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What do the funny dots on top of a, e and u mean?

The Umlaut

There are three "Umlauts" in German: ae (an a with two dots on top) which sounds like AY, oe (o with two dots) pronounced like the "i" in "sir" and ue (u with dots) sounding like the French "tu" or "sur". Since these sounds are not available in English, you need to pay careful attention whenever you encounter them.

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