How to learn to read quickly in German. Pronunciation of German letters and letter combinations - German online - Start Deutsch. Basic letter combinations in German

Each language has its own special sound structure, unique to it, which must be familiarized with, since a person who does not know the correct pronunciation will not be able to correctly perceive foreign speech by ear and will not be able to be correctly understood. The German language, along with sounds unique to it, has a number of sounds, the pronunciation of which practically coincides with the corresponding sounds of the Russian language.

IN German 42 sounds, for recording which are used 26 letters Latin alphabet. Both in German and in Russian, vowels and consonants are distinguished. The German language has 15 simple vowel sounds, 3 complex two-vowel sounds (diphthongs) and 24 consonants.

German alphabet

Ha

upsilon

Additional German letters to the Latin alphabet:

a-umlaut

u-umlaut

o-umlaut

esset

Vowel sounds The German language has two features:

1. At the beginning of a word or root, vowels are pronounced with a strong attack, reminiscent of a light click, which gives German speech a jerky sound that is not characteristic of the Russian language.

2. Vowels are divided into long and short, which explains their large quantity compared to the Russian language.

Long vowels are pronounced more intensely than the vowels of the Russian language, and do not change their character throughout the entire time of sounding. The consonant sound following a long vowel is freely adjacent to it, as if with a slight pause. When transmitting German sounds in Russian letters, the length of vowels is indicated by a colon after the corresponding letter.

Short vowels are pronounced more briefly than Russian vowels. The consonant sound following the short vowel is closely adjacent to it, as if cutting it off.

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The length and shortness of vowels often have a distinctive meaning and determine the general character and rhythm of German speech:

Stadt	state	city	-	Staat	state	state
offen	O fan	open	-	Ofen	O: fan	stove

Vowel pronounced for a long time:

A. in an open syllable, i.e. a syllable ending in a vowel:

Vater f A:ta

Leben l e:Ben

b. in a conditionally closed syllable, i.e. a syllable that can be opened when the word is changed:

Tag T A:To

Ta-ge T A:ge

In writing, vowel length is indicated:

A. doubling the letter

Meer me:a

b. letter h after a vowel

Uhr y:a

V. letter e after i

Sie zi:

Vowel pronounced briefly, if followed by a consonant or group of consonants:

Consonants The German language has the following features:

A. they are pronounced more intensely than the corresponding Russian consonants;

b. German voiceless consonants p, t, k pronounced aspirated, especially at the end of a word;

V. German consonants, unlike the corresponding Russian consonants, are never softened;

d. in contrast to the Russian language, where a voiceless consonant is voiced under the influence of the following voiced consonant (from is tunnel, but: from from at home), in German the opposite phenomenon occurs: a voiceless consonant partially deafens the following voiced consonant, remaining voiceless (das Bad yes bpa:t).

Accent in German it falls, as a rule, on the root of a word or on a prefix, i.e. on the first syllable. When a word is changed, the stress does not change. The pronunciation of German words is conveyed in this manual in Russian letters without the use of generally accepted transcription signs. The transcription of the word and the stressed vowel are highlighted in different fonts. This transcription allows (with some exceptions) to pronounce German words and sentences quite correctly.

Please note that when you hover over the Russian transcription, the IPA transcription will be displayed. This is for particularly advanced students, if you don’t need it, use only Russian.

Pronunciation of German vowels

Sound indicated by letters A, ahh, ah, pronounced like Russian A(long) in the word "brother" or A(short) in the word "tact": baden b A: Dan,Saal for:l, Fahrt fa:at, Satz zats .

Sound indicated by letters ä , ah, pronounced like Russian uh in the word "era": Väter f e: that, wahlen V e: linen , Männer m uh on .

Sound indicated by letters i, ie, ih, pronounced like Russian And in the word "blue": mir mi:a, sieben h And:ben,Ihr and:a, Mitte m And te, Tisch hush .

Sound indicated by letters e, her, eh, pronounced like Russian uh or e in the words “these”, “believe”, “measure”: nehmen n e: Maine,See ze: gehen G e: en Geld Gaelt, sechs zex. In an unstressed final syllable (endings -en, -er), as well as in some prefixes (for example: be-, ge- etc.) this sound is pronounced unclearly and is similar to Russian uh in the word "should": fahren f A: ren, beginnen bag And Nan .

