The German alphabet consists of 26 letters, just as the English alphabet does. However, the letters are pronounced differently, which is why every beginner has to learn the alphabet before starting any lessons in the language. There are many similarities between German and English, such as in the use of the letter /q/. It is only used with /u/ as in words that have /qu/ in them. Even though the letter /x/ has basically the same sound as it does in English, words with this sound are usually written with the letters /chs/ or /cks/.
The alphabet is very easy to learn when you learn German because the letters have similar sounds to those in English. B has exactly the same sound when it occurs at the beginning or a word, but it sounds like P when it occurs at the end of a word. C has five different sounds in German depending on its position in a word. There are few words that begin with this letter in the language.
The following examples will give you an idea of the different pronunciations:
- Caser ?c sounds like /ts/
- Chaos ?c has a /k/ sound
- Chance ?c has the sound of /sh/
- Check ?c sounds like /ch/
- China the /h/ sound of the word is heavily pronounced
The sound of in German words is very guttural and pronounced far back in the throat. In words that contain the stress on the /h/ sound is very heavy. When you pronounce words that begin with /D/, the sound of this letter is the same as English. However, when the letter occurs at the end of a word, it has the sound of /t/. /H/ is another letter that has the same sound in both English and German. However, when this letter is followed by a vowel, it is silent and is not pronounced at all. When you pronounce words containing the letter /r/, you make a gargled sound. /S/ sounds almost like /z/.
There is another letter in the German language that is not included in the alphabet. This is /B/, but it is not written as a standard B. It is more rounded and has the sound of a double ss. This letter never occurs at the beginning of a word. You will find in the middle of words and there is only one form of the letter, which makes it look as if there is an upper case letter in the middle of a word.
Take time to practice saying all the letters of the alphabet and get used to saying words that contain these letters. When you take a course in German, you will see the pronunciation of the word written out in English for you, but you should listen to the letters being read by a native German speaker to get a true feel for the correct pronunciation. Then when you do start learning vocabulary words and grammar it will be easier for you to read passages in German correctly.
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