German Phrases

Greetings in German Hi! Good Morning! Good Evening! Welcome! (to greet someone) How Are You? I'm Fine, Thanks! And You? Good/ So-So. Thank You (Very Much)! You're Welcome! (answering "thank you") Hey! Friend! I Missed You So Much! What's New? Nothing Much Good Night! See You Later! Good Bye! Hallo! Guten Morgen! Guten Abend! Willkommen! Wie geht's dir/ Ihnen? Danke, mir geht's gut! Und dir/ Ihnen? Gut/ So la-la Danke (vielmals)!/ Vielen Dank! Gern gescheh'n!/ Keine Ursache!/ Kein Problem! Hey! Kumpel! (only for male people) Du hast/ Sie haben mir so gefehlt! Was gibt's Neues? Nicht viel. Gute Nacht! Bis spter! Auf Wiedersehen!/ Tsch!

Help & Directions in German I'm Lost Can I Help You? Can You Help Me? Where is the (bathroom/ pharmacy)? Go Straight! Then Turn Left/ Right! I'm Looking For John. One Moment Please! Hold On Please! (phone) How Much Is This? Excuse Me ...! ( to ask for something) Excuse Me! ( to pass by) Come With Me! Personal Info in German Do You Speak (English/ German)? Just a Little. What's Your Name? My Name Is . Mr.../ Mrs./ Miss Nice To Meet You! You're Very Kind! Where Are You From? Sprechen Sie (Englisch/ Deutsch)? Nur ein bichen. Wie heien Sie? Ich heie... / Mein Name ist... Herr/ Frau/ Frulein (not used anymore) Schn, Sie kennenzulernen! Du bist/ Sie sind sehr freundlich! Woher kommst du/ kommen Sie? Ich habe mich verlaufen! Kann ich dir/ Ihnen helfen? Kannst du/ Knnen Sie mir helfen? Wo ist (das Badezimmer/ die Apotheke?) Gehen Sie geradeaus! Dann links / rechts abbiegen! Ich suche John. Einen Augenblick, bitte! Bleiben Sie dran, bitte! Was kostet das?/ Wie teuer ist das? Entschuldigen Sie bitte...! Darf ich mal vorbei? Kommen Sie mit!

I'm From (the U.S/ Germany) Im (American) Where Do You Live? I live in (the U.S/ Germany) Did You Like It Here? Germany Is a Wonderful Country What Do You Do For A Living? I Work As A (Translator/ Businessman) I Like German I've Been Learning German For 1 Month Oh! That's Good! How Old Are You? I'm (twenty, thirty) Years Old. I Have To Go I Will Be Right Back! Wishes in German Good Luck! Happy Birthday! Happy New Year! Merry Christmas! Congratulations! Enjoy! (For meals) I'd Like To Visit Germany One Day Say Hi To John For me. Bless you (when sneezing) Good Night & Sweet Dreams!

Ich komme (aus den U.S.A./ aus Amerika / aus Deutschland) Ich bin (Amerikaner) Wo wohnst du/ wohnen Sie? Ich wohne (in den U.S.A./ in Amerika/ in Deutschland) Gefllt es dir/ Ihnen hier? Deutschland ist wunderschn. Was ist dein/ Ihr Beruf? Ich bin (bersetzer/Dolmetscher) / Geschftsmann Ich mag Deutsch Ich lerne seit einem Monat Deutsch Oh! Das ist toll! Wie alt bist du/ sind Sie? Ich bin (zwanzig, dreiig,...) Jahre (alt). Ich mu gehen/ los! Ich bin sofort wieder da! Viel Glck! Alles Gute zum Geburtstag! Ein frohes neues Jahr! Frhliche Weihnachten! (Herzlichen) Glckwunsch! Guten Appetit! Ich mchte eines Tages (mal) nach Deutschland reisen Gr/ Gren Sie John von mir! Gesundheit! Gute Nacht und trum was schnes!

Misunderstanding in German I'm Sorry! (if you don't hear something) Sorry (for a mistake) No Problem! Can You Say It Again? Can You Speak Slowly? Write It Down Please! I Don't Understand! I Don't Know! I Have No Idea. What's That Called In German? What Does " gato" Mean In English? How Do You Say "Please" In German? What Is This? My German Is Bad. Entschuldigung, ich habe Sie nicht verstanden! Entschuldigung!/ Es tut mir leid! Kein Problem!/ Keine Ursache! Kannst du/ Knnen Sie das nochmal wiederholen? Kannst du/ Knnen Sie (etwas) langsamer sprechen? Schreib/ Schreiben Sie es bitte auf! Ich verstehe das/ dich/ Sie nicht! (das:that, dich:you, Sie:you polite) Ich wei (es) nicht! Ich habe keine Ahnung. Wie heit das auf deutsch? Was bedeutet "nacht" auf englisch? Wie sagt man "please" auf deutsch? Was ist das (hier)? Mein Deutsch ist schlecht.

I need to practice my German Don't Worry! Expressions & Words in German Good/ Bad/ So-So. Big/ Small Today/ Now Tomorrow/ Yesterday Yes/ No Here You Go! (when giving something) Do You Like It? I Really Like It! I'm Hungry/ Thirsty. In The Morning/ Evening/ At Night. This/ That. Here/There Me/ You. Him/ Her. Really! Look! Hurry Up! What? Where? What Time Is It? It's 10 o'clock. 07:30pm. Give Me This! I Love You! I Feel Sick. I Need A Doctor One, Two, Three Four, Five, Six Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten

Ich mu (mein) Deutsch ben. (Nur) Keine Sorge! gut/ schlecht/ so la-la gro/ klein. heute/ jetzt morgen/ gestern ja/ nein Bitte sehr!/ Bitte schn! Gefllt's dir/ Ihnen? Mir gefllt es sehr gut! Ich habe Hunger/ Durst. am Morgen/ morgens/ am Abend/ abends/ in der Nacht dies(es/er/e)/ das. hier/ dort. Ich/ Du. Er/ sie Wirklich?!/ Echt?! Guck (mal)/ Schau (mal)! Beeil dich!/ beeilen Sie sich! was?/ wo? Wieviel Uhr ist es?/ Wie spt ist es? Es ist zehn Uhr. Sieben Uhr dreiig/ halb acht. Gib mir das! Ich liebe dich/ Sie! Ich fhle mich nicht wohl. Ich brauche einen Arzt. eins, zwei, drei vier, fnf, sechs sieben, acht, neun, zehn