However, particularly attentive listeners may have noticed the overtone of the “i” sound in the words Leben and See. There is no such sound either in Russian or in English languages, pay attention to it when listening to German speech. Pronounce it like the Russian [e/e], and the position of the lips is like for [i]. You can also try to pronounce the diphthong [hey], without completely pronouncing the second part of the sound, i.e. the first part of the sound is [e/e], and the second [th], [th] is not pronounced until the end. Let's listen again:

Sound indicated by letters oh, oh, oh, pronounced like Russian O(long) in the word "will" or O(short) in the word "clown": Oper O :pa ohne O :ne ,Boot bo:t Rolle R O le .

Sound indicated by letters u, uh, pronounced like Russian at in the word "will": du do:, Uhr y:a, hundert X at ndat .

Sound indicated by letters ü, üh, is absent in Russian. It's pronounced like Russian Yu in the words "jury", "puree": führen f Yu: Ren, fünf fünf, Übung Yu:bun(g). Having rounded the lips, as for [u], we pronounce [and]. Although in Russian transcription it will be designated as [yu], with the sound [yu] it Not is.

Sound indicated by letters ö, oh, is also absent in Russian. Having rounded the lips, as for [o], we pronounce [e]. Reminds me of Russian e : schön w e: n, Sohne h e:ne, Löffel l e fael, öffnen e fnen . Although in Russian transcription it will be designated as [е], with the sound [е] it Not is.

ei, ai, pronounced like Russian ah in the words "give": drei drive Weise V A ize .

Diphthong denoted by letters au, pronounced like Russian aw in the word "howitzer": blau bl A at, Faust f A mouth .

Diphthong denoted by letters eu, äu, pronounced like Russian Ouch in the word "your": neu Noah, Нäuser X Ouch behind .

Pronunciation of German consonants

Many consonant sounds of the German language are pronounced almost the same as the corresponding sounds of the Russian language: b b, p P,w V, f f, s c or h(before a vowel or between two vowels), k To, g G, n n, m m, z ts.

Sound indicated by letters ch(after e, i, ö, ü and after l, m, n) pronounced like soft Russian xx in the word "chemistry": welche V uh lhe, richtig R And slightly , manchmal m A nkhmal .

The sound indicated by the letter h(at the beginning of a word or syllable) is pronounced as a noisy exhalation on the subsequent vowel. This sound is absent in Russian, however, it is enough to pronounce Russian [х] with a slight exhalation: halt halt,Herz Hertz .

Sound indicated by letters l, ll, pronounced like a mean between Russian soft l(in the word "summer") and hard l(in the word "varnish"): Ball bal, alt alto .

The sound indicated by the letter j, pronounced like Russian th before the corresponding vowels (for example: "Christmas tree", "hole", "south"): Jacke yea ke,jemand yeah:manta ray .

Pronunciation R r

Consonant sound indicated by letter r, can also sound like a vowel sound, close to the Russian sound A.

1. After long vowels (except long "a") in stressed and unstressed syllables that are final, for example:
   Factor f A who:a,wir V And:A, Klavier clave And:A, Natur nat at:A .

   There may be exceptions:
   Haar ha:p, Ha: ; Bart Bart, ba:at ; Arzt artst, a:tst ; Quark quark, kwa:k ; Quarz quartz, kva:ts ; Harz harz

2. In unstressed prefixes: er-, her-, ver-, zer-, for example:
   erfahren eaf A:ren , verbringen feabr And:n(g)en , zerstampfen ceasht A mpfen ,hervor heaf O:A .
3. In the final unstressed word – er, and also when it is followed by consonants, for example:
   Vater f A that,immer and:ma, besser b uh:sa,anders A ndas, Kindern To And ndan, auf Wiedersehen auf in And:daze:en .

In other cases it is pronounced as a consonant. There are three types of pronunciation of the consonant sound “r” (the 2nd option is now more common):

1. If you touch your fingers at the base of your neck and try to pronounce “r” so that your fingertips feel it, you will get the first “r”.
2. If you pronounce “g” and try to continue the sound (“gggggg..r..”), you will get a second sound (“tiger roar”).
3. The sound pronounced with the tip of the tongue is the “Russian” “r”.

