Symbols In German: Full List And How To Use Them (Zeichen Im Deutschen)

My first German job application died because of a comma.

Well, not exactly a comma—more like a whole army of mysterious symbols. The HR lady wrote back:

„Bitte benutzen Sie einen Doppelpunkt, keinen Bindestrich.“

I stared at the sentence for five full yak minutes thinking:
Which one of these little worms is the Doppelpunkt again?!

If you’ve ever looked at @, #, §, –, … and thought, “I know what you do, I just don’t know what you’re called in German,” this is your survival guide.

Let’s name the symbols, learn how Germans say them out loud, and see how they’re actually used in real life.

Quick Primer: How Symbols Behave In German

A few big-picture rules before we zoom in:

• Germans love precise names: Bindestrich /ˈbɪndəʃtʁɪç/ vs Gedankenstrich /ɡəˈdaŋkn̩ˌʃtʁɪç/.
  
• Many symbols are used in math, coding, email, texting, and formal writing.
  
• For reading aloud, Germans often say the symbol name as a word:
  
  • : → Doppelpunkt /ˈdɔpl̩ˌpʊŋkt/
    
  • @ → At-Zeichen /ˈɛtˌt͡saɪ̯çn̩/ or Klammeraffe /ˈklamɐˌʔafə/(kittyingermany.com)
    

You don’t need every name on day one—but knowing the essentials makes emails, forms, and German keyboard life much easier.

Core Punctuation Symbols (Punkt, Komma, Fragezeichen…)

Let’s start with the punctuation you’ll see in every message, book, and angry YouTube comment.

Examples:

• Ich komme später.
  I’ll come later.
  
• Kommst du mit?
  Are you coming along?
  
• Vorsicht!
  Careful!
  

How Germans read them aloud:

• „Er sagte: ‚Komm sofort!‘“
  Read as: Er sagte Doppelpunkt Komm sofort Ausrufezeichen.(German Language Stack Exchange)
  

Dashes, Hyphens, And Friends

Yes, German really has feelings about different lines.

Bindestrich:

• Used inside compounds:
  Deutsch-Englisch-Wörterbuch – German–English dictionary.
  

Gedankenstrich:

• Used like an English “long dash” to show a pause or afterthought:
  Ich war müde – aber glücklich.
  

On a German QWERTZ keyboard, you mostly see –, but in typeset text you’ll run into both forms.(Zeitvogel IT GmbH)

Quotation Marks And Brackets

Anführungszeichen – Quotation Marks

German uses its own typographical quotes:

• „…“ – normal German style
  
• »…« – also common, especially in books or Swiss texts
  

Names:

When reading aloud, Germans sometimes say:

• Anführungszeichen unten – opening quote
  
• Anführungszeichen oben – closing quote(German Language Stack Exchange)
  

Klammern – Brackets

Examples:

• Bitte füllen Sie das Formular (Seite 2) aus.
  Please fill out the form (page 2).
  
• [Optional] is often written literally in English, even in German documents.
  

Slashes, Underscores, And The Asterisk

These symbols live in URLs, file names, and little grammar tricks.

Use cases:

• E-Mail-Adresse:
  max_muster@test.de
  Germans say: max Unterstrich muster at test Punkt de.
  
• Gendern / inclusive writing:
  Student*in – used to include all genders.
  Read as Student Sternchen in.
  
• File paths:
  C:\Benutzer\Dokumente
  Read as: C Backslash Benutzer Backslash Dokumente.(Zeitvogel IT GmbH)
  

The Famous @, #, %, & And Friends

These are the stars of email, social media, and math.

Use cases:

• E-Mail:
  info@test.de
  → info at test Punkt de.
  
• Hashtags:
  #Berlin → Raute Berlin or simply Hashtag Berlin.
  
• Legal texts:
  § 5 → Paragraph fünf.
  
• Temperature:
  20 °C → zwanzig Grad Celsius.(Zeitvogel IT GmbH)
  

Math Symbols: Plus, Minus, Gleich, Größer Als

Math time—German loves clear names here too.

Example phrases:

• 3 + 5 = 8
  → drei plus fünf gleich acht
  
• x > 10
  → x ist größer als zehn
  
• a < b
  → a ist kleiner als b
  

German Special Letters: Ä, Ö, Ü, ß, €

They’re not “symbols” in the same way as @ or #, but they are special characters you’ll type a lot.

