German: spelling → sound
German spelling is reliable once you learn its length system: a vowel is LONG before a single consonant, a silent h, or when doubled (aa, ee, oo, ie), and SHORT before two consonants or a doubled one (Mutter, Bett). Final b/d/g devoice to /p t k/ (Tag → /taːk/). ch has two faces: the throaty [x] after a, o, u, au (Bach, Buch) and the hissy [ç] everywhere else (ich, Milch). s is /z/ before a vowel, st/sp at the start of a stem are /ʃt ʃp/, z is /t͡s/, v is /f/, w is /v/. Stress is on the first syllable of the stem (prefixes be-, ge-, er-, ver-, zer-, ent- are unstressed). Short vowels in one-syllable function words (mit, in, das, es) are lexical — the tracer reads them long.
Trace a word
Every box is one rule firing. Hover a box (or open the table) to see why. Rules are applied in order, first match wins — that order is the spelling system.
i
ɪ
ch
ç
Consonants & glides
| IPA | Spelled | Example |
|---|---|---|
| p | p, pp, b (final) | Papier paˈpiːɐ̯ paper |
| b | b | Buch buːx book |
| t | t, tt, th, dt, d (final) | Tag taːk day |
| d | d | danke ˈdaŋkə thanks |
| k | k, ck, g (final), c | Kind kɪnt child |
| ɡ | g | gut ɡuːt good |
| m | m, mm | Mutter ˈmʊtɐ mother |
| n | n, nn | Nacht naxt night |
| ŋ | ng, n before k | singen ˈzɪŋən to sing — No /ɡ/ after it, unlike English 'finger'. |
| f | f, ff, v, ph | Vater ˈfaːtɐ father — Native v = /f/. Loanwords keep /v/ (Vase, Vitamin). |
| v | w, v (loans) | Wasser ˈvasɐ water |
| s | s (final / before consonant), ss, ß | Straße ˈʃtʁaːsə street — ß = /s/ after a long vowel or diphthong; ss after a short one. |
| z | s before a vowel | Sonne ˈzɔnə sun |
| ʃ | sch, s in st-/sp- | Schule ˈʃuːlə school |
| ç | ch (after front vowels, consonants, in -chen), -ig | ich ɪç I — Whisper a 'y' (as in yes) hard. Ich-Laut. |
| x | ch after a, o, u, au | Bach bax stream — Ach-Laut — from the back of the throat. |
| h | h (before a vowel) | Haus haʊs house — After a vowel h is silent and lengthens it: sehen /ˈzeːən/. |
| j | j | ja jaː yes |
| l | l, ll | Liebe ˈliːbə love |
| ʁ | r (before a vowel) | rot ʁoːt red — Uvular like French. Bavaria/Austria roll it. |
| t͡s | z, tz, c (before e, i), -tion | Zeit t͡saɪt time |
| t͡ʃ | tsch | Deutsch dɔɪt͡ʃ German |
| p͡f | pf | Pferd p͡feːɐ̯t horse |
Vowels
| IPA | Spelled | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ɐ | -er (final), r after a vowel | Mutter ˈmʊtɐ mother — Vocalised r — sounds like a light 'uh'. Tür /tyːɐ̯/. |
| a | a (short) | Mann man man |
| aː | a (long), aa, ah | Vater ˈfaːtɐ father |
| ɛ | e (short), ä (short) | Bett bɛt bed |
| eː | e (long), ee, eh | See zeː lake |
| ɛː | ä (long), äh | Käse ˈkɛːzə cheese — Many speakers say /eː/. |
| ə | e (unstressed, final -e, -en, -el) | bitte ˈbɪtə please |
| ɪ | i (short) | Kind kɪnt child |
| iː | ie, i (long), ih, ieh | Liebe ˈliːbə love |
| ɔ | o (short) | Sonne ˈzɔnə sun |
| oː | o (long), oo, oh | Brot bʁoːt bread |
| œ | ö (short) | können ˈkœnən can |
| øː | ö (long), öh | schön ʃøːn beautiful |
| ʊ | u (short) | Mutter ˈmʊtɐ mother |
| uː | u (long), uh | gut ɡuːt good |
| ʏ | ü (short), y | fünf fʏnf five |
| yː | ü (long), üh | Tür tyːɐ̯ door |
| aɪ | ei, ai, ey, ay | mein maɪn my — ei is always /aɪ/ (like English 'eye'), never 'ay'. |
| aʊ | au | Haus haʊs house |
| ɔɪ | eu, äu | neu nɔɪ new |
The rules, in order
81 rules. The left column is a pattern (regular expression) matched at the current position of the word; (?=…) looks ahead, (?<=…) looks behind, $ is the end of the word.