Remember the rules for reading some letter combinations:

ch after a, o, u reads like Russian X:Buch boo:x,Fach wow; after all other vowels, as well as after l, m, n is read as xx: rect recht wichtig V And slightly , Milch miles .

chs, and also the letter X, read like Russian ks: wechseln V uh xeln .

ck reads like Russian To: Stuck piece, Ecke uh ke .

sch reads like Russian w: Schuh shu:,waschen V A: sheng .

st PC: Stella PC uh le .

sp read at the beginning of a word or root like Russian sp: Spiel spire, sprechen Sprächen .

tz reads like Russian ts: Platz parade ground, sitzen h And price .

ng reads like... the English sound [ŋ]. Backrest The tongue closes with the lowered soft palate, and air passes through the nasal cavity. In order to achieve the desired position of the speech organs, you can inhale through your nose with a wide open mouth, then pronounce the sound [ŋ], exhaling air through the nose. In Russian transcription we will denote it as n(g), because G there they still sometimes pronounce it, as in the first word: Übung Yu:bung, verbringen feabr And:n(g)en , Ding din(g). This sound is also combined nk:Bank tank, links liŋx, tanken T Aŋken .

From letter to sound

Letters of the German alphabet	Russian transcription	Examples
a, aa, ah	A:	Rat	pa:t
		Saat	for:t
		fahren	f A:ren
A	A	wann	van
ä, äh	e:	spat	spe:t
		zahlen	ts uh:linen
ai	ah	Mai	May
au	aw	auch	A wow
äu	Ouch	Hauser	X O iza
b, bb	b	bitte	b And te
		Ebbe	uh bae
(at the end of a word)	P	ab	ap
With	To	Cafe	cafe e:
ch (after a, o, u)	X	Nacht	nakht
(after other vowels and after l, m, n)	xx	ich	ugh
chs	ks	sechs	zex
ck	To	wecken	V uh ken
d, dd	d	dort	Dort
		Kladde	cl A de
(at the end of a word)	T	bald	balt
dt	T	Stadt	state
e, her, eh	e:, e:	er	e:a
	e: (i)	Tee	those: (and)
		gehen	ge:en
e	uh	etwas	uh tvas
		diese	d And: ze
ei	ah	mein	main
eu	Ouch	neun	noin
f ff	f	frei	fry
		Schiff	cipher
g, gg	G	gut	gu:t
		Flagge	fl A ge
(at the end of a word)	To	Tag	So
(in the suffix -ig)	xx	zwanzig	color A ntsikh
h (at the beginning of a word and syllable)	X	haben	X A:ben
		behalten	bah A lten
(cannot be read after vowels)		sehen	h e:en
i, ie, ih	And:	wir	vi:a
		sieben	h And:ben
		Ihnen	and:nen
i	And	Zimmer	ts And ma
j	th	Jahr	th A:
k	To	Kind	kint
l, ll	l	elf	elf
		Halle	X A le
m, mm	m	machen	m A heng
		commen	To O Maine
n, nn	n	Name	n A: meh
		Dann	Dan
ng	n(g)	Ding	din(g)
o, oo, oh	O:	oben	O: ben
		Boot	bo:t
		Ohr	o:a
o	O	night	noh
ö,öh	"yo:"	Mobel	m e: belle
		Sohne	h e: ne
		Öl	e: l
ö	"yo"	zwölf	zwölf
		öffnen	and about: fnen
p, pp	P	parken	P A rken
		knapp	knap
Pf	pf	Pfennig	pfenich
qu	kv	Qualität	slams e: T
r, rh	R	Arbeiter	A RBYTE
		Rhein	R A yn(Rhine)
r	A	wir	V And:A
		erfahren	eaf A:ren
		Vater	f A that
s (before vowels or between vowels)	h	sagen	h A:gen
		unser	at nza
		Kase	To uh:ze
(at the end of a word)	With	das	yes
ss, ß	With	lassen	l A sen
		Fuß	ugh:s
sch	w	Schule	w at:le
sp	sp	sprechen	spr uh hyung
st	PC	stellen	PC uh linen
t, tt, th	T	Tisch	hush
		satt	zat
		Theater	te A: that
tz	ts	setzen	h uh price
u, uh	y:	Dusche	d y: she
		Uhr	y:a
u	at	und	unt
ü, üh	"Yu:"	Tür	bye:a
		führen	f Yu:ren
		Uber	Yu: ba
ü	"Yu"	fünf	fünf
		üppig	Yu shove
v (in German words)	f	vier	fi:a
(V foreign words)	V	Visite	visas And: te
		November	new uh MBA
w	V	Wagen	V A: gen
x	ks	Taxi	T A xi
y	"Yu:"	Lyric	l Yu:rick
y	"Yu"	Zylinder	tsyul And yeah
z	ts	zahlen	ts A:linen

