German Words Used in English: Tips and Tricks for Spelling Bee Success

Why English Is Full of German Loanwords

English is itself a Germanic language at its root, descended from the same family tree as German, so plenty of "basic" English vocabulary already traces back to shared ancestors from thousands of years ago. But the words on this list aren't those ancient cousins — they're much more recent, direct borrowings that entered English in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, brought over by German-speaking immigrants, scientists, and writers whose specialized vocabulary had no ready English equivalent. Food and drink came from German kitchens ("pretzel," "schnitzel"), early childhood education came from German classrooms ("kindergarten"), and psychology and philosophy borrowed heavily from German thinkers ("angst," "zeitgeist," "gestalt"). Because these words kept their German spelling largely intact instead of being reshaped to fit English phonics, they carry consonant clusters and vowel patterns that look foreign to an English-trained eye — which is exactly what makes them a favorite category for spelling bee word lists.

"Sch" Spelled, "Sh" Sound

German uses "sch" for the same "sh" sound English usually spells with just two letters, and every loanword that keeps its German look keeps the extra "c" as well. A speller who hears "shnitzel" and reaches for the English instinct of "sh" alone will misspell the word every time — the "c" has to be there even though the ear never confirms it. Because this pattern shows up across a whole cluster of German food and culture words, it's one of the most reliable "smells German" signals in a speller's toolkit: if a word sounds like it starts with "sh," ask whether it might actually be spelled "sch" instead.

• Schnitzel
• Schnapps
• Schadenfreude
• Schmaltz
• Schnauzer
• Schuss
• Schwa

Compound Words Mashed Into One

German famously builds long words by fusing two or more shorter ones together with no space in between, and a handful of these compounds have jumped into English exactly as they were built. "Kindergarten" is literally "children's garden," "wanderlust" is "wander" plus "desire," and "doppelganger" is "double" plus "walker." Because each half is often a recognizable idea on its own, the best way to spell these long words is to mentally split them into their two halves rather than trying to sound out one giant blob of letters — spell "doppel," then spell "ganger," and the whole word falls into place.

• Kindergarten
• Doppelganger
• Wanderlust
• Leitmotif
• Wunderkind
• Weltschmerz
• Rucksack
• Katzenjammer

"Tz" and "Z" Endings That Sound Like "Ts"

In German, "z" is almost always pronounced "ts," not the buzzing English "z" in "zoo" — and loanwords that keep this spelling keep the sound too. That's why "waltz" isn't pronounced "walz," and why "pretzel" starts with a crisp "ts" sound rather than a soft "z." Spellers who trust their ear alone often drop the "t" entirely, writing "walz" or "presel" — training the eye to expect a hidden "t" in front of every borrowed German "z" fixes the mistake before it happens.

• Waltz
• Pretzel
• Ersatz
• Blitz
• Quartz
• Spritz
• Kitsch

"Ei" That Breaks the "I Before E" Rule

Generations of English spellers are taught "i before e, except after c" — but that rule was never written with German loanwords in mind. In German, "ei" is reliably pronounced like the long "i" in "eye," the exact opposite of what the English rhyme predicts for words like "believe" or "receive." That's why "poltergeist," "zeitgeist," and "kaiser" all keep their "ei" order despite sounding like they should be spelled with "ie." The safest habit for this whole category is to recognize the word as German first — once a speller knows the origin, the "i before e" rule can be set aside entirely, and the "ei" spelling becomes the expected choice rather than the exception.

• Poltergeist
• Zeitgeist
• Edelweiss
• Kaiser
• Stein
• Wiener
• Fahrenheit
• Weimaraner

A Memory Trick: Spell by Origin, Not by Ear

The single most useful habit for German loanwords is asking "does this word feel borrowed?" before sounding it out the usual way — words with "sch," a "tz" or "z" ending, or an "ei" that sounds like a long "i" are almost always tagged German in a dictionary's etymology note, and that tag is a direct warning that ordinary English phonics won't apply. Studying these words in the small clusters above, by shared pattern rather than alphabetically, turns thirty scattered exceptions into four manageable rules. And because spelling bees frequently ask competitors for a word's language of origin before they spell it, learning to spot "this one is German" is a skill worth building for its own sake, not just for these words.

Practice These Words Online — Free

SpellingKids.com offers free flashcards, typed practice, and games covering exactly this kind of tricky vocabulary — every card includes audio pronunciation and language of origin, so students can hear the real German-influenced sound and connect it to the spelling pattern behind it. No download or account is required to start — everything is free, directly in the browser.