44:03 The German alphabet for kids
The German alphabet has the same 26 letters as the English one — plus four extra characters and a handful of letter names that sound nothing like their English counterparts. That short list of differences is what actually needs learning.
All 26 letters and how they are said
| Letter | Name | Letter | Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | ah | N | en |
| B | bay | O | oh |
| C | tsay | P | pay |
| D | day | Q | koo |
| E | ay | R | err |
| F | eff | S | ess |
| G | gay | T | tay |
| H | hah | U | oo |
| I | ee | V | fow |
| J | yot | W | vay |
| K | kah | X | iks |
| L | ell | Y | UEP-si-lon |
| M | em | Z | tset |
The four letters English does not have
| Character | Called | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Ä ä | A-Umlaut | Like the e in “bed”: Bär (bear), Mädchen (girl). |
| Ö ö | O-Umlaut | Round your lips for “oh”, then say “ay”: schön (beautiful), Löwe (lion). |
| Ü ü | U-Umlaut | Round your lips for “oo”, then say “ee”: für (for), fünf (five). |
| ß | Eszett or scharfes S | A sharp s. Never starts a word, has no capital form in everyday use, and is replaced by ss in Switzerland. |
Umlauts are not decoration. Mutter is mother, Mütter is mothers; schon means already, schön means beautiful. The two dots change the word.
The five letter names that catch English speakers out
| Letter | Said as | Why it confuses |
|---|---|---|
| J | yot | The letter sounds like an English Y — and so does the sound it makes: ja, Jahr. |
| V | fow | Usually spoken like an English F: Vogel (bird) sounds like “FOH-gel”. |
| W | vay | Spoken like an English V: Wasser sounds like “VAS-ser”. |
| Z | tset | Always a ts sound, never a buzzing z: Zoo sounds like “TSOH”. |
| R | err | Produced further back in the throat than the English r, closer to a light gargle. |
The German ABC song
German children sing their alphabet to the same melody as the English ABC song — the tune from Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. If a child already knows the English version, only the letter names have to change, not the music. The four extra characters are usually tacked on at the end rather than sorted into the alphabet.
- Sing the letters in the same groups as the melody, not one by one.
- Leave ä, ö, ü and ß out at first, then add them as an extra line once the 26 are secure.
- For spelling out loud, German children use first names: “A wie Anna, B wie Berta”.
Songs to practise with
Free on YouTube, sung slowly and with an English explanation on every song page.
Questions people ask
How many letters does the German alphabet have?
26, the same as English, plus the three umlauts ä, ö, ü and the ß. Those four are usually counted as extra characters rather than as additional letters of the alphabet.
Does the German ABC song have its own melody?
No — it uses the same tune as the English alphabet song, the melody of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Only the letter names differ.
What is ß and when is it used?
ß is called Eszett or scharfes S and stands for a sharp s sound, as in Straße (street). It never begins a word, and Swiss German writes ss instead of it throughout.
How do you type ä, ö, ü and ß on an English keyboard?
Write ae, oe, ue and ss instead — Bär becomes Baer, Straße becomes Strasse. German readers understand this without difficulty; it is the standard workaround.
Keep going
German numbers for kids — 1 to 20 and beyond German numbers 1 to 20 and the tens, with a simple pronunciation guide, the two traps English speakers always fall into, and songs to practise counting. German animal names for kids Farm animals, zoo animals and forest animals in German, each with its article, an English pronunciation guide and the sound it makes in German. Plus songs to practise. German Christmas songs for kids The German Christmas songs every child knows, what they are about, the words you need in December, and how Christmas actually works in Germany and Austria. German lullabies for children The German lullabies families have sung for generations, what each is about, the bedtime words that go with them, and what makes a lullaby work at all.