| # | Pattern | Sound | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ig(?:$| ) | -ig at the end = /ɪç/ (König, wichtig) | |
| 2 | er(?:$| ) | -er at the end = vocalised /ɐ/ | |
| 3 | e(?=n(?:$| )|l(?:$| )|s(?:$| )|(?:$| )) | unstressed final -e, -en, -el, -es = schwa | |
| 4 | tsch | ||
| 5 | sch | ||
| 6 | chs | chs = /ks/ (sechs, Fuchs) | |
| 7 | (?<=[aou])ch | ch after a, o, u, au = ach-Laut /x/ | |
| 8 | ch | ch elsewhere = ich-Laut /ç/ | |
| 9 | ck | ||
| 10 | pf | ||
| 11 | ph | ||
| 12 | th | ||
| 13 | dt | ||
| 14 | qu | qu = /kv/ | |
| 15 | (?<=^| |ge|be|ver|er|ent|zer|an|auf|aus|ab|ein|vor|zu|um)sp | sp at the start of a stem = /ʃp/ | |
| 16 | (?<=^| |ge|be|ver|er|ent|zer|an|auf|aus|ab|ein|vor|zu|um)st | st at the start of a stem = /ʃt/ | |
| 17 | ß | ||
| 18 | ss | ||
| 19 | s(?=[aeiouäöüy]) | s before a vowel = /z/ | |
| 20 | s | ||
| 21 | tz | ||
| 22 | z | z = /t͡s/, always | |
| 23 | c(?=[eiäöü]) | ||
| 24 | c | ||
| 25 | ng | ||
| 26 | n(?=k) | ||
| 27 | v | native v = /f/ (loanwords: /v/) | |
| 28 | w | w = /v/ | |
| 29 | x | ||
| 30 | ll | ||
| 31 | mm | ||
| 32 | nn | ||
| 33 | tt | ||
| 34 | pp | ||
| 35 | rr | ||
| 36 | ff | ||
| 37 | bb | ||
| 38 | dd | ||
| 39 | gg | ||
| 40 | b(?=(?:$| )|[st]) | final b devoices to /p/ | |
| 41 | d(?=(?:$| )|[st]) | final d devoices to /t/ | |
| 42 | g(?=(?:$| )|[st]) | final g devoices to /k/ | |
| 43 | (?:ei|ai|ey|ay) | ei/ai = /aɪ/ like 'eye' | |
| 44 | (?:eu|äu) | eu/äu = /ɔɪ/ like 'oy' | |
| 45 | au | ||
| 46 | ieh? | ie = long /iː/ | |
| 47 | ah(?![aeiouäöüy]) | silent h lengthens the vowel | |
| 48 | eh(?![aeiouäöüy]) | silent h lengthens the vowel | |
| 49 | ih(?![aeiouäöüy]) | silent h lengthens the vowel | |
| 50 | oh(?![aeiouäöüy]) | silent h lengthens the vowel | |
| 51 | uh(?![aeiouäöüy]) | silent h lengthens the vowel | |
| 52 | äh(?![aeiouäöüy]) | silent h lengthens the vowel | |
| 53 | öh(?![aeiouäöüy]) | silent h lengthens the vowel | |
| 54 | üh(?![aeiouäöüy]) | silent h lengthens the vowel | |
| 55 | aa | ||
| 56 | ee | ||
| 57 | oo | ||
| 58 | (?<=[aeiouäöüy])r(?![aeiouäöüy]) | r after a vowel (not before one) is vocalised | |
| 59 | r | ||
| 60 | h | ||
| 61 | j | ||
| 62 | u(?=ch) | u before ch is usually long (Buch, Tuch, suchen) | |
| 63 | a(?=(?:ß|[bdfgklmnprstvwxz])(?:[aeiouäöüy]|(?:$| ))|(?:$| )) | long: open syllable or one final consonant | |
| 64 | a | short: before two consonants | |
| 65 | e(?=(?:ß|[bdfgklmnprstvwxz])(?:[aeiouäöüy]|(?:$| ))|(?:$| )) | long: open syllable or one final consonant | |
| 66 | e | short: before two consonants | |
| 67 | i(?=(?:ß|[bdfgklmnprstvwxz])(?:[aeiouäöüy]|(?:$| ))|(?:$| )) | long: open syllable or one final consonant | |
| 68 | i | short: before two consonants | |
| 69 | o(?=(?:ß|[bdfgklmnprstvwxz])(?:[aeiouäöüy]|(?:$| ))|(?:$| )) | long: open syllable or one final consonant | |
| 70 | o | short: before two consonants | |
| 71 | u(?=(?:ß|[bdfgklmnprstvwxz])(?:[aeiouäöüy]|(?:$| ))|(?:$| )) | long: open syllable or one final consonant | |
| 72 | u | short: before two consonants | |
| 73 | ä(?=(?:ß|[bdfgklmnprstvwxz])(?:[aeiouäöüy]|(?:$| ))|(?:$| )) | ||
| 74 | ä | ||
| 75 | ö(?=(?:ß|[bdfgklmnprstvwxz])(?:[aeiouäöüy]|(?:$| ))|(?:$| )) | ||
| 76 | ö | ||
| 77 | ü(?=(?:ß|[bdfgklmnprstvwxz])(?:[aeiouäöüy]|(?:$| ))|(?:$| )) | ||
| 78 | ü | ||
| 79 | y | ||
| 80 | [pbtdkfmnl] | ||
| 81 | g |