The German letter ß is a ligature and is also called a “scharfes s” (sharp s). But it's simpler than it sounds–it actually just means “ss”. The best thing about this letter? It sounds exactly like the “s” sound in English!
The ß is used only in German and never at the start of German words. The uppercase ß (ẞ) exists only for typesetting, such as in a dictionary. Instead of lowercase ß, one can also write ss.
Why Does ß Mean “Double S” in German? In German, the letter ß is known as the eszett or scharfes (sharp) S. It's a special character, similar to the German umlaut you're probably used to seeing by now. But unlike those two dots above a, o or u, the eszett is written as a capital B-shaped character with a tail: ß.
The double s (after a short vowel) and the ß (after a long vowel) are both pronounced like the -ss in the English word “pass”. How to pronounce s: When the s is at the end of a word, it is pronounced as in the English word “pass”.
The ß is usually used after a long vowel or double-vowel combination (dipthong), in words such as die Straße (the street), der Meißel (the chisel), and stoßen (to bump, to repel): Gut, und die stoßen sich ab. Good and they repel one another.
The German ligature (additional character): The letter ß, is also known as the "sharp S", "eszett" or "scharfes S", and is the only German letter that is not part of the Latin/Roman alphabet. The letter is pronounced (like the "s" in "see").
ß does not exist everywhere that German is spoken—the Swiss dropped it years ago. But its purpose is to help readers figure out pronunciation: A ß signals that the preceding vowel is pronounced long, instead of short, and that you should make an “ss,” not “z,” sound.
Ezh (Ʒ ʒ) /ˈɛʒ/, also called the "tailed z", is a letter whose lower case form is used in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), representing the voiced postalveolar fricative consonant.
According to the orthography in use in German prior to the German orthography reform of 1996, ⟨ß⟩ was written to represent [s]: word internally following a long vowel or diphthong: Straße, reißen; and. at the end of a syllable or before a consonant, so long as [s] is the end of the word stem: muß, faßt, wäßrig.
The German letter ß is a ligature and is also called a “scharfes s” (sharp s). But it's simpler than it sounds–it actually just means “ss”. The best thing about this letter? It sounds exactly like the “s” sound in English!
It is standard to replace ß with SS in all caps: STRASSE. However, in 2017 a new uppercase ẞ was introduced, so it is now also correct to spell STRAẞE. The use of a lowercase ß (STRAßE) is sometimes seen, but is proscribed.
The last umlaut in the German language is the Ü. Similar to the Ö, there is no sound in the English language which is the equivalent of this umlaut.
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).
The SS (Schutzstaffel, or Protection Squads) was originally established as Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard unit. It would later become both the elite guard of the Nazi Reich and Hitler's executive force prepared to carry out all security-related duties, without regard for legal restraint.
Additionally, the Standard German 'ß' is not used by the Swiss. An interesting theory explains how manufacturers of Swiss typewriters omitted this orthographic letter since they had to include French and Italian orthographic letters. Instead of this German feature, the Swiss use 'ss.
It is because of the typewriter. A Swiss typewriter needs to support three languages: German, French, and Italian. Therefore on the Swiss typewriter, there was no ß key. It also has only lowercase umlauts ä, ö, and ü.
“s-zet” (ß): Hold down “control” and press the ampersand (&) (i.e. Shift + 7) [Nothing will appear on your screen when you press this combination of keys]. Then release all three keys you just pressed and type the letter s. The “s-zet” (ß) should now appear.
V is pronounced as “f”, with the letter itself rhyming with "cow". This can be seen in words like vor, verkehren, and Verlust. W, meanwhile, takes the pronunciation of an English V — hence the confusion. The letter W is pronounced as “veh” and can be seen in words like Wetter, Woche, and warten.
Germans generally pronounce the letter “b” as in “Berlin” or “Bier.”
Eng or engma (capital: Ŋ, lowercase: ŋ) is a letter of the Latin alphabet, used to represent a voiced velar nasal (as in English singing) in the written form of some languages and in the International Phonetic Alphabet.
The Russian letter "э" is pronounced [e] like in the word "edit". But be careful, remember that the Russian letter "e" is pronounced [ye] like in "yellow". You have already learnt that "и" has a sound [i], similar to "three" or "free".
These levels are classified as A1 for beginners, A2 for elementary, B1 for intermediate, B2 for upper intermediate, C1 as advanced, and C2 as mastery.