Wie heien Sie? (What's your name?), Ich heie Speak7 , Mein Name ist Speak7 (my name is Speak7 ), Wie bitte? (I'm sorry, literally: how please?), Wie gehts? (How is it going? how are things going with you?), Es geht, und Ihnen? (things are going okay, how about you? It's the answer to "Wie geht's") Danke, gut! Good, thanks (literally: Thanks, good) Tsch (bye) Woher kommen Sie? (Where are you from?) Ich komme aus Marokko. (I'm from Morocco) Wo wohnen Sie? (Where do you live?) Wo ist das? (Where is that?) Ich verstehe nicht (I don't understand) Oh, Entschuldigung! (Oh sorry)

Macht nichts (don't worry about it, .or., it's okay) Danke schn (Thanks a lot) Es tut mir leid (I'm sorry) Was machen Sie? (What do you do?) Was sind Sie von Beruf? (What do you do for a living?) Ich bin ... (I'm a "your job") Ich meine. (I mean.) Wirklich? (Really?) Ich bin in Frankfurt geboren (I was born in Frankfurt) Ich bin verheiratet (I.m married) Ich bin solo (I'm single) Ja, richtig (yes that's true, or that's correct) Das stimmt! (exactly!) Das stimmt nicht (that's not true) Ich spreche mit einem Akzent (I speak with an accent) Was ist das? (What is that?) Sie sprechen zu schnell fr mich (you.re speaking too fast for me) Was ist los? (What is going on?) Gar nichts (nothing at all) Warum nicht? (Why not?) Wie spt ist es? (What time is it?) Zehn vor sieben (6:50), zwanzig nach fnf (5:20), viertel vor zehn (9:45) Kommst du mit? (Are you coming along?) Kann ich Sie duzen? (Can I use the informal form used in German with you?) Hier kann man viel Geld ausgeben (you can spend a lot of money here; note that "man" here means "people, you, one...") Ich schlage vor, wir gehen ins Kino (I suggest, we go to the movies/ cinema) Wie lange leben Sie schon hier? (How long have you been living here?) Wie finden Sie Amerika? (How do you like the U.S?) Ich habe in Amerika Deutsch gelernt (I learned German in the U.S) Er hat Sie verstanden (he understood you). Wie gro ist es? (How big is it?) Wie viel kostet das? (How much is it?) Das ist sehr wichtig (it's very important) Haben Sie Geschwister/ Kinder? (Do you have sisters/ kids?) Knnen Sie mir helfen? (Can you help me?) Haben Sie eine Nachricht? (Do you have a message for me?) Legen Sie nicht auf (don't hang up! "On the phone") Was kann ich fr Sie tun? (What can I do for you?) Sag mal! (Tell me!) Jeden Tag studiere ich Deutsch (every day I study German) Um wie viel Uhr...? (At what time ...?) Bis wann? (Till what time?)

Morgen, Nachmittag, Abend (morning, afternoon, evening) Wann kommen Sie heute? (When are you coming today?) Von neun bis sechs (from nine to six) Das wei ich nicht (I don't know about that) Noch nicht (not yet) Also, bis dann! (So, see you!) Toll! (Wow, "or" Awesome!) Mach schnell! (Hurry up!) Was haben Sie heute Abend vor? (Do you have any plans for this evening?) Ich kann Deutsch nur lesen und schreiben, aber nicht sprechen (I can only read and write German, but cannot speak it) Darf ich hereinkommen? (Can I come in?) Ja, natrlich, kommen Sie bitte! (Of course, come in please!) Nehmen Sie doch bitte Platz! Mgen Sie etwas trinken? (Have a seat, would you like to drink something?) Nein, danke, ich will nicht lange bleiben (no, thanks, I will not stay for long) Darf ich etwas fragen? (Can I ask you something?) Morgen habe ich wieder Freizeit (tomorrow I have free time again) Was fehlt Ihnen? (What's wrong? are you okay?) Auf keinen Fall (by no means) Auf jeden Fall (by all means) Viel Erfolg (good luck!)

German Alphabet
Aa as in the word ask and never as in the word able Bb same as in English Cc usually in sch ch or ck rarely out of these letters. Dd same as in English Ee as in elevated Ff same as in English Gg like in the word "God", never pronounced as in the word gym. Hh same as in English. Ii as in the word ink never as in the word island Jj similar to the letter y in yacht Kk same as in English Ll same as in English Mm same as in English Nn same as in English, most of the German letters are just like English.

Oo same as in English Old never as in Hot which is pronounced somehow like {hat} Pp same as in English Qq same as in English but rare. Rr same as in English but slightly like as in gh as in the French Merci Ss sounds like z. Tt same as in English but not as sharp. Uu sounds like oo or uu, never as in the word up or university Vv sounds like f Ww sounds like v Xx same as in English although rare. Yy same as in English although rare. Zz sounds like ts

Additional German letters: /, / , / . (called scharfes s) / sounds more like e / sounds more like oe / sounds more like ue sounds like ss

Compound letters: Sch: sounds like sh Ch: sounds sometimes like sh or like kh. St: sounds like sht at the beginning, and like st at the end of a word. German Definite Article der Mann (the man) die Frau (the woman) das Brot (the bread) die Mnner (the men), die Frauen (the women), die Brote (the breads)

Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural

Well, thats not all; the form we went through above is only for the nominative case. Now lets have a look at all the rest:

Nominative case Accusative case Dative case Genitive cases

German Definite Articles Masculin feminin neuter plural e e Der die das die Den die das die Dem der dem den Des der des der

the the to the of the

Here are some examples: Nominative: der Mann ist hier (the man is here) Accusative: Ich gre den Mann (I greet the man) Dative: Ich gebe dem Mann ein Buch (I give the book to the man) Genitive: Ich habe das Buch des Mannes (I have the book of the man)

You may have noticed how the definite article changes each time the case changes. So try to memorize the table above by heart, Im sure its not that hard.

German cases are four: the nominative case (subject of the sentence); the accusative case (the direct object); the dative case (the indirect object), and the genitive case (possessive). Cases are not something strange to English, pronouns for example use a certain kind of cases, for example we say he speaks, and give him and not give he, did you see how he became him in the second example, well the same thing happens in German, the only difference is that in German its much more widely used, not only in pronouns, even nouns/ adjectives/ articles use the same thing. The German case indicates the role of an element in a sentence.

