1. About Swiss German
Swiss German (Schwiizertüütsch) is not a single standard language but a family of Alemannic dialects spoken by the roughly five million people of German-speaking Switzerland. Crucially, it lives in a situation of diglossia: people speak dialect in almost every situation — at home, at work, on the news, in parliament — but write in Swiss Standard German (Hochdeutsch). There is no official spelling for the spoken dialect, so two Swiss may write the same word differently.1
Because of that, this guide teaches the most widely heard variety, Zurich German (Züritüütsch), using a common phonetic spelling — but expect variation, and treat the written forms as a guide to pronunciation rather than a fixed standard. If you already know some Standard German you have a big head start; much of the new work is in the sounds, a few grammar simplifications, and everyday vocabulary.
Key features to know from day one
- Spoken, not written. Swiss German is what people say; what they write is Standard German. Learning it is mainly about listening and speaking.1
- No fixed spelling. Writers spell phonetically and regionally, so the same word appears in several forms; this guide uses common Zurich spellings.1
- The k → ch sound shift. Where Standard German has k, Swiss German often has the guttural ch: Kind → Chind ('child'), kalt → chalt ('cold'), Kopf → Chopf ('head').2
- No simple past. Swiss German tells the past with the Perfekt (ich bi gange = 'I went'), never the written Präteritum (ich ging).2
- The diminutive -li is everywhere — Hündli ('little dog'), Hüsli ('little house') — and is historically the same word as English 'little'.2
- Many French loanwords in daily life: Merci ('thank you'), Velo ('bike'), Trottoir ('pavement'), Exgüsi ('excuse me').
2. Pronunciation
The single most characteristic sound is ch, a strong guttural made at the back of the mouth (as in the Scottish 'loch'). Swiss German uses it constantly — famously in Chuchichäschtli ('little kitchen cupboard'), a classic test for foreigners. Vowel length and the rounded vowels ü and ö also matter.
| Letter / sound | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ch | strong guttural [x]/[χ], as in Scottish 'loch' | Chind (child) |
| k | appears mainly in loanwords; native k often became ch | Kafi (coffee) |
| ü | rounded front vowel, like German ü / French u | Tür (door) |
| ö | rounded front vowel, like German ö / French eu | schö (beautiful) |
| ä | open 'e', like 'a' in cat | Chäs (cheese) |
| -li | diminutive ending, unstressed | Chätzli (kitten) |
Note for learners who know Standard German: final -n is often dropped (machen → mache, 'to do'), and unstressed -e endings are common. Word order is broadly the same as Standard German (verb-second in main clauses), so sentence structure will feel familiar.
3. Greetings & essential words
| Swiss German (Zurich) | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Grüezi | Hello (polite) |
| Grüezi mitenand | Hello everyone |
| Hoi / Sali | Hi (informal) |
| Uf Wiederluege | Goodbye (polite) |
| Adie / Ade | Bye |
| Merci / Merci vilmal | Thank you / Thanks a lot |
| Bitte | Please / You're welcome |
| Ja | Yes |
| Nei | No |
| Exgüsi | Excuse me |
| Tschuldigung | Sorry |
| Wie gaht's? | How are you? |
Numbers 1–10 (Zurich German)
Spellings vary; these follow common Zurich usage.3
| Value | Swiss German | Value | Swiss German |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | eis | 6 | sächs |
| 2 | zwöi | 7 | sibe |
| 3 | drü | 8 | acht |
| 4 | vier | 9 | nüün |
| 5 | föif | 10 | zäh |
Practice: greetings & numbers
Practice: Core Zurich-German greetings and the first numbers. Because Swiss German has no standard spelling, several spellings are accepted — type a common form.. Type the missing word — accents are optional.
- 1.Hello (polite):
Hint: the characteristic Swiss polite greeting, from 'Gott grüez-i'
- 2.Hi (informal):
Hint: a short, casual greeting among friends
- 3.Thank you:
Hint: borrowed from French; the everyday way to give thanks
- 4.Yes:
Hint: the affirmative, as in Standard German
- 5.No:
Hint: the negative reply; rhymes with English 'high'
- 6.Goodbye (polite):
Hint: the polite farewell, the Swiss form of 'auf Wiedersehen'
- 7.the number 'one':
Hint: the first counting number
- 8.the number 'two':
Hint: the number after eis
- 9.the number 'three':
Hint: the number after zwöi
- 10.the number 'five':
Hint: the number of fingers on one hand
10 questions
Grammar reference: Greetings and numerals per common Zurich-German usage, cross-checked against Omniglot and 'Zurich German'; cf. Russ, The Dialects of Modern German (Routledge, 1990). All prompts original to LinguaCommons. CEFR A1. Confidence: greetings High; number spellings Medium (dialectal variation).. Sentences are original to LinguaCommons.
