German Made Simple: Learn to Speak and Understand German Quickly and Easily (12 page)

V v
(fow)

W w
(vay)

X x
(īx)

Y y
(īpsīlon)

Z z
(tsĕt)

ü (
u-Umlaut
) ö (
o-Umlaut
)

Qu
appears in a few words, and is pronounced
kv
. Thus:
Quartier
(
kvahr-
teer
) quarters.

y
is found only in a few proper names. Thus:
Meyer
(also spelled
Meier
and
Mayer
) and
Bayern
(
bei
-ern
)
Bavaria.

The German Letters s, ss and ß

German orthography knows three different kinds of “s”: “s,” “ss” and “ß.” It is extremely important to know the difference between these three kinds of “s.”

“ss” stands after short vowel sounds and is not voiced: Fluss, essen, dass

“ß” stands after diphthongs (au, eu, äu, ai) and after long vowels. It is also not voiced: heißen, groß, weiß
“s” is usually voiced and stands between two vowels: leise, Wiese, Riese. It can, however, be also not voiced and be found at the beginning, the middle and end of German words: das, bis, super.

Summary of Vowel Sounds

Long	Short
Ger. Vowel ā ē ī ō ū	ă ĕ ĭ ŏ ŭ
Pron. Key ah ay ee oh	ă ĕ ĭŏ
ā Vater ( fah - ter ) father	ă Mann ( mānn ) man; was ( văs ) what
ē zehn ( tsayn ) ten	ĕ Wetter ( vĕt - ter ) weather
ī wir ( veer ) we; die ( dee ) the	ĭ Winter ( vin - ter ) winter
ō Brot ( broht ) bread	ŏ Onkel ( ŏ n -kel ) uncle
ū Schule ( sh -le ) school	ŭ Butter ( boo - ter ) butter
zählen ( tsay - len ) to count	März ( mĕrtz ) March
hören ( h - ren ) to hear	zwölf ( tsv oUlf ) twelve
fühlen ( f h - len ) to feel	füllen ( f l - len ) to fill