German Nominative

The nominative is the easiest case in German and also the one dictionaries use as the standard form of nouns, adjectives, articlesand refers to the subject of the sentence. The teacher went to school, The teacher is the subject of the sentence, and therefore The teacher is nominative. So it will take the nominative form in German, which is Der Lehrer. Below is a table of some forms of Nominative, you will only know the difference when you will go through the 3 other cases (accusative, Dative, Genitive).

Definite Articles Der, die, das, die (they all means the)

German Nominative Case Indefinite Articles Personal Pronouns Adjectives (masc., fem, neuter, plural) Ein, Eine, Ein Ich, du, er, sie, Weier, weie, weies, weie (they all mean a, an) wir, ihr, sie. (I, you, he, she...) (all these forms mean white)

These are just some examples to show the nominative form of some elements such as articles, pronouns, adjectives. Note that the nominative case can be used in a much wider scope such as in Nouns, interrogative pronounswhat comes next will help you notice the difference between Nominative and what the other 3 German cases.

German Accusative
Now we will learn the second case in German which is the accusative, the good news is that apart from the masculine, the other 2 genders + the plural (feminine, neuter and plural) look just like the Nominative. Now lets learn what the accusative really is. The accusative case is considered the direct object. I see the teacher, the teacher is the direct object of the sentence, and therefore would take the accusative form, and since the teacher is masculine it will become in German den Lehrer and not der Lehrer as in the nominative case. I see the teacher = Ich sehe den Lehrer.

Definite Articles Den, die, das, die

German Accusative Case Indefinite Articles Personal Pronouns Adjectives (masc., fem, neuter, plural) Einen, Eine, Ein Weien, weie, weies, weie mich, dich, ihn,

(they all means the)

(they all mean a, an)

sie, uns, euch, sie. (me, you, him, her...)

(all these forms mean white)

Lets get adjectives involved as well. I see the young teacher = ich sehe den jungen Lehrer. Young in German is jung, but since were using the accusative case, then the adjective should copy the article it follows, which is den/ the = masculine, so den jungen. If you look at the table above you will understand why we added en after the adjective jung. Now lets get personal pronouns involved. I see him = ich sehe ihn. Easy, isnt it!

A pronoun in German as well as in English is like a shortcut to refer to a noun, a word that stands for or represents a noun or noun phrase, a pronoun is identified only in the context of the sentence in which it is used. So you must have a prior idea about who "he or she" "er or sie" is. In English we find "I, her, what, that, his", In German pronouns use is governed by cases (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive), number and gender. All these three factors can affect the pronoun. Types of pronouns include personal pronouns (refer to the persons speaking, the persons spoken to, or the persons or things spoken about), indefinite pronouns, relative (connect parts of sentences), reciprocal or reflexive pronouns (in which the object of a verb is being acted on by verb's subject), demonstrative, and interrogative pronouns.

German Personal Pronouns

The personal (subject) pronouns in German are (ich, du, er, sie, es, wir, ihr, Sie, sie.), and make the equivalent of (I, you, he, she, it, we, you people, you all, they) in English, usually they take the nominative form, since theyre the subject of the sentence. Theyre very important and therefore they must be memorized by heart. I have a pen = Ich habe einen Kugelschreiber.

Personal Pronouns in German Singular I Ich you (familiar) Du

you (formal) he, she, it

Sie er, sie, es Plural we Wir you (familiar) Ihr you (formal) Sie they Sie

German Object Pronouns

Object pronouns replace the object of a sentence; direct object pronouns take the place of the direct object nouns, lets take this example I see a man, a man can be replaced in English by the direct object pronoun him and not he, so it would be I see him, the same thing happens in German: Ich sehe einen Mann becomes Ich sehe ihn. Note that the direct object pronoun in German is associated with the accusative case:

Direct Object Pronouns in German Singular me Mich you (familiar) Dich you (formal) Sie him, her, it ihn, sie, es Plural us Uns you (familiar) Euch you (formal) Sie them Sie

The indirect object pronouns (IOP) are used to replace nouns (people or things) in a sentence to which the action of the verb occurs. In English usually it is preceded by a preposition, I give the book to Katja, the name Katja is an indirect object noun, to replace it with a pronoun we would say in English her, in German we would say ihr, note that since the IOP is associated with the dative, the preposition to that we would usually use in English is not used in German, or rather we would say that its mixed with the pronoun (look at the table below to understand the concept better), for example to her in German will become one word ihr.

Indirect Object Pronouns in German Singular to me Mir to you (familiar) Dir to you (familiar) Ihnen to him, to her, to it ihm, ihr, ihm Plural to us Uns to you (familiar) Euch to you (formal) Ihnen to them Ihnen

German Possessive Pronouns

The possessive is another aspect that you need to master in German, the possessive pronouns indicate ownership and they replace a noun just like in English, example: it is my house becomes it is mine. but while in English you can use mine to the singular and feminine, in German you have to add an e to for the feminine,

Possessive Pronouns in German Singular mine mein/e yours mein/e yours (formal) Ihr/e his, hers, its sein/e Plural our unser/e yours (familiar) eur/e yours (formal) Ihr/e theirs ihr/e

Now we will look at possessive adjectives, which are used more than the pronouns weve seen above. And since were talking about adjectives it means that they will take different forms in different cases. For example lets have a look at my and our in German:

Possessive Adjectives in German

Nominative Masculine mein Feminine meine mein Neuter meine Plural

Accusative Meinen Meine Mein Meine

Dative meinem meiner meinem meinen

Genitive meines meiner meines meiner

Nominative Masculine unser Feminine uns(e)re unser Neuter uns(e)re Plural

Accusative uns(e)ren uns(e)re Unser uns(e)re

Dative uns(e)rem uns(e)rer uns(e)rem uns(e)ren

Genitive uns(e)res uns(e)rer uns(e)res uns(e)rer

Note that we add an e when we deal with the feminine, either in the singular or the plural; I put it between parentheses above.

As we have learned in the verbs section, reflexive verbs express an action that acts upon the subject, and with the reflexive verbs you will find reflexive pronouns, which are placed after of the conjugated verb, for example: Ich washe mich (I wash myself). Ich stelle mir vor (I imagine myself). Note that these pronouns have two forms, one with the accusative and another with the dative. When to use each one of them will depend on the verb, some reflexive verbs are associated with the accusative, and some others are associated with the dative, you can check the verbs page to learn more.

