In a bar/café
| English – German | A – C |
| D – F | |
| G – I | |
| J – L | |
| M – O | |
| P – R | |
| S – U | |
| V – Z | |
| German – English | A – C |
| D – F | |
| G – I | |
| J – L | |
| M – O | |
| P – R | |
| S – U | |
| V – Z |
In this book you are given the pronunciation of the phrases so that you will soon be able to recognize the different sounds. (The stressed syllable is marked in bold.) Here are a few rules you should know:
| German | sounds like | example | pronunciation |
| a | cup/father | das/Abend | das/ahbent |
| e | bed/hair | Bett/Meer | bet/mehr |
| o | not/road | oft/rot | oft/roht |
| u | put/boot | Nummer/gut | noommer/goot |
| ai/ay | pie | Mai/Mayer | my/my-er |
| au | now | Auto | owtoh |
| ei/ey | pie | eine/Meyer | yn-e/my-er |
| eu | toy | neun | noyn |
| ie | keep | sie | zee |
| ch | loch | wach | vakh |
| j | yes | jagen | yahgen |
| qu | dark violet | Quittung | kvittoong |
| s | dress dizzy ship | es sie sprechen | es zee shprekh-en |
| ß | juice | Fuß | foos |
| th | tea | Theater | teh-ahter |
| v | fan | von | fon |
| w | van | wir | veer |
| z | pets | Zimmer | tsimmer |
Umlauts
| German | sounds like | example | pronunciation |
| ä | bed/hair | hätte/spät | het-e/shpeht |
| äu | boy | läutet | loytet |
| ö | Arthur/fur | können/Höhe | kur’nen/hur’-e* |
| ü | duke/due | dürfen/Mühe | duerfen/mue-e |
* ur’ as in hurt without the r pronounced
A final e is always pronounced, but weakly like the e in the: Seide (zy-de), bitte (bit-e).
An underline indicates a short vowel, e.g. Mutter (mootter), Mörder (murder), Küste (kueste).
If an h is added after the vowel, the sound is longer, e.g. Tag (tahk), Mädchen (meht-khen), Leben (lehben), hoch (hohkh).
1 Germans may close doors more often than you are used to, but a closed door does not necessarily mean that the person cannot be disturbed. They are probably happy to receive you if you knock before entering.
2 If someone holds an academic title it’s always polite to use it.
3 When introduced to an adult, address them by their title and surname until they suggest using first names.
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