The Letter "A" in German In Standard German

"A" is the first letter of the German alphabet. It is a vowel and is one of the most important and frequently used letters in German.

Uppercase Form	A
Lowercase Form	a
Name	a
Common Sounds	/a/, /aː/

Pronouncing "A"

The pronunciation of the letter varies between a long open vowel, a short open vowel, and several other sounds depending on stress, syllable structure, and word origin.

"A" as /aː/

You pronounce "a" long when it is followed by only one consonant and then another vowel, when the word changes to have an extra vowel in other forms, or before the letter "ß".

Example

braten → /ˈbraːtn̩/

to fry

Jahr → /jaːɐ̯/

year

Straße → /ˈʃtraːsə/

street

"A" as /a/

You pronounce "a" short when it is followed by two or more consonants that stay together in all forms of the word, in small function words, or at the end of a word when it is not emphasized.

Example

Fall → /fal/

case

was → /vas/

what

Klima → /ˈkliːma/

climate

"A" and Vowel Length

The difference between long /aː/ and short /a/ can change the meaning of a word.

Example

Rate → /ˈraːtə/

installment

Ratte → /ˈratə/

rat

"A" in Letter Combination

"A" often teams up with other letters. These fixed combinations have their own regular pronunciations.

"aa"

This combination always signal a long /aː/ sound.

Example

Saal → /zaːl/

hall

"ah"

An "a" followed by "h" is also a clear sign for a long /aː/, even if another consonant comes after.

Example

Stahl → /ʃtaːl/

steel

"ai"

"ai" sounds like the English word "eye" /aɪ/.

Example

Mai → /maɪ/

May

"au"

"au" sounds like the "ow" in English "cow" /aʊ/.

Example

Haus → /haʊs/

house

"A" in Loanwords

In loanwords, the pronunciation of "a" depends on the language of origin and surrounding sounds. In English loanwords, "a" often keeps an English-like quality and may be pronounced as /ɛ/, or vary between /eː/ and /ɛɪ/. Before "l" or "w", it often changes to /ɔː/. In French loanwords, "a" before "n" or "m" is often pronounced as /ãː/.

Example

Gadget → /ˈgɛdʒɪt/

gadget

Label → /ˈleːbəl/

label

Crawl → /krɔːl/

crawl

Balance → /baˈlãːs/

balance

"A" and "Ä"

It is very important to understand the difference between "a" and "ä". The two dots change the vowel sound completely and often change the grammar or meaning.