German Reflexive Pronouns Accusative myself Mich yourself (familiar) Dich yourself (formal) Sich himself, herself, itself Sich ourselves Uns yourselves (familiar) Euch yourselves (formal) Sich themselves Sich

Dative

myself yourself (familiar) yourself (formal) himself, herself, itself ourselves yourselves (familiar) yourselves (formal) themselves

Mir Dir Sich Sich Uns Euch Sich Sich

A brief summery of the pronouns weve learned so far:

1st singular 2nd singular 3rd singular feminine 3rd singular masculine 3rd singular neuter 1st plural 2nd plural 3rd plural formal (singular and plural)

German Pronouns nominative ich du sie er es wir ihr sie Sie

accusative mich dich sie ihn es uns euch sie Sie

dative mir dir ihr ihm ihm uns euch ihnen Ihnen

genitive meindeinihrseinseinunsereurihrIhr-

German Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstratives usually refer to a previously mentioned noun in a sentence, just like adjectives they must agree with the gender and number of the noun. The equivalent to them in English would be this/these. German Demonstratives Masculine feminine neuter Dieser diese dieses Diesen diese dieses Diesem dieser diesem Dieses dieser dieses

Nominative case Accusative case Dative case Genitive cases

plural diese diese diesen dieser

this/ these this/ these to this/ these of this/ these

Other Pronouns: Relative Pronouns: in German they are der, die, das (who, that, which), wer, was (who, that) and welcher (who, that). The gender, number, and case of the relative pronoun should agree with its antecedent. Interrogative Pronouns: the most important in German are: wer (who), wen (whom), wem (to whom), wessen (whose), was (what), welcher (which). Indefinite pronouns are: all- (all), ander- (other), einig- (one), etwas (some), jed- (each), kein- (no), nichts (nothing), man (we, one), niemand (no one).

Gender in German
Nouns in German are quite different than in English; the gender is not an issue in English because all nouns have the same gender, well except humans and some animals... for example a spoon and a fork have the same gender, but in German its a little bit more diverse, for some reason the spoon is masculine (der Lffel), the fork is feminine (die Gabel), and the knife is neuter (das Messer). This may sound weird but well even in English in some rare cases we do the same thing, for example you may hear in rare occasions she is a nice car, as if a car is feminine, or when talking about a baby we use it instead of he/she. In German this happens all the time with all nouns, so the best thing to do is: when you memorize new words try to memorize them with their definite article, for example the word book in German is das Buch, note that I added the definite articles das to it, which tells me that the book is neuter in German. If you get used to doing that way you would know if nouns are masculine, feminine or neuter, the good news is that in may occasions you can guess the gender of nouns given some hints, either thanks to a suffix or to a rule:

German Gender: Masuline Suffix: Most nouns ending in -en, -el, -ling, -ner, -ismus, -ig, -ich, or -er are masculine: der Boden (ground), der Vogel (bird), der Frhling (spring), der Vater (father). Rules: Days, months, and seasons, weather (rain, snow) are usually masculine in German. der Sonntag (Sunday), der Winter (winter), der Februar (February, der Regen (rain), der Schnee (snow), but das Wetter (the weather). Note that these suffixes and rules can only assist you in increasing your chance of guessing what the gender would be, but its still guessing, because there are some exceptions that can be found time to time.

German Gender: Feminine Suffix: Nouns ending in -heit, -ie, -ik, -age, -ei ,-ion, -itis, -keit, -ur, -schaft, -tt, and -ung are feminine: die Freiheit (freedom), die Garage (garage), die Operation (operation), die Mglichkeit (possibility), die Natur (nature), die Freundschaft (friendship), die Qualitt (quality), die Ehrung, (honor). Rules: Trees, flowers, fruit, and cardinal numbers are most of the time feminine: die Fhre (pine tree), die Rose (rose), die Orange (Orange), die Sieben (the seven).

German Gender: Neuter Suffix: Nouns ending in -ett, -chen, -lein, -il, -ium, -ma, -ment, -nis, -tel, -tum, -um and -o are neuter: das Bett (bed), das Kaninchen (Rabbit), das Stadium (stage), das Klima (climat), das Geheimnis (secret), das Viertel (quarter), das Album (album), das Frulein (young lady). Rules: Names of towns, countries, colors, infinitives used as nouns, and the diminutives that weve seen above ending in -chen or -lein, theyre all usually neuter: das Berlin (Berlin), das Deutschland (Germany), das Rot (Red), das Schwimmen (swimming), das Hndchen (little dog), das Kindlein (little child).

Note that you should check the other pages of German Cases and Articles to have a better idea on how nouns can change depending on the case, and what articles they take in each case.
s

The Plural in German

German is more diverse in its plural than in English, to express the plural in English we simply add s or es to the end of the noun, well in German its not the case. Some nouns add e to their end: der Freund (friend) becomes die Freunde (friends), der Schuh (a shoe) becomes die Schuhe (shoes). Other nouns add en to their end: der Student (student) becomes die Studenten (students), die Zeit (time) becomes die Zeiten (times). The other forms of plural in German are: (-n) for example: die Schule becomes die Schulen (schools). (no diffrence) for example: das Fenster (window) stays die Fenster (windows).

(-) for example: der Bruder becomes die Brder (brothers). (-er or -er) for example: das Haus becomes die Huser (houses), or das Kind becomes die Kinder (childen). (-s) for example: das Radio becomes die Radios (this form can be used usually with foreign words) das Baby becomes die Babys

Tips: Note that most nouns ending in the suffixes (-heit, -ie, -ik, -age, -ei ,-ion, -itis, -keit, -ur, schaft, -tt, and -ung) add -en in the plural. Feminine nouns ending in (-in) add -nen to form their plural. Note that most German plurals add an extra -n or -en to the plural form in the dative case. Finally note that while English takes capital letter only in countries names or days in German all nouns take a capital letter as you may have noticed in this lesson. Verbs in German are more diverse than in English; in this page we will learn their categories, and the most used tenses in German, note that this page is including only the important information you should know about in German verbs, and it doesnt include details about each category or each tense.

German Verbs In German verbs are categorized into three categories: weak verbs, strong, and mixed verbs. Weak verbs (schwache Verben) do not change the stem vowel in the past tense and the past participle and theyre considered like regular verbs in English, examples: arbeiten (to work), spielen (to play). Strong verbs (starke Verben) do change the stem vowel in both the past tense and the past participle, examples: sprechen (to speak), fahren (to drive, go) Mixed verbs contain parts of both weak and strong verbs. Theyre used very often and therefore they should not be overlooked, examples: bringen (to bring), senden (to send)

Some verbs in the 3 categories above may contain separable (trennbar) or inseparable (untrennbar) prefixes. The point of using these prefixes is to create new meanings from the original verb. This concept is not strange to English, lets look at the verb to stand if we add the prefix under it will give us a whole new verb to understand, the same thing in German,

stehen means to stand, verstehen means to understand. Easy, right! Well not exactly, because German uses these prefixes more often. And some prefixes can be detached from the original verb and take a specific spot in the sentences, sometimes even far from the verb.

