ä / ö / ü

The Vowels Ä, Ö and Ü

Level 1

ä, ö and ü are three separate vowels. They are not optional marks: hall means grey, but häll means cradle.

How It Works

These three vowels are made at the front of the mouth:

  • ä: an open vowel, close to the a in cat. täna (today), väike (small).
  • ö: say e and round your lips. öö (night), töö (work).
  • ü: say i and round your lips. üks (one), tüdruk (girl).

Each is a separate letter, so swapping it changes the word:

  • hall (grey) and häll (cradle)
  • too (that one) and töö (work)
  • tuli (fire) and tüli (quarrel)

They can be long, too. Then they are written twice: öö, töö, müüja (seller), jää (ice). In native words, ä, ö and ü appear in the first syllable of the word or of each part of a compound, not in the endings.

If you know Finnish, note one difference. Standard Estonian has no vowel harmony, so endings do not change to match these vowels: Estonian says tänaval (on the street) and tüdrukuga (with a girl) with the same endings as any other word. Some South Estonian varieties, such as Võro, do keep vowel harmony. See South Estonian.

Examples (5)

  1. Täna on ilus ilm.

    The weather is nice today.

    Word by Word: Today is beautiful weather.

    Täna has ä in its first syllable.

  2. Ma lähen tööle.

    I'm going to work.

    Word by Word: I go work-to.

    Töö has a long ö, written twice.

  3. Öö oli pikk.

    The night was long.

    Öö is a whole word made of one long vowel.

  4. Tüdruk sööb jäätist.

    The girl is eating ice cream.

    This sentence has ü, ö and ä.

  5. Palun ütle seda veel kord.

    Please say that again.

    Word by Word: Please say that still once.

    Ütle starts with ü, said like i with rounded lips.

Common Mistakes

  • Using u instead of ü, which gives a different word.

    Meil oli suur tuli.
    Meil oli suur tüli.

    If you mean "We had a big quarrel", you need tüli. Tuli means fire, so the first sentence says "We had a big fire".

  • Leaving the dots off ö.

    Ma lähen toole.
    Ma lähen tööle.

    Ö and o are different letters. Tööle means to work; toole is a form of tool (chair), so the sentence makes no sense.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

ä / ö / üLevel 1The Vowels Ä, Ö and Ü

Learn This First

These vowels are learned as extra letters of the alphabet.