How to Correctly Pronounce the Umlaute ä, ö, ü (2024)

Each language comes with a set of challenges. In this article, we will share some important pronunciation information to learn German for beginners. One of German's specialities are the so-called Umlaute. They represent a sound change in a vowel and are commonly found in Germanic languages. Vowels in general are pronounced differently according to whether they are long or short. Let's take a look at how we can learn to pronounce all of them correctly.

Long (i.e. stressed)

– “ä” as in Käse is like an English person saying “air”


– “ü” as in müde is like a Scottish person saying “grew” Make the sound “ee” as in “cheese” and then make your lips into an “o” shape.


– “ö” as in blöd is like an English person saying “burn” Make the sound “a” as in the word “may” and then make your lips into an “o” shape.

Short (i.e. unstressed)

– “ä” as in hängen is pronounced like the English word “ten”
– “ü” as in Mütter is like the English word “wit” but round your lips as if whistling
– “ö” as in Hölle is like an English person saying “her”

Practice makes perfect!

Feeling a little silly when learning a new language is part of the journey. Pronouncing words properly is really important so that others can understand you and to prevent a very thick accent. So don't despÄr and keep practising.

How to Correctly Pronounce the Umlaute ä, ö, ü (2024)

FAQs

What are the two dots in Ä Ö ü called? ›

umlauts. If you've ever studied German, you've seen an umlaut. It's a mark that looks like two dots over a letter, and it signifies a shift in pronunciation.

How do you pronounce a with two dots over it? ›

The A with two dots (Ä) is pronounced like the english word "air", whereas the A with the ring (Å) is pronounced "oar", there is also an O with two dots (Ő) which is pronounced "eugh" - or something rather similar, there isn't really an equivalent sound in English.

What is the ü in English? ›

Ü or ü is a letter not used in English. It is commonly used to represent the sound [y]. It started as an U with an E above it. It is heavily used in the Turkic languages, such as Turkish. In German, the letter can be replaced by Ue or ue respectively, if it is not available on the keyboard.

How is Ä ü pronounced? ›

– “ü” as in müde is like a Scottish person saying “grew” Make the sound “ee” as in “cheese” and then make your lips into an “o” shape. – “ö” as in blöd is like an English person saying “burn” Make the sound “a” as in the word “may” and then make your lips into an “o” shape.

How do you pronounce Ö? ›

These are Å, Ä and Ö. Å is pronounced like the English O in “or,” the Swedish Ä sounds almost like the word “air” in English, and Ö has a similar pronunciation to the [er] sound in the word “her.”

Does Dutch use umlauts? ›

Dutch is closely related to German and English and is said to be between them. Apart from not having undergone the High German consonant shift, Dutch—like English—has mostly abandoned the grammatical case system, does not use Germanic umlaut as a grammatical marker, and has leveled much of its morphology.

How do you pronounce Ö in Swedish? ›

These are Å, Ä and Ö. Å is pronounced like the English O in “or,” the Swedish Ä sounds almost like the word “air” in English, and Ö has a similar pronunciation to the [er] sound in the word “her.”

What is the ü symbol called? ›

U-umlaut. A glyph, U with umlaut, appears in the German alphabet. It represents the umlauted form of u, which results in [yː] when long and [ʏ] when short. The letter is collated together with U, or as UE.

What is the 2 dot accent called? ›

The Letter Ä With Two Dots Is an Umlaut

If you've ever wondered what those two dots above an “ä” are about, they're generally called umlauts. Particularly common in German, they're used to modify the suggested pronunciation of the letter a.

What is ü called in German? ›

German 'Umlaut'

The Umlaut is the two dots that sometimes appear above the vowels a, o and u to make ä, ö, and ü. In German, you will see the Umlaut in words such as schön (beautiful) and Vögel (birds, plural form), and it affects how these words are pronounced.

What is the 2 dots in German? ›

The Letter Ä With Two Dots Is an Umlaut. If you've ever wondered what those two dots above an “ä” are about, they're generally called umlauts. Particularly common in German, they're used to modify the suggested pronunciation of the letter a.

What are the 2 dots above the ü? ›

Those two dots occasionally blinking on top of the A, O and U force speakers to conjure ambiguous sounds in one go: Ä, Ö and Ü.

What is the meaning of Ö? ›

Ö, or ö, is a character that represents either a letter from several extended Latin alphabets, or the letter "o" modified with an umlaut or diaeresis. In many languages, the letter "ö", or the "o" modified with an umlaut, is used to denote the close- or open-mid front rounded vowels [ø] ( listen) or [œ] ( listen).