Separable prefixes (trennbar) are (ab, bei, ein, vor, an, auf, mit, weg, etc.) can stand independently as words, or can stay connected to the verb, Kann ich mitkommen? (Can I come with you?), kommen Sie mit ans Meer? (are you coming with to the sea), here the verb is mitkommen, see how in the first example it was connected, and in the second example the prefix mit was placed after Sie. The meaning of mitkommen is to accompany or come with.

The inseparable prefixes (untrennbar) are (be-, emp-, ent-, er-, ver-, zer-). These kind of prefixes cannot be removed from their verbs, The most common inseparable prefix verbs are: verkaufen (to sell), bekommen (to get), empfangen (to receive), empfehlen (to recommend), entdecken (to discover), verstehen (to understand), versagen (to fail), zerstren (to destroy).

German Tenses
Below you will find the most used tenses in German, with the verb endings in each tense, as well as some examples, try to master them if you can, that would help you a lot and makes you feel comfortable expressing yourself in German, we will start with the present tense, which is a very important and a must to learn tense:

Present Tense in German

Its the first tense we will learn, weak German verbs take the following endings to form the present tense: ich -e, du -st, er (sie, es) -t, wir -en, ihr -t, Sie -en, sie -en. ich spiele These endings can help you a lot, because with them you can conjugate most of weak verbs into the present tense, you only need the stem of the verb, for example the stem of spielen (to play) is spiel. du spielst (familiar) er, sie, es spielt wir spielen Strong verbs change in the singular second person familiar and third person forms, for example the verb nehmen to take, look at the side of the table. Usually strong verbs changes are regular and predictable: a becomes , e becomes ie or i, au becomes u, o becomes . Note that the plural form is ihr spielt (familiar) Weak verb spielen (to play)

Stro

neh

ich n

du n

er, s wir

ihr n

regular.

Sie spielen (formal) sie spielen

Sie

sie n

Mixed verbs are irregular and are best learnt by heart, because theyre unpredictable. The good news is that te most common conjugation is the one for the weak verb. But like any other language there are some exceptions for all three types of verbs.

Now we will have a look at the past tense, also called the imperfect, another very important fact in knowing how to conjugate verbs in German:

German Past Tense (Imperfect)

In German as well as in English the simple past tense (imperfect) is used to describe past events, more literal than conversational, regularly used when writing about the past. The endings for the weak verb are: ich -te, du -test, Sie -ten, er (sie, es, man) -te, wir -ten, ihr -tet, Sie -ten, sie ten. So just take any weak verb stem and add it to the endings above, for example our previous verb spielen (to play), its stem is spiel, plus the endings above we will get: ich spielte, du spieltest, er spielte, wir spielten, ihr spieltet, Sie, sie spielten Strong verb kommen (to come) ich kam du kamst (familiar) Sie kamen (formal) er, sie, es kam wir kamen To form the past tense with strong verbs, the trickiest part is knowing the stem, for example in English, you dont say I comed, but you say I came to refer to the past of the verb to come, strong verbs in German change their stem vowels and add the following endings: ich (-nothing added to the stem), du -st, Sie -en, er, sie, es (-nothing added to the stem), wir -en, ihr -t, Sie -en, sie -en. (look at the example on the side) ihr kamt (familiar) Sie kamen (formal) sie kamen

Irre

wiss

ich w

du w Sie

er, s wir

ihr w Sie

sie w

For the irregular verbs, theyre tricky too in forming their stem, sometimes the stem doesnt look like the original verb at all, just like I go and I went, but these German irregular verbs change the vowel in the stem and, in addition, they take weak verb endings in the past tense.

Now we will learn the future tense, which is considered the easiest, because you only need to learn the conjugated form of werden plus the infinitive of the verbs you want to conjugate:

Future Tense in German

There are two ways to express the German future. The easiest and most common method is to use the present tense with an appropriate time marker; Wir gehen morgen nach Berlin (were going to Berlin tomorrow). The other method is to use the appropriate present tense form of werden with the infinitive of the main verb, note that the main verb in this method comes at the end of the sentence, relatively far from the future verb werden. Wir werden Schach und Kreuzwortrtsel spielen (we will play chess and cross puzzels). Did you see how the verb spielen was kicked to the end of the sentence, its like youre saying in English: we will chess and cross puzzles play. Remember this structure, because this is how you will be forming verbs in the future if you use the verb werden with it. Note that if you choose to use the first method, which is present tense you have to mention the time marker such as morgen/ tomorrow, nchstes Jahr/ next yearnot using them will make people think that youre talking about the present and not the future tense.

ich w

du w

er, s wir

ihr w

sie w Sie

Adjectives in German as well as in English describe or modify nouns, but in German they should agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. Adjectives forms vary depending on the case (nominative, accusative, dative and genitive). Note how adjectives take an extra e when theyre placed before nouns and a definite article is placed before them in the nominative:

German Adjectives Masculine: (schnell/ fast): der schnelle Tiger (the fast tiger). Feminine: (jung/ young): die junge Dame (the young lady). Neuter: (klug/ smart): das kluge Kind (the smart child). Plural: (gut/ good): sie sind gute Bcher (theyre good books).

For all the rest of the cases (accusative, dative and genitive) adjectives ending take en in the masculine, and e in the feminine and neuter.

Accusative: Ich habe den schnellen Tiger gesehen (I have seen the fast tiger), Ich habe die junge Dame gesehen. (I have seen the young lady). The same thing happens with dative and genitive where the adjective take en in the masculine, and e in the feminine/ neuter/plural. Remember that this happens only when we add a definite article der, die, das (the) or the pronouns dieser (this), jener (that), solcher (such), jeder (each), welcher (which). The plural ending for these weak adjectives is en in ALL cases (nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive), which is good news. Ich habe die schnellen Katzen gesehen (I have seen the fast cats). Ich habe die jungen Damen gesehen (I have seen the young ladies).

