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How is Ö pronounced?

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.

studygermanonline.com - How to pronounce the German umlauts "ä", "ö", "ü" properly -
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When studying German, students quickly realize that the German alphabet offers some unique letters. Though many try their success with the “avoidance strategy,” understanding and dealing with the German umlauts “ä”, “ö” and “ü” will make your life easier in the long run. Get to know everything you need to know in this article.

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, particular ways of pronouncing the vowels “a,” “o” and “u” evolved. Today, we call them “die Umlaute,” and they characterize by the famous colons above the letters.

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

To make it short, there would not be extra letters if there was no need, so it is essential to deal with these umlauts if you want to speak German successfully. How hard it is to get used to these letters and their sound is very individual and mostly depends on which languages you already speak. While English does not know letters with this sound like “ä”,”ö” or “ü”, other languages do, and therefore it will be easier to use and pronounce Umlauts correctly for their speakers. Also, it is essential to differentiate between the vowels “a,” “o,” “u” and the umlauts “ä,” “ö” and “ü” since there are words that only differ in this one letter but mean something different entirely.

For instance:

fallen – fällen = to fall – to fell

While each of the letters has its name, it is also possible to call them “A-Umlaut”, “O-Umlaut” and “U-Umlaut”. Also, there is a small and capital letter version of the umlauts.

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Recommended study materials on the topic:

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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 instance:

Käse Äpfel ändern

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 classical example of confusion with “ö” are the words “schon” (already) and “schön” (beautiful). As you can easily see, it might make a difference in your choice. Further examples: If you do not have the umlaut on your keyboard, you can simply write “oe” or “Oe” instead.

Ü = U-Umlaut

Last but not least, you should learn how to pronounce the umlaut “ü”. For English speakers, it is the easiest to do it as follows: Try to say “ooh” with your lips pursed. The tip of your tongue needs to touch the lower front teeth from behind (which applies to all umlauts) Further examples:

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

Hi there! Though I provide all blog content for free, your support will be greatly appreciated. 🙂

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Who shot the first bullet in ww2?

GDANSK, Poland (AP) _ At 4:45 a.m. on Sept. 1, 1939, the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein opened fire with its 15-inch guns on the Polish fort at Westerplatte guarding Gdansk harbor. They were the first shots of World War II.

apnews.com - Westerplatte: Where First Shots Of World War II Were Fired ... - AP News

Westerplatte: Where First Shots Of World War II Were Fired With PM-Pope-Poland, Bjt GDANSK, Poland (AP) _ At 4:45 a.m. on Sept. 1, 1939, the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein opened fire with its 15-inch guns on the Polish fort at Westerplatte guarding Gdansk harbor.

They were the first shots of World War II.

Today, Pope John Paul II visited Westerplatte to deliver a message of peace at a youth rally during his visit to this port city on the Baltic Sea. The pope spoke against the backdrop of an 80-foot-tall stone monument, erected by Polish authorities in 1966 to honor the heroes of Westerplatte. In the opening days of World War II, the tiny 182-man Polish garrison at Westerplatte, armed with only a few mortars and an old French cannon, held out for seven days against a German land, air and sea assault. The garrison, cut off from all relief, surrendered honorably when supplies ran out, but their heroism inspired the Polish nation caught in the grip of the Nazi ″blitzkrieg.″ Until the outbreak of the war, the Westerplatte peninsula, located on a promontory on the Bay of Gdansk and the mouth of a canal leading to the port and Old City, had been the site of a Polish military transit warehouse, a barracks and four guardhouses. Since 1924 Gdansk had been a ″free city,″ perhaps better known by its German name Danzig. The Schleswig-Holstein dropped anchor in Gdansk across from Westerplatte on Aug. 25, 1939, on a purported good-will visit just a week before the shelling started. Parts of the barracks, a ferry landing and fortifications can still be seen on the peninsula.

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