Any language begins with an alphabet, and German is no exception! To learn to read German correctly, you must first become familiar with all German letters and sounds.
The German alphabet is an alphabet based on Latin, it consists of 26 letters:

A a[A], B b[be], C c[tse], D d[de], E e[uh], F f[ef], G g[ge], H h[Ha], I i[And], Jj[yot], K k[ka], L l[el], Mm[Em], Nn[en], O o[O], P p[pe], Q q[ku], R r[er], Ss[es], T t[te], U u[y], Vv[fau], W w[ve], X x[X], Y y[upsilon], Z z[tset].

German alphabet (listen)

Listen to the alphabet:

There are also three umlauts in the German alphabet (Ä, Ö, Ü).
Listen to the umlauts:

Umlauts (two dots above vowels) indicate a qualitative change in the sounds u, o, a.

The correct pronunciation of sounds in words with and without umlauts is very important, since the meaning of the word depends on it. For example, the word “schon” is pronounced hard, with the sound “o” and means “already”, while the word “schön” has a softer sound, close to the Russian “ё”, and means “pleasant, dear”. Be careful about the icons above the vowels to avoid misunderstandings!

To speak German correctly, pay attention to the pronunciation features of the German umlauts:
At the beginning of a word and after vowels, the umlaut “ä” is read as the sound “e”, after consonants: as “e”. To correctly pronounce the umlaut “ö”, the position of the tongue should be as for “e”, and the lips as for “o”. Thus, a sound will be produced that is vaguely similar to the Russian “ё”. By the way, “ё” can also be called an umlaut, because it is qualitative change sound "e" in Russian. So, to pronounce umlaut ü, the position of the tongue should be as with “i”, and the lips as with y. You will get a sound somewhat similar to the Russian “yu”.
Umlauts are not only not so easy to pronounce, but also to type. If you don't have a German layout, you can use the generally accepted character substitution:
ä – ae
ö–oe
ü – ue

Another unusual sign of the German language is the ligature (i.e., connection of letters) “eszet” (ß).

Most often, “esset” is equated to the letters “ss”, however, in addition to the sound, [s] indicates the length of the previous sound, so replacing “ß” with “s” is not worth it - “ss” signals the brevity of the previous sound, which is important to remember when learning the rules reading.
Like umlauts, “eszet” is not part of the alphabet and is taken outside of it. However, in dictionaries these letters are in alphabetical order: Ää follows Aa, Öö follows Oo, Üü follows Uu, ß follows “ss”.

The rules for reading German words are quite simple and follow simple rules, and therefore there is no transcription in the German language - it appears only in some complex words, most often coming to German from other languages.
The stress is placed before the stressed syllable, and the long sound is indicated by a colon.

From sound to letter. Learning to read in German

In German, different letters can make the same sound. The table below will help you figure out which letters and letter combinations are read the same in German.

Remember! An open syllable is considered to be one that ends with a vowel: da. A closed syllable ends with a consonant: das.