Adjectives proceeded by the indefinite articles (ein/ eine/ ein) or the pronouns such as mein (my, mine), sein (his) kein (no) have an irregular declension:

singular nominative accusative dative genitive

Adjetives in German Masculine feminine ein guter Mann eine schne Rose einen guten Mann eine schne Rose einem guten Mann einer schnen Rose eines guten Mannes einer schnen Rose

neuter ein altes Buch ein altes Buch einem alten Buch eines alten Buches

The plural endings for strong adjectives are the same for all three genders:

Plural adjectives keine guten Mnner nominative keine guten Mnner accusative keinen guten Mnnern dative keiner guten Mnner genitive
YES! I want to claim my free instant access to the Rocket German 6 day Learn German course ($27
value).

Below is a list of some common adjectives in German, theyre in their original form, so theyre not yet influenced by any other cases like (accusative, dative, and genitive), so take that into consideration when you put these adjectives in a non nominative case. For example: Er ist schnell (he is fast). (but) Er ist ein schneller Mann.(note how in the first setences the adjective schnell wasnt influenced by anything and therefore stayed in its original form, but in the second example ein made it take er at the end). The same thing may occur to the adjectives below:

ambitious American annoying bad beautiful big, large blonde boring brave careless cautious certain charming cheerful Chinese conceited conventional coward crazy, nuts cruel difficult disagreeable dull, boring easy English fake fat few, a little French frequent friendly fun, amusing funny general

List of German Adjectives ehrgeizig Amerikaner rgerlich schlecht schn gro blondine langweilig tapfer unbesonnen vorsichtig bestimmt charmant frhlich Chinesisch eingebildet herkmmlich feigling verrckt, Nsse grausam schwierig unangenehm dumm, langweilig leicht Englisch unecht Fett wenige, ein wenig Franzsisch hufig freundlich lustig, amsant komisch, komisch General

generous German good handsome hard-working high, tall honest intelligent interesting kind laid-back lazy little, small low, short mean modest moody naive narrow-minded new nice (person) old perfect personal pious polite poor possible pretty proud rapid, fast realistic recent reliable rich sad selfish sensitive shy silly, dumb skinny slender, slim slow small Spanish strict strong

grozgig Deutsch gut hbsch fleiig hoch, hoch ehrlich intelligent interessant Art entspannend faul wenig, klein niedrig, kurz niedrig bescheiden launisch naiv engstirnig neu nett alt vollkommen Persnlicher fromm hflich schlecht mglich ziemlich stolz schnell, schnell realistisch neu zuverlssig reich jmmerlich egoistisch empfindlich schchtern dumm, stumm dnn schlank langsam klein Spanisch streng stark

stubborn talkative trustworthy ugly various weak weird white young

strrisch gesprchig vertrauenswrdig hsslich verschieden schwach unheimlich wei jung

German Vocabulary
a (indefinite article) a (indefinite article) ability able, capable about (circa) about (concerning) above abroad absent accept accident account achieve across (through) act (verb) action activity actor actress actual actually add added additional address adequate administration adult advanced advantage advertising advice affairs (plural) eine (for feminine) ein (for masculine & neuter) Fhigkeit, f fhig etwa ber ber, darber im Ausland abwesend annehmen Unfall, m Konto, n erreichen durch handeln Handlung, f Ttigkeit, f Schauspieler, m Schauspielerin, f tatschlich eigentlich hinzufgen zustzlich beigefgt Adresse, f angemessen Verwaltung, f erwachsen fortgeschritten Vorteil, m Werbung, f Rat, m Geschfte, pl

afraid after after that afternoon afterwards again against age ago agree agreement aid (help) aim air airplane airport alarm clock alcohol alive all allow almost alone along already also (too) although always among amount amuse ancient and and so on angle angry animal ankle announce annual another answer ant any anyone anything anywhere

besorgt nach darnach Nachmittag, m nachher wieder gegen Alter, n vor zustimmen Vereinbarung, f Hilfe, f Ziel, n Luft, f Flugzeug, n Flughafen, m Wecker, m Alkohol, m lebendig alle erlauben fast allein entlang schon auch obwohl immer unter, zwischen Betrag, m vergngen alt und und so weiter (or simply usw.) Winkel, m wtend Tier, n Fessel, f ankndigen jhrlich ein anderer,-e,-es Antwort, f Ameise, f jeder, e, -es irgend jemand irgend etwas irgendwo

apartment appear appetite apple apply approach appropriate approval approximately apricot April area argument arm armchair arms (plural) army around arrival arrive art article artist (feminine) artist (masculine) as (like) as (when) ask (beg) ask (question) aspect assembly assignment assistance association assume at (hour) at (place) at last at least at most at the same time attack attempt attention attitude attorney August aunt

Wohnung, f erscheinen Appetit, m Apfel, m anwenden sich nhern passend Billigung, f ungefhr Aprikose, f April, m Gebiet, n Beweis, m Arm, m Sessel, m Waffen, pl Armee, f herum Ankunft, f ankommen Kunst, f Artikel, m Knstlerin, f Knstler, m, wie als bitten fragen Anblick, m Versammlung, f Zuweisung, f Beistand, m, Assistenz, f Verband, m annehmen um an endlich wenigstens hchstens zur gleichen Zeit angreifen Versuch, m Achtung, f Haltung, f Anwalt, m August, m Tante, f

author (feminine) author (masculine) autumn available avoid awake aware away

Schriftstellerin, f Schriftsteller, m, Herbst, m kuflich vermeiden erwachen aufgeweckt weg

baby back back (body) background bacon bad badly bag baggage bake baker bakery balcony ball banana band bank bank note bar base based basement basic basket bath bathroom battle bay be be called be valid beach bean bear beard

More German Words Baby, n zurck Rcken, m Hintergrund, m Speck, m schlechter,-e,-es schlecht Tasche, f Gepck, n backen Bcker, m Bckerei, f Balkon, m Ball, m Banane, f Band, n Bank, f Banknote, f Bar, f Grundlage, f beruhen auf Keller, m grundlegend Korb, m Bad, n Badezimmer, n Schlacht, f Bucht, f sein heissen gltig sein Strand, m Bohne, f Br, m Bart, m

beat beautiful beauty because become bed bedroom bee beef beefsteak beer before begin beginning behavior behind belief believe bell (door) below belt beneath benefit beside besides best bet better between beverage beyond bible bicycle big bill bird birth birthday biscuit bit bitter black black blanket blind block blood

schlagen schn Schnheit, f weil werden Bett, n Schlafzimmer, n Biene, f Rindfleisch, n Steak, n Bier, n vor beginnen Anfang, m Benehmen, n hinter Glauben, m glauben Klingel, f unter Gurt, m unter Nutzen, m neben ausserdem bester,-e,-es Wette, f besser zwischen Getrnk, n jenseits Bibel, f Fahrrad, n gross Rechnung, f Vogel, m Geburt, f Geburtstag, m Biscuit, n Stck, f bitter schwarz schwarz Decke, f blind Block, m Blut, n

blouse blue board boat body boil bone book bookshop boring both bottle bottom bowl box boy brain brake bread break breakfast breast breath bridge brief bright brilliant bring broad broke broom brother brown brush budget build building burn burning bus business busy but butcher butter butterfly button

