German Orthography quiz

More questions about German Orthography

These visible examples show the question style. LearnClash turns the full topic into ranked duels and spaced repetition.

1. 1 Easy

   Which part of speech is always capitalized in German sentences?

   Answer: nouns

   Why: Danish capitalized every noun like German until its 1948 reform; today only a few languages, such as Low German, still follow German here.

2. 2 Medium

   What replaces the letter ß when writing in all capital letters?

   Answer: SS

   Why: Capitals cost you a distinction: MASSE can stand for both Masse, meaning mass, and Maße, meaning measurements.

3. 3 Hard

   In standard German dictionary sorting, how is the letter ö usually treated?

   Answer: like o

   Why: Phone directories go the other way: they file ö as oe, so Möller sits next to Moeller.

4. 4 Easy

   Which country completely abolished the letter ß in its official orthography?

   Answer: Switzerland

   Why: Zurich's schools stopped teaching the ß on 1 January 1938, but the Neue Zürcher Zeitung held on until 4 November 1974.

5. 5 Medium

   Which silent letter was removed from many German words in 1901?

   Answer: h

   Why: The rule reached only native German words: loanwords such as Theater and Thron kept the letter, and Kaiser Wilhelm II demanded the old spelling until 1911.

6. 6 Hard

   In old German script, which letter had a long and short form?

   Answer: s

   Why: Fraktur wrote the long s at the start of a syllable and the round s at its end, telling Wach-stube (guard room) from Wachs-tube (wax tube).