4. From Standard German to Swiss German
The k → ch sound shift
One of the most reliable patterns: many words that begin with k in Standard German begin with the guttural ch in Swiss German. Kind → Chind ('child'), kalt → chalt ('cold'), Käse → Chäs ('cheese'), Kopf → Chopf ('head'), klein → chli ('small').2
The diminutive -li
Add -li to make something small or endearing — and the Swiss use it constantly: Hund → Hündli ('little dog'), Huus → Hüsli ('little house'), Chatz → Chätzli ('kitten'). The vowel often takes an umlaut.2
Two grammar simplifications
First, the past tense: Swiss German uses only the Perfekt, formed with the auxiliary 'sii' (to be) or 'haa' (to have) + a participle — ich bi gange ('I went'), never the written ich ging. Second, the genitive is gone: instead of a genitive case, Swiss German uses vo ('of') + the dative — s Buech vo de Anna ('Anna's book').2
Practice: the k→ch shift, diminutives & key grammar
Practice: Turn Standard German into Zurich Swiss German. Apply the k→ch shift (Kind→Chind), form the -li diminutive, and use the two simplifications (Perfekt auxiliary 'bi'; vo + dative for possession). Spellings vary; common forms are accepted.. Type the missing word — accents are optional.
- 1.k→ch: Standard German 'Kind' (child) → Swiss German
Hint: apply the k→ch shift to the start of 'Kind'
- 2.k→ch: 'kalt' (cold) →
Hint: the k→ch shift applied to 'kalt'
- 3.k→ch: 'Käse' (cheese) →
Hint: the k→ch shift applied to 'Käse'
- 4.k→ch: 'Kopf' (head) →
Hint: the k→ch shift applied to 'Kopf'
- 5.k→ch: 'klein' (small) →
Hint: the k→ch shift applied to 'klein' (the vowel reduces)
- 6.diminutive: 'Hund' (dog) → little dog
Hint: add the diminutive ending (with umlaut) to 'Hund'
- 7.diminutive: 'Huus' (house) → little house
Hint: add the diminutive ending (with umlaut) to 'Huus'
- 8.Perfekt auxiliary: 'I went' = ich gange
Hint: the 1st-person 'to be' form used to build the perfect, as Swiss German has no simple past
- 9.possession with vo: 'Anna's book' = s Buech de Anna
Hint: the preposition that replaces the genitive case ('of')
- 10.'thanks a lot' = Merci
Hint: the word added to 'Merci' to intensify the thanks
10 questions
Grammar reference: Sound shift, diminutive and grammar per Russ, The Dialects of Modern German (Routledge, 1990) and 'Zurich German'. All prompts original to LinguaCommons. CEFR A2. Confidence: High for the k→ch items and grammar; Medium for exact diminutive spellings.. Sentences are original to LinguaCommons.
5. Beyond the basics
🚧 In development. This section will cover the present-tense verb endings of Zurich German (ich mache, du machsch, er macht, mir mached…), the modal verbs, and how to form questions and negatives (with nöd, 'not'). Content here is being expanded in a later run and is not yet complete.
🚧 In development. A strategy for mapping Standard-German vocabulary onto Swiss German via regular sound correspondences (and for spotting the French and dialect-only words that cannot be guessed) will be added here.
🚧 In development. This section will compare the major regional dialects (Zurich, Bern, Basel, Wallis) and the spoken/written diglossia in practice. Not yet complete.
🚧 In development. Planned: idiom, humour, and the social meaning of dialect vs Hochdeutsch. Not yet complete.
🚧 In development. Planned: near-native listening across dialects, and a media plan (SRF, Swiss films and songs). Not yet complete.
- Swiss German — overview — diglossia, dialects and features
- Zurich German — reference — the variety taught here
- Numbers in Swiss German (Omniglot) — numeral forms across varieties