Sound	Pronunciation	Letter	Position in a word	Examples
[A]	[A]	A	in a closed syllable	das
		ah	in an open syllable
[s]	[With]	s	at the end of words and after long vowels	das, Naß
[z]	[h]	s	before and between vowels	Saat
		f		Faß
		ff	in the middle and end of a word	paff
		v	at the beginning and middle of a word	Vater
[v]	[V]	w	at the beginning and middle of a word	was
[n]	[n]	n	at the beginning, middle and end of a word	nah, an
		nn		wann
[d]	[d]	d	at the beginning and middle of a word	das
		t	At the beginning, middle and end of a word	Tat
		tt	In the middle and end of a word	Satt
		d	at the end of a word	Sand
	[ts]	z	at the beginning, middle and end of a word	Zahn
		tz	in the middle and end of a word after short sounds	Satz
[b]	[b]	b	at the beginning and middle of a word between vowels	Bahn
		p	at the beginning and middle of a word	paß
		pp	in the middle and end of a word after short sounds	knapp
		b	at the end of a word and before a consonant	ab
[m]	[m]	m	at the beginning and middle of a word	Mann
		mm		Damm
[g]	[G]	g	at the beginning and middle of a word	Gast
[ŋ]	[n]	ng	in the middle and end of a word after a short sound	Sang
[ŋk]	[nc]	nk	in the middle and end of a word after a short sound	Bank
		k	at the beginning and middle of a word	kann
		ck	in the middle and end of a word after a short sound	Sack
		g	at the end of a word	Tag
	[kv]	qu		Quant
	[ks]	x		Axt
[i]	[And]	i	in a closed syllable	Ist
		i	in an open syllable
		ie
		ieh
		ih
[u]	[y]	u	in a closed syllable	und
	[y:]	u	in an open syllable	rufen
		uh		Uhr
[ə]	[e]	e	in the final syllable	Tasse
	[R]	r	at the beginning of a word or syllable	Rat
		rr	after a consonant, short vowels and long	Paar, Brust
[r]	[A]	r	at the end of a word	Vater, wir
[ɜ]	[e]	e	in a closed syllable	Bett
[ɜː]	[e:]	ä	in an open syllable	Käse, Bar,
	[e:]	e	in an open syllable	Rede, Weg, Tee, sehen
[ʃ]	[w]	sch	at the beginning, middle and end of a word	Schuh
[ʃt]	[PCS]	st	at the beginning of a word	Strasse
[ʃp]	[shp]	sp	at the beginning of a word	spat
	[ouch]	ei	at the beginning, middle and end of a word	ein, mein,
	[O:]	o, oo	in an open syllable	Brot, Boot,
[o]	[O]	o	in a closed syllable	oft
[x]	[X]	ch	after short sounds a, o, u	Fach, doch, Buch
[ç]	[xx]	ch	after short sounds	ich, recht, weich
		g	in the suffix -ig	ruhig
[j]	[th]	j	at the beginning of a word before vowels	ja
	[ay]	j	before the vowels a, o, u in French. borrowings	Journal, Jargon
g	before vowels e, i in French. borrowings	Ingenieur
	[pf]	pf	at the beginning, middle and end of a word	Pfad, Apfel, Kampf
	[Ouch]	eu	at the beginning, middle and end of a word	Euch, neun, neu, Räume

Lesson assignments

Try to put your knowledge into practice by doing the following exercises. Don’t be afraid to look at the table; over time, all the sounds will be remembered, and the need for hints will disappear by itself!

Exercise 1. Read the following words:

Mein, liegen, Freunde, Tasche, Tag, jetzt, Jacke, spielen, stehen, wachsen, zusammen, Stunde, Träume, täglich, ruhig, schon, Bitte, Spaß, selten, ziemlich, oft, neun, Brot, die, Baum, Naß.
Listen:

Answers to Exercise 1.
Mein [mine], liegen ['li: gen], Freunde [; freunde], Tasche ['tashe], Tag [so], jetzt [ezt], Jacke ['yake], spielen ['spi: flax], stehen ['shte:en], wachsen ['waxen], zusammen [tsu'zamen], Stunde ['shtunde], Träume ['troime], täglich ['taglikh], ruhig ['ru: ikh], schon [sho: n], Bitte ['bite], Spaß [shpa: s], selten ['zelten], ziemlich ['tsimlikh], oft [oft], neun [noyn], Brot [brot], die [di:], Baum [baum], Naß [on: s].