Bluse, f blau Brett, f Boot, n Krper, m kochen Knochen, m Buch, n Buchhandlung, f langweilg beide Flasche, f Boden, m Schale, f Schachtel, f Junge, m Gehirn, n Bremse, f Brot, n brechen Frhstck, n Brust, f Atem, m Brcke, f kurz hell strahlend bringen breit pleite Besen, m Bruder, m braun Brste, f Budget, f bauen Gebude, n brennen Verbrennung, f Bus, m Geschft, n beschftigt aber Metzger, m Butter, f Schmetterling, m Knopf, m

buy buy by (a person) by chance by heart by the way

kaufen kaufen durch, von zufllig auswendig brigens

YES! I want to claim my free instant access to the Rocket German 6 day Learn German course ($27
value).

Your Name: Your Email Address:

(This is a private and fully protected mailing list. You can unsubscribe at any time).

Some more German words cabbage Kohl, m caf Caf, n cake Kuchen, m calf Kalb, n call rufen, anrufen camp Lager, n can knnen candle Kerze, f capacity Aufnahmefhigkeit, f capital Kapital, n captain Kapitn, m car Wagen, m, Auto, n card Karte, f care sorgen career Karriere, f careful vorsichtig carpet Teppich, m carrot Rbe, f, Karrotte, f carry tragen case, instance Fall, m cashier Kassierer, m, cat Katze catch fangen cathedral Kathedrale, f

cattle cauliflower cause cell cellar center central century certain certainly chain chair chairman chance changable change (noun) change (verb) chapter character characteristics charge cheap check (verb) cheek cheese chemical cherry chest chicken chief child childhood chill chin china chinese chocolate choice choose christian christmas church cigarette circle circumstances citizen city

Vieh, n Blumenkohl, m Grund, m Zelle, f Keller, m Zentrum, n zentral Jahrhundert, n gewiss gewiss Kette, f Stuhl, m Vordsitzender, m Chance, f vernderlich Wechsel wechseln Kapitel, f Charakter, m Merkmal beladen billig prfen Wange, f Kse, m chemisch Kirsche, f Brust, f Hhnchen, n Leiter, m Kind, n Kindheit, f khlen Kinn, n Porzellan, n chinesisch Schokolade, f Wahl, f whlen, auswhlen christlich Weihnachten Kirche, f Zigarette, f Kreis, m Umstnde, pl Brger, m Stadt, f

civil claim class clay clean clear client clock(tower) clock,watch close closely clothes cloud club coast coat coffee cold collar collection college color column comb combination come come back command commerce commercial commission committee common communication company compare competition complete complexion comrade concept concern conclusion condition conduct conference confess

brgerlich Anspruch, m Klasse, f Lehm, m sauber klar, hell Kunde, m Uhr, f Armbanduhr, f nahe, bei eng Kleider, pl Wolke, f Club, m Kste, f Mantel, m Kaffee, m kalt Kragen, m Sammlung, f College, n Farbe, f Sule, f Kamm, m Verbindung, f kommen zurckkommen befehlen Handel, m Werbespot, m Kommission, f Komittee, n gewhnlich Verbindung, f Gesellschaft, f vergleichen Wettbewerb, m vollstndig Hautfarbe, f Kamarad, m Planung, f betreffen Ergebnis, n Bedingung, f Verhalten, n Besprechung, f bekennen

confidence conflict congress connection consider considerable construction contact contain contemporary content continue contract contrary contrast control conversation conviction convince cook cook cool cord corner corporation correct cost council count country county couple course court cousin cover cow cream create credit crime crisis critical cross crowd crown cry, weep

Zutrauen, n Konflikt, m Kongress, m Verbindung, f erwgen, berlegen betrchtlich Bauwerk, n kontaktieren enthalten zeitgenssisch Inhalt, m fortsetzen Vertrag, m Gegenteil, n Gegensatz, m Kontrolle, f Gesprch, n Ueberzeugung, f berzeugen kochen Koch, m, Kchin, f khl Seil, n Ecke, f Gesellschaft, f richtig kosten Ratsversammlung, f zhlen, berechnen Land, n Grafschaft, f Paar, n Lauf, m, Verlauf, m Gericht, n Cousin, m, Cousine, f bedecken Kuh, f Sahne, f erschaffen Kredit, m Verbrechen, n Krise, f kritisch Kreuz, n Menge, f Krone, f weinen

cucumber cultural culture cup cupboard current curtain customs cut

Gurke, f kulturell Kultur, f Tasse, f Schrank, m laufend Vorhang, m Zoll, m schneiden

daddy daily dance danger dangerous dark data date daughter day dead deaf deal dear December decide decision declare deep defense degree demand demand democratic dentist depart, leave department departure depth describe desert design desire desk despite

Papa, m tglich tanzen Gefahr, f gefhrlich dunkel Daten, pl Datum, n Tochter, f Tag, m tot taub Abmachung, f teuer, lieb Dezember entscheiden Entscheidung, f bekanntgeben tief Verteidigung, f Grad, m Anfrage, f verlangen demokratisch Zahnarzt, m abreisen Abteilung, f Abfahrt, f Tiefe, f beschreiben Wste, f entwerfen begehren Schreibtisch, m trotz

dessert detail detective determine determined develop development device devoted dictionary die difference different difficult dining room dinner direct direction directly director dirty disappointed discover discuss discussion disease distance distribute district divided division do doctor dog domestic dominant donkey door double doubt down dozen dramatic draw drawer dream dress