How do you do Ö On ä keyboard? ›

Ä = Hold down the Control and Shift keys and type a : (colon), release the keys, hold down the Shift key and type an a. ö = Hold down the Control and Shift keys and type a : (colon), release the keys, and type an o.

What is the letter Ö called? ›

The letter o with umlaut (ö) appears in the German alphabet. It represents the umlauted form of o, resulting in [œ] or [ø]. The letter is often collated together with o in the German alphabet, but there are exceptions which collate it like oe or OE.

How do you pronounce O with two dots Turkish? ›

(Ö) is the front, rounded and low vowel. It's written like an O with two dots on top of it, and the sound corresponds to the E at the start of “Early”. An example is “Öncelik”, which means “Priority”.

Is Ö Turkish? ›

The Turkish Ö is pronounced somewhat like the “u” in “turn,” but you should try to round your lips a little more than you're used to. The Turkish Ü has no exact English equivalent. It's pronounced somewhat like the “ee” in “deep,” but with rounded lips.

How do you type the O with two dots over it in German? ›

Hold down the "Ctrl" and "Shift" keys, and then press the colon key. Release the keys, and then type a vowel in upper or lower case.

What does Ö sound like 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.

How do you replace Ö in English? ›

Ö or ö is one of the 4 extra letters used in German. It can be replaced by using the letters Oe or oe.

Do any English words have an umlaut? ›

There are no English words with an umlaut, because an umlaut is a German diacritical mark.

What is the rule of Dutch pronunciation? ›

The consonants s, f, h, b, d, z, l, m, n, and ng are pronounced the same way in Dutch as in English. P, t, and k are pronounced without the puff of air (called aspiration.) Sometimes the g is pronounced like zh in words borrowed from French. One last vowel sound is found in various Dutch spellings.

What is ë in Dutch? ›

Dutch. In Dutch, ë appears in the plural form of most words that end in -ie or -ee, like kolonie -> koloniën, zee -> zeeën, and knie -> knieën (Dutch-language rules stipulate an extra e before the ë in plurals if the accent falls on the syllable containing the ë).

Is it difficult to learn Dutch? ›

How hard is it to learn? Dutch is probably the easiest language to learn for English speakers as it positions itself somewhere between German and English. For example, you may know that German has three articles: der, die and das, and English only one: the.

How do you pronounce ö in Icelandic? ›

Ö – ö: Ö is different from O (pronounced like O in the English word “ought” or “fought”) and Ó (pronounced like the English O in “oh” or “over”). Ö is pronounced like U in the word “urn,” “murmur,” or “under.” Additionally, the combination of a couple of letters makes them sound different.

What sound is ï? ›

The letter “ï” is very uncommon in the English language, although it can be found in many other European language like French, etc. An example of a word using the double-dot I is — naïve . It is pronounced as /naɪˈiv/ . Hence, we can conclude that ï is pronounced as /ɪˈi/ .

Is ü a smiley face? ›

Symbol. An emoticon representing a face with a big smile.

Is it Zoe or Zoë? ›

Zoe, Zoey, Zoie, Zoé or Zoë (Greek: ζωή) is a female first name of Greek origin, meaning "life".
...
Zoe (name)
Origin
Variant form(s)Zoey, Zoí, Zoé, Zoie, Zoë, Zoee, Zoi, Zoh, Zoya, Zoia
Related namesZooey
6 more rows

Is Zoë a German name? ›

Zoe is a gender-neutral name of Greek origins, meaning “life.” In the third century, Alexandrian Jews translated the Hebrew name Eve to its Greek equivalent, Zoe.

How does ï sound in English? ›

The letter “ï” is very uncommon in the English language, although it can be found in many other European language like French, etc. An example of a word using the double-dot I is — naïve . It is pronounced as /naɪˈiv/ . Hence, we can conclude that ï is pronounced as /ɪˈi/ .

What is the Ö called? ›

Ö (lower case ö) The letter O with a diaeresis. The letter O with an umlaut.

What does Õ sound like? ›

The sound [õ] is the cousin of the sound [o]. It is a nasal sound, a low-pitched sound. When you pronounce it, air comes out of both your mouth and nose. If it is difficult, you can start by saying [o] while pinching the bridge of your nose.

What is ë accent called? ›

Diaeresis/umlaut (ë)

In German, an umlaut can change the meaning and pronunciation of a word; in French, the dieresis denotes that a vowel is pronounced as a separate syllable. In English, this mark is usually dropped from French loanwords that originally used it.

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