The German alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet with diacritics for vowels ( ä , ö , ü ) and a letter ß , not used in other languages. There are alternative spellings for these letters: ae, oe, ue, ss, but when using them, the uniqueness is lost.

2. Transliteration

Some German letters are transmitted unambiguously into Russian:

b	→ b		n	→ n		t	→ T
d	→ d		p	→ P		w	→ V
f	→ f		q	→ To		x	→ ks
g	→ G		r	→ R		y	→ And
m	→ m		ß	→ With		z	→ ts

3. J

Combinations j + vowel transmitted this way:

At the beginning of a word and after vowels ja → I, jä (je) → e, jo → yo, jo → yo, ju → Yu, ju → yu: Jahns → Jens, July → Yule;

After consonants ja → ya, jä (je) → ye, jo → yo, jo → yo, ju (ju)→ yu: Lilje → Lilje.

Before a consonant and at the end of a word j → th.

4. Vowels and their combinations

German diphthongs are transcribed according to the following rules: eu → Ouch, ei → ah, ie → And. A common tradition is to transmit eu (ei) → Hey (to her) today is considered obsolete, although many first and last names are transmitted precisely according to these rules: Reuters → Reuters, Geiger → Geiger.

After vowels e (ä ) → uh, i → th. At the beginning of the word e (ä , ö ) → uh, ü → And.

In other cases, vowels are transmitted by transliteration: a → A, e (ä ) → e, i → And, o → O, ö → e, u → at, ü → Yu, y → And.

5. S, C, H

Letter combinations sch, chh, ch, ph, rh, th in transcription are transmitted, respectively: sch → w, chh → xg, ch → X, ph → f, rh → R, th → T.

Combinations tsch, zsch And chs entirely belonging to one syllable are transmitted according to the rules tsch (zsch) → h, chs → ks: Achslach → Akslah, Zschopau → Chopau. Sometimes the components of these letter combinations belong to different syllables, in which case they are transmitted independently: Altschul → Altshul.

Before front vowels ( i, e, in borrowings also y) With → ts: Cilli → Cilli. In other contexts c → To: Carl → Charles.

Before letters p And t at the beginning of a word or part of a compound word s → w: Spree → Spree. Single before vowels s → h, otherwise s → With.

In the position between a vowel and a consonant (or between a vowel and e) h omitted in transcription. In other positions h → X.

The tradition is to transmit everywhere h → G today it is considered outdated, but many first and last names are transmitted precisely according to this rule: Tannhauser → Tannhäuser, Heisenberg → Heisenberg.

The “transcriptor” does not know how to divide German words into syllables and compound words into parts.

6. Consonants

Letter combinations gk And tz transmitted according to the rules gk → G, tz → ts.

Doubled ll transmitted differently, depending on the position in the word:

Between vowels ll → ll: Ellerbach → Ellerbach;

At the end of a word and between consonants ll → ll: Tellkoppe → Tellkoppe;

In other positions ll → l or l.

Before vowels l → l, before consonants and at the end of words l → l.

In German names and titles v → f: Volkmar → Volkmar. But in names of foreign origin v can be transmitted through V: Crivitz → Krivitz.

The "transcriptor" always conveys v How f.

7. Double letters

Doubled (long) German vowels are always rendered as one: Klopeinersee → Klopeinersee.

Doubled German consonants are also translated as doubled in transcription if they are located between vowels or at the end of a word. In other positions, doubled German consonants correspond to one consonant letter of the transcription: Blatt → Blatt, Schaffran → Saffron.

Letter combination ck corresponds kk in the position between vowels, otherwise ck → To: Becker → Becker, Dick → Dick.

French and other European languages, the formula “is how it is read” is correct. You just need to learn the rules for reading individual sounds. For example, sch - w, tsch - h, st - pcs, sp - shp, umlauts, several diphthongs and so on. Often the transcription can be found in the dictionary; after reading it once, you will remember this or that word.

Some words at first glance seem very cumbersome, but do not be alarmed, but look for short words in their composition that are already familiar to you. The Germans have a special passion for combining several words into one big one. For example, the complex jumble of letters Fischfangnetz can easily be decomposed into the components Fisch - fish, Fang - fishing and Netz - net, after which the huge noun becomes easy to read and understand.

