This week, we will look at more words that only differ by an umlaut. 

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As you know, the plural version of some nouns is formed with an umlaut. An example of this is die Mutter ("the mother") and die Mütter ("the mothers"). 

So, jetzt wollen wir mal andere Mütter fragen, was es für sie bedeutet, Mutter zu sein.

So, now we want to ask other mothers what it means to them to be a mother.

Captions 16-17, Cettina: interviewt Mütter

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However, some words take on a completely different meaning when an umlaut is added to one of the vowels. One classic example is schön ("pretty," "nice") and schon ("already," "indeed"). 

Immer wieder schön, dich wiederzusehen.

Always nice to see you again.

Caption 1, AnnenMayKantereit 3. Stock

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One difference in pronunciation that might take some practice is between schwul and schwül. The adjective schwül means "humid."

Da diese Abkürzung für lesbisch, schwul, bisexuell, transsexuell und queer steht.

Because this abbreviation stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer.

Caption 4, LGBTQ Gendern

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Whereas die Küchen is the plural of "kitchen," der Kuchen means "cake." 

Heute möchte ich mit euch einen Kuchen backen.

Today I would like to bake a cake with you.

Caption 2, Apfelkuchen: mit Eva

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The noun der Müll means "the garbage." Without an umlaut, der Mull refers to muslin or gauze. 

Wir haben fünfhundert Tüten Müll gesammelt.

We've collected five hundred bags of garbage.

Caption 9, Die Pfefferkörner: Endspurt

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Further Learning
A few more words you can look up are die Schranke vs. die Schränke, der Bär vs. die Bar or das Bar, and die Bürger vs. der Burger. Stuck on pronunciation? Listen to the words pronounced by native speakers in videos on Yabla German.