11 page)

Das Kind ist f
nf Jahre alt
.

Die Mutter k
sst das Kind
.

Wer w
nscht ein Glas Wasser?

Maríe f
llt das Glas voll Wasser
.

Das Glas ist d
nn
.

Modified vowels are called
umlaut
vowels. The dots above the letter indicate the modification.

Front ch

Front
ch
. No equivalent in English. To make front
ch
press the tip of the tongue firmly against the lower teeth and try to say
ĭsh, ĕsh
. The result will be front
ch
in
īch
and
ĕch
. (See Diagram in
Chapter 1
.)

ĭch bin	ĭch lērne	ĭch gehe	ĭch hābe
I am	I learn	I go	I have

sprĕchen	īch sprĕche	er sprīcht
shprĕ -chen	ĭch shprĕ-che	ayr shprĭcht
to speak	I speak	he speaks

Ich sprĕche Deutsch
.

Er sprīcht kein Deutsch
.

Ich stehe hier
.

Er steht nĭcht hier
.

Ich bin Studént
.

Er ist kein
(no)
Studént
(
shtoo-
dĕnt
).

Ist die Frau reich?

Nein, sie ist nīcht reich
.

Ich habe kein (no) Auto
.

Ich trinke Mīlch
.

Ich habe das Līcht
.

Wir sprechen nīcht Englisch
.

Back ch

Back
ch
. No equivalent sound in English. It is used after the vowels
a, o, u
. To create back
ch
place the tongue in position for
k
, and breathe out strongly as for
h
. This makes a sound like an outgoing snore. (See Diagram in
Chapter 1
.)

ăcht	Būch	Kū-chen	Tŏch-ter	sūcht
eight	book	cake	daughter	looks for

Wer hat das Būch?

Ich habe das Būch
.

Wie alt ist die Tŏchter?

Sie ist ăcht Jahre alt
.

Ist der Kūchen warm?

Nein, er ist nĭcht warm
.

Wer sūcht
(
z
cht
)
mĭch?

Die Mutter sūcht dĭch
(you).

Final g

At the end of a word
g
is pronounced like
k
. In many regions of Germany the
g
after
i
and
e
is pronounced like front
ch
, after
a, o
and
u
like back
ch
.

3. THE GERMAN ALPHABET. SUMMARY OF LETTERS AND SOUNDS

You have learned the German letters and their sounds, and have practiced them in words and sentences. In practicing these letters and their sounds, you have learned a small vocabulary of commonly used words.

This part starts with the complete German alphabet and the names of the letters.

It is most important to memorize the German alphabet by practicing it aloud, since the names of the letters, with one exception (y), illustrate their sounds.

The alphabet is followed by a summary of vowel and consonant sounds with pronunciation key.

Das Deutsche A B C The German A B C

A a
(ah)

B b
(bay)

C c
(tsay)

D d
(day)

E e
(ay)

F f
(ĕff)

G g
(gay)

H h
(hah)

I i
(ee)

J j
(yŏt
) (o as in short)