Usage:

• Straße – street
  
• schön – beautiful
  
• für – for
  

On a German keyboard, Ä, Ö, Ü and ß have their own keys; on other layouts you often use Alt-codes or long-press options.(Wikipedia)

How Germans Read Symbols Out Loud

A few handy “reading patterns” you’ll hear constantly:

Email:

max_muster@example.de
→ max Unterstrich muster at example Punkt de

File name:

Bericht_2025-03-01.pdf
→ Bericht Unterstrich zweitausendfünfundzwanzig Bindestrich null drei Bindestrich null eins Punkt pdf

Time:

20:15 Uhr
→ zwanzig Uhr fünfzehn (not “zwanzig Doppelpunkt fünfzehn” unless you’re literally spelling it out).

Quoted text:

Er sagte: „Hallo.“
→ Er sagte Doppelpunkt Anführungszeichen unten Hallo Punkt Anführungszeichen oben.(German Language Stack Exchange)

Mini Dialogues: Symbols In Real Life

Dialogue 1 – Spelling An Email Address

Wie ist Ihre E-Mail-Adresse?
/viː ɪst ˈiːʁə ˈʔiːmeːl aˈdʁɛsə/
What is your email address?

Sie ist: info@beispiel.de.
/ziː ʔɪst ˈɪnfoʔat ˈbaɪ̯ʃpiːl pʊŋkt deː/
It’s: info@example.de.

Könnten Sie das bitte buchstabieren?
/ˈkœntən ziː das ˈbʊxʃtaˌbiːʁən/
Could you spell that, please?

Gern: i-n-f-o, At-Zeichen, b-e-i-s-p-i-e-l, Punkt d-e.
/ɡɛʁn… atˌt͡saɪ̯çn̩… pʊŋkt…/
Sure: i-n-f-o, at sign, e-x-a-m-p-l-e, dot d-e.

Dialogue 2 – Talking About A Password

Dein Passwort braucht ein Sonderzeichen.
/daɪ̯n ˈpasvɔʁt bʁaʊ̯xt aɪ̯n ˈzɔndɐˌt͡saɪ̯çn̩/
Your password needs a special character.

Geht ein Sternchen oder eine Raute?
/ɡeːt aɪ̯n ˈʃtɛʁnçən ˈoːdɐ ˈaɪ̯nə ˈʁaʊ̯tə/
Does an asterisk or a hash work?

Ja, Sternchen, Raute oder Unterstrich.
/jaː ˈʃtɛʁnçən ˈʁaʊ̯tə ˈoːdɐ ˈʊntɐˌʃtʁɪç/
Yes, asterisk, hash, or underscore.

Dialogue 3 – Giving A Temperature

Wie kalt ist es draußen?
/viː kalt ɪst ɛs ˈdʁaʊ̯sn̩/
How cold is it outside?

Ungefähr 3 °C.
/ˈʊnɡəˌfɛːɐ̯ dʁaɪ̯ ɡʁaːt ˈt͡sɛlzi̯ʊs/
Around 3 °C.

Brr, unter null Grad gehe ich nicht raus.
/bʁ̩ ʊntɐ nʊl ɡʁaːt ˈɡeːə ɪç nɪçt ʁaʊ̯s/
Brr, below zero degrees I’m not going out.

Quick Reference: Top Symbols You Actually Need

(Zeitvogel IT GmbH)

Five-Minute Practice Plan

1. Email Reading Drill (1 minute)
   Take an address like:
   max_meier-01@test.de
   Say it out loud in German:
   max Unterstrich meier Bindestrich null eins at test Punkt de.
   
2. Three Symbol Sentences (1 minute)
   Say these aloud, naming the symbols:
   
   • § 5 ist wichtig.
     
   • Bitte Punkt am Satzende nicht vergessen.
     
   • Schau mal nach unter Punkt drei.
     
3. Math Mini-Set (1 minute)
   Read aloud:
   
   • 3 + 4 = 7
     
   • 10 – 2 = 8
     
   • x > 5
     Use plus, minus, gleich, größer als.
     
4. File Name Gym (1 minute)
   Imagine a file:
   Rechnung_2025-01-15.pdf
   Read it slowly in German, naming every symbol.
   
5. Dialogue Shadowing (30–60 seconds)
   Pick one mini-dialogue above and shadow it:
   listen with your eyes, repeat with your mouth. Focus on At-Zeichen, Unterstrich, Raute, Sternchen.
   

From Punkt To Klammeraffe: Your Symbol Superpower

Once you know that # is a Raute, @ is an At-Zeichen (or a cheeky Klammeraffe), and * is a Sternchen, suddenly German emails, forms, and tech instructions stop looking like secret code.

Your inner yak can now confidently spell addresses, read passwords, and survive German bureaucracy—with the quiet power of someone who knows exactly which tiny symbol is which.