When you learn German, you soon find it has unique letters not in the English alphabet. Some people try to ignore these letters, but learning about the umlauts “ä”, “ö”, and “ü” really is essential. This article will teach you all about them.

The German umlauts

Though you might not be aware, many languages that use the Latin alphabet have unique letters, and German is no exception. During the development of the German language, additional ways of pronouncing the vowels “a,” “o” and “u” evolved. Today, we call them “die Umlaute,” and they are characterized by the famous colons above the letters.

What is unique about “ä,” “ö,” and “ü”?

Simply put, if these extra letters weren't necessary, they wouldn't be part of the language. So, learning the umlauts “ä”, “ö”, and “ü” is important for speaking German well. How easy it is to learn these sounds depends on the languages you already know. English doesn't have these sounds, but some other languages do. This means it might be easier for speakers of those languages to use and say the umlauts correctly. It's also important to know the difference between the regular vowels “a,” “o,” “u” and the umlauts “ä,” “ö,” and “ü,” because some German words only differ by these letters and can mean completely different things.

For instance:

fallen – fällen = to fall – to fell  

schon - schön = already - beautiful

Each of these special letters has its own name, but you can also refer to them as "A-Umlaut", "O-Umlaut", and "U-Umlaut". Plus, these umlauts come in both small and capital letter forms.

Recommended study materials on the topic:

1. Phonetics – exercises, and tips for good pronunciation A1

2. Phonetics – exercises, and tips for good pronunciation A2

3. Phonetics – exercises, and tips for good pronunciation B1

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 The German Ä = A-Umlaut

If you want to pronounce the “ä” properly, you can think of saying the English “air”. The sound that appears before the “r” is what you want. In addition, you can write “ä” as “ae” respectively “Ä” as “Ae” in case you do not have it on your keyboard.

For example:

1. Käse

2. Äpfel

3. ändern

 The German Ö = O-Umlaut

To pronounce “ö” as you should, you need to form your lips as in “o” first, and again imagine somebody pulling on your lips. We can compare it with when you say “her” in English. The sound between the letters “h” and “r” is the sound you need. A classic example of confusion with “ö” is the words “schon” (already) and “schön” (beautiful). As you can easily see, it might make a difference in your choice.

For example:

1. Österreich

2. östlich

3. fröhlich

If you do not have the umlaut on your keyboard, you can simply write “oe” or “Oe” instead.  

 The German Ü = U-Umlaut

Last, you should learn how to pronounce the umlaut “ü”. It is the easiest for English speakers to do as follows: Try to say “ooh” with your lips pursed. The tip of your tongue must touch the lower front teeth from behind (which applies to all umlauts).

For example:

1. die Tür

2. die Führung

3. für

Remember: The German "Ä" sounds like saying the English “air”, "Ö" sounds like “her” and "Ü" Sounds like “ooh” with your lips pursed!

Mastering German umlauts

I hope that after reading this article, you finally understood how to pronounce the German special letters “ä”, “ö” and “ü”. If you want to know more about pronunciation, check out how to pronounce “ch” in German.   Bis bald!

Steffie

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