With or Without Umlaut?

German has three umlaut vowels: ä, ö and ü. The two dots change the sound, and often the whole word. For ü, say ee (as in see) with your lips rounded as for oo; for ö, say ay (as in say) with rounded lips; ä sounds much like the e in bed.

• schon (already) – schön (beautiful, nice)
• Kuchen (cake) – Küche (kitchen)
• Tier (animal) – Tür (door)
• zahlen (to pay) – zählen (to count)
• lesen (to read) – lösen (to solve)
• drucken (to print) – drücken (to press)

Some nouns form their plural with an umlaut only: die Mutter → die Mütter, der Bruder → die Brüder. To choose, read the whole sentence: the verb (ist or sind), the article and the meaning show which word fits.