Many Russian-speaking students make a huge mistake, softening consonants before soft vowels; this should under no circumstances be shared. In the German language there is only one soft sound, denoted by the letter “L”, to pronounce it you should use an analogue of the Russian sound “L”, located somewhere in the middle between the sounds in the words “lamp” and “strap”. In all other cases, the consonants remain hard, no matter what sound follows them.

The stress in German words is usually placed on the first syllable, but some prefixes may remain unstressed, but suffixes, on the contrary, are stressed. It is enough to understand the principle of setting accents once and problems with this should not arise in the future.

Video on the topic

Helpful advice

It will be nice if your German textbook is supplemented with audio materials. Then you can listen to the texts while following them along the paper. This will allow you to quickly understand how to read German correctly.

The German keyboard layout may at first be unusual for computer users who are accustomed to the English and Russian layouts, since the position of the letters of the German alphabet differs from the Latin alphabet.

You will need

• - keyboard stickers.

Instructions

Open the Regional and Language Options menu in Control Panel. In the small window that opens, go to the second tab. Click the Options button in the top right corner. You will see an additional settings window called “Languages ​​and text input services”.

Use the corresponding button to add a German keyboard layout. Apply and save the changes, close the windows by clicking the “OK” button one by one. After this, an additional item containing the German layout will be added to the language menu on the taskbar. To switch input modes, you will have to press the keyboard one more time.

Switch the keyboard layout using the Shift+Alt combination or any other one configured in your operating system. In order to quickly remember the location of German letters (the layout differs from the standard Latin one), use the on-screen keyboard. It is found in standard accessibility programs.

German is spoken by millions of people, not only in Germany, but also in Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and other places around the world. Of course, to speak fluent German, you will have to study for a long time, but you can master the simplest phrases very quickly. Whether you're traveling to a German-speaking country, want to impress someone, or just want to learn a little about a new language, you'll benefit from the advice in this article. We will teach you how to greet people, introduce yourself, say goodbye, thank them, ask basic questions or ask for help.

Steps

Part 1

Greetings and farewells

Use standard greeting forms. Each German-speaking country has its own special greetings. However, the standard forms below will be appropriate in any of them.

• "Guten Tag" (guten so) - "good afternoon" (used as the most common greeting during the day)
• “Guten Morgen” (guten morgen) - “good morning”
• “Guten Abend” (guten abent) - “good evening”
• “Gute Nacht” (gute nacht) - “ Good night"(said before bed, usually only between close people)
• “Hallo” (halo) - “hello” (used anywhere and anytime)

1. Remember the difference between formal and informal address in German. In German, as in Russian, it is customary to address unfamiliar people differently (formally, with “you”) and close acquaintances (informally, with “you”). However, unlike Russian, in German the polite “you” in singular and “you” in the plural is two different words. For example, to ask someone's name, you would say:

   • "Wie heißen Sie?" (vi haisen zi) - “what is your name?” (formally)
   • “Wie heißt du?” (vi haist do) - “what is your name?” (informal)

2. Say goodbye. Forms of farewell, like greetings, may differ depending on where you are and who you are talking to. However, in general you can't go wrong if you use one of the following:

   • "Auf Wiedersehen" - "goodbye"
   • “Tschüss” (chyus) - “for now”
   • “Ciao” ​​(ciao) - “for now” (this word is Italian, but is often used by Germans)

Part 2

Starting a conversation

1. Ask the person how he is doing. Not only will you be polite, but you will also demonstrate your knowledge of German!

   Tell me how you are doing. If you are asked the question “wie geht es Ihnen?” or “wie geht"s?”, you can answer in different ways.

   Ask the person where they are from. A good start to a conversation would be to ask your interlocutor what city or country he is from. There are the following phrases for this (both formal and informal).

