My daughter asked me why the name of the street Schlossstraße has both a double s and a ß. After looking through the course notes I see that ß is NOT really an aditional letter of the alphabet as I thought it may be - providing a logical explanation. The only reason I can deduce from the lessons here is that it is pronounced slightly differently. Is this correct or can anyone else provide a more precise explanation.

In lesson 2.2 I expected "Is there a ..." to be translated as "Ist es eine..." rather than "Gibt es eine...". Does anyone know why?

"Es gibt" bedeutet beide "there is" und "there are". 'Es gibt' is literally "it gives". It's just the way they say it. Once you use it a few times you'll get used to it.

"My daughter asked me why the name of the street Schlossstraße has both a double s and a ß. After looking through the course notes I see that ß is NOT really an aditional letter of the alphabet as I thought it may be - providing a logical explanation. The only reason I can deduce from the lessons here is that it is pronounced slightly differently. Is this correct or can anyone else provide a more precise explanation." It's really just a matter of grammar than pronounciation, since ß=ss when you say it. In the spelling reform, ß turned to "ss" after short vowels, but stayed ß after long vowels (if there are no more consonants). So "Faß" became "Fass" and "Schloß" became "Schloss", but "Straße" stayed "Straße". :)

The weird "B" looking letter with the double S sound was used to replace most "SS" spellings in words, due to Nazi its undertones. Hence the SS men.

It is called an Eszett and to my knowledge the history and use of this letter has nothing to do with the Nazis. It was a symbol used to carry over a letter in gothic script into roman typesetting. It does equal two ss, but the Eszett and ss are not interchangeable. Its use depends on the sounds of the vowels that precede it. The story does not end there. The German language does undergo critical examinations from time to time, in which a panel of scholars recommends changes on how words are spelled. After the 1996 conference, many major spelling changes were instituted. The rules regarding the use of the Eszett were restricted and it is now used less often than before. If you have a book published prior to 1996, the word castle is spelled Schloß, but after 1996, Schloss.

I have problem with the pronounciation of the word(((heiBt))??is the letter B pronounced(S)..please tell me...thank you very much

i would like to comment you about the letter "B" which seems capital B in English So why do not be totally use "SS" instead because it create confusion for those who come from out side Germany.

I found this in the Language & Culture Lessons - 1.5 The German Alphabet "This unusual looking letter ß, which looks like a B is called esszett and is another symbol for a double ss. The ß produces a sharp s- sound like the hissing of a snake '...' There are no words that start with ß, so you will only ever come across it in lower case." I hope this clears it up for you :)

That is right Rowdy! Thank you Paul