Introduction to the German Language

German is part of the Germanic Languages. Most widely spoken Germanic languages are: English 310-375 million German over 100 million Other major languages: Dutch 23 million Afrikaans 6 million North Germanic languages: Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Icelandic and Faroese combined about 20 million

The German Language is the most widely spoken mother tongue in the EU spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers spoken by about 80 million non-native speakers official Language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Belgium and Luxembourg Standard German is widely taught in schools, universities and Goethe Institutes worldwide.








The German Alphabet Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz ß Ää, Öö, Üü

Vowels
Diphtongs
Consonants ck used to indicate that the preceding vowel is short. backen, Sack, Stuck, Rock ch [ç] after ä, ai, äu, e, ei, eu, i, ö, ü and after consonants Bäche, Laich, Bräuche, echt, leicht, euch, ich, röcheln, Bücher diminutive suffix -chen Mädchen, Häuschen beginning of a word Chemie, China [x] (after a, au, o, u) Dach, Bauch, doch, Buch

Consonants h [h] Haus, Hamster, Hamburg after a vowel it is silent and only lengthens the vowel Reh, Vieh, nah, Kohl

Consonants q [kv] only exists in combination with u Qualle, quer, Quittung s [z] if it forms the syllable onset Sohn, Sahne, setzen otherwise [s] Bus, Gas

Consonants st and sp at the beginning of words [?t] and [?p] Stuhl, stimmt, Spaß, Spur v [f] in words of Germanic origin Vater, Vetter, Vogel [v] in most other words Vase, Violine

 Consonants w [v] Wasser, wo, Winter, wer z [?] Zug, Zahl, Zelle, Zoo