   • “Woher kommen Sie?” (woher komen zi) / “woher kommst du?” (voher comst du) - “Where are you from?” / "Where are you from?"
   • “Ich komme aus...” (ikh kome aus...) - “I am from...”. For example, “ich komme aus Russland” (ich kome aus Russland) - “I am from Russia.”
   • “Wo wohnen Sie?” (wo wonen zi) / “wo wohnst du?” (vonst doo) - “where do you live?” / "where do you live?". The verb “wohnen” is used with the name of a city, street, exact address; for a country or continent (but often for a city too) “leben” is used - “wo leben Sie?” (wo leben zi) / “wo lebst du?” (in lebst do).
   • “Ich wohne in...” (ikh vone in...) or “ich lebe in...” (ikh lebe in...) - “I live in...”. For example, “ich wohne/lebe in Moskau” (ich wohne/lebe in Moscow) - “I live in Moscow.”

Part 3

Further communication

1. Learn a few more simple useful phrases."Ja" means "yes", "nein" means "no".

   • "Wie bitte?" (vi bite) - “I beg your pardon?” (if you need to ask again)
   • “Es tut mir leid!” (es here is peace - “I’m sorry!”
   • "Entschuldigung!" (entschuldigung) - “sorry!”

2. Learn to say "please" and "thank you." In principle, there is a formal and informal way of expressing gratitude, but the usual “danke” - “thank you” - can be used in any situation.

3. Learn to formulate simple requests and questions about items. To find out if something is available in a store, restaurant or similar place, you can ask “haben Sie...?” (haben zi...) - “do you have...?” For example, "haben Sie Kaffee?" (haben zi cafe) - “do you have coffee?”

   • If you want to ask about the price of something, ask the question “wie viel kostet das?” (vi fil costat das) - “how much does it cost?”

4. Learn to ask for directions. If you are lost or want to find a place, the following phrases will come in handy.

   • To ask for help, say: "Können Sie mir helfen, bitte?" (kyonen zi world helfen, bite) - “Could you help me, please?”
   • To ask for a location, say "Wo ist...?" (in ist...) - “where is...?” For example, “wo ist die Toilette, bitte?” (wo ist di toilette, - “where is the toilet?” or “wo ist der Bahnhof?” (wo ist der Bahnhof) - “where is the train station?”
   • To make your question sound more polite, start it with an apology: “Entschuldigen Sie bitte, wo ist der Bahnhof?” (entschuldigen si bite, vo ist der Bahnhof) - “excuse me, please, where is the station?”
   • To find out if a person speaks another language, ask: “Sprechen Sie englisch (russisch, francösisch...)?” (sprechen si english (russish, french...)), that is: “Do you speak English (Russian, French...)?”

5. Learn to count in German. In general, German numerals follow the same logic as Russian or English ones. The main difference is that in numbers from 21 to 100, units are placed before tens. For example, 21 is “einundzwanzig”, literally “one and twenty”; 34 is “vierunddreißig” (firundreisikh), literally “four and thirty”; 67 is “siebenundsechzig” (zibenuntzekhtsikh), literally “seven and sixty” and so on.

   • 1 - “eins” (ains)
   • 2 - “zwei” (tswei)
   • 3 - “drei” (dri)
   • 4 - “vier” (fir)
   • 5 - “ünf” (fuenf)
   • 6 - “sechs” (zeks)
   • 7 - “sieben” (ziben)
   • 8 - “acht” (aht)
   • 9 - “neun” (noyn)
   • 10 - “zehn” (tseyn)
   • 11 - “elf” (elf)
   • 12 - “zwölf” (zwölf)
   • 13 - “dreizehn” (draizen)
   • 14 - “vierzehn” (firzein)
   • 15 - “ünfzehn”
   • 16 - “sechzehn”
   • 17 - “siebzehn” (ziptsehn)
   • 18 - “achtzehn” (achtzeyn)
   • 19 - "neunzehn"
   • 20 - “zwanzig” (tsvantsikh)
   • 21 - “einundzwanzig”
   • 22 - “zweiundzwanzig” (tsvayuntzvantsikh)
   • 30 - “dreißig” (dreisikh)
   • 40 - “vierzig” (firtsikh)
   • 50 - “ünfzig”
   • 60 - “sechzig” (zekhtsikh)
   • 70 - “siebzig” (ziptsikh)
   • 80 - “achtzig” (ahtsikh)
   • 90 - "neunzig"
   • 100 - “hundert” (hundert)