Dessert, n Detail, f Detektiv, m bestimmen entschlossen entwickeln Entwicklung, f Gert, n ergeben Wrterbuch, n sterben Unterschied, m verschieden schwierig Esszimmer, n Abendessen, n lenken Richtung, f direkt Direktor, m schmutzig enttuscht entdecken besprechen Besprechung Krankheit, f Distanz, f verteilen Distrikt, m geteilt Abteilung, f tun, machen Arzt, m, Aerztin, f Hund, m huslich herrschend Esel, m Tre, f doppelt Zweifel, m unten, hinunter Dutzend, n dramatisch zeichnen Schublade, f Traum, m Kleid, n

drink drive drunk dry duck due during dust duty dwelling each ear early earn earth east easy eat economy edge editor education effect effective effort egg eight either elbow election electric electronic element elephant elevator eleven else emotional employee empty end enemy energy engine enjoy enough enter

trinken Auto fahren betrunken trocken Ente, f Gebhr, f whrend Staub, m Pflicht, f Wohnung, f jeder, -e, -es Ohr, n frh verdienen Erde, f Osten leicht essen Wirtschaft, f Kante, f Herausgeber, m Erziehung, f, Bildung, f Wirkung, f wirksam Anstrengung, f Ei, n acht beide Ellbogen, m Wahl, f elektrisch elektronisch Element, n Elefant, m Fahrstuhl, m, Lift, m elf sonst gefhlsmssig Angestellter, m leer Ende, n Feind, m Energie, f Motor, m geniessen genug eintreten

entire entrance envelope equal equipment escape especially essential establish estate estimated even A622 evening event eventually ever every everybody everyone everything everywhere evidence evil exactly example excellent except exchange executive exercise exist existence exit expect expenses expensive experience experiment explain express expression extended extent extra extreme eye

ganzer Eingang, m Briefumschlag, m gleich Ausrstung, f entkommen besonders wesentlich einrichten Liegenschaft, f geschtzt sogar Abend, m Ereignis, n schliesslich jemals, immer jeden,-e,-es jeder jeder alles berall Beweis, m bel, n genau Beispiel, f ausgezeichnet ausser Wechsel, m Geschftsfhrer, m Uebung, f existieren Dasein, n Ausgang, m erwarten Auslagen, pl teuer Erfahrung, f Experiment, n erklren ausdrcken Ausdruck, m erweitert Ausdehnung, f zustzlich usserst Auge, n

German Vocabulary
face facilities fact factor factory fail failure fair fairly fairy tale faith fall false, familiar family far farm fashion fast fat father fault favor fear features February feed feel (good) feeling felicitate female fetch few field fifteen fifty fig fight figure out file fill film finally Gesicht, n Mglichkeiten Tatsache, f Faktor, m Fabrik, f fehlschlagen Versagen, n ehrlich eher Mrchen, n Glauben, m fallen falsch gewohnt, vertraut Familie, f weit Bauernhof, m Mode, f schnell fett Vater, m Fehler, m Gefallen, m Angst, f Eigenschaften Februar, m ernhren, fttern sich fhlen Gefhl, n beglckwnschen weiblich holen wenig Feld, n fnfzehn fnfzig Feige, f Kampf, m herausfinden Akte, f fllen Film, m endlich

find fine finger finish (verb) fire first fish five flat flat (adj.) flesh (body) floor flour flow flower fly (insect) fly (verb) follow food foot for forbidden force foreign forest forget forgive fork form former forty fountain four fourteen fox frame free free (not occupied) frequently fresh Friday friend friendly frighten from front full

finden fein, schn Finger, m beenden Feuer, n erster,-e,-es Fisch, m fnf Wohnung flach Fleisch Boden, m Mehl, n fliessen Blume, f Fliege, f fliegen folgen Nahrung, f, Essen, n Fuss, m fr verboten Kraft, f fremd, auslndisch Wald, m vergessen vergeben Gabel, f Form, f frherer vierzig Brunnen, m vier vierzehn Fuchs, m Rahmen, m gratis frei hufig frisch Freitag, m Freund, m, freundin, f freundlich erschrecken von Vorderseite, f voll

fundamental funny furniture further future

grundlegend lustig Mbel, pl weiterer, -e, -es Zukunft, f

YES! I want to claim my free instant access to the Rocket German 6 day Learn German course ($27
value).

Your Name: Your Email Address:

(This is a private and fully protected mailing list. You can unsubscribe at any time).

gain game garden gas gasoline general get girl give glad gladly glass glasses go goal God gold goldfish good good-bye goods goose government gradually grandfather grandmother

Gewinn, m Spiel, n Garten, m Gas, n Benzin, n allgemein bekommen Mdchen, n geben frhlich, froh gerne Glas, n Brille, f gehen Ziel, n Gott, n Gold, n Goldfisch, m gut auf Wiedersehen Waren, pl Gans, f Regierung, f allmhlich Grossvater, m Grossmutter, f

grass gray green green greetings grey ground group grow guess guest gun guy hair half hall ham hammer hamster hand handbag handkerchief handle hang happen happy hard hardly harvest hat hate have he head health healthy hear heart heat heavy hell help (noun) help (verb) hen here hero high

Gras, n grau grn grn Wnsche, pl grau Boden, m Gruppe, f wachsen vermuten Gast, m Gewehr, n Kerl, m Haare, pl halb Halle, f Schinken, m Hammer, m Hamster, m Hand, f Handtasche, f Taschentuch, n umgehen mit hngen geschehen glcklich hard kaum Ernte, f Hut, m hassen haben er Kopf, m Gesundheit, f gesund hren Herz, n Hitze, f schwer Hlle, f Hilfe helfen Huhn, n hier Held, m hoch

highway hill him,her, it his history hit hold hole holiday home, at home honor hope horrible horse hospital hot hotel, inn hour house how however huge human hundred hungry hurry hurt, injure husband I ice ice cream idea ideal if image imagine immediately impact important impossible improve in in front of in spite of inch include increase

Landstrasse, f Hgel, m ihn, sie, es sein Geschichte, f schlagen halten Loch, n Ferien, pl zuhause Ehre, f Hoffnung, f schrecklich Pferd, n Spital, n heiss Hotel, n Stunde, f Haus, n wie wie auch immer riesig menschlich hundert hungrig sich beeilen verletzen Ehemann, m ich Eis, n Eiskrem, Eis Idee, f ideal wenn Bild, n sich vorstellen sofort Einfluss, m wichtig unmglich verbessern in vor trotz Zoll, m beinhalten zunehmen

indeed independent index index finger influence initial inner insect inside instead interest interesting interior into invite involve iron island issue it it's cold it's foggy it's freezing it's hot it's nice it's rainy it's snowy it's sunny it's windy

tatschlich unabhngig Inhaltsverzeichnis Zeigefinger Einfluss, m anfnglich innerer, -e, -es Insekt, n drinnen anstatt Interesse interessant Innere, f in.....hinein einladen verwickeln Eisen, n Insel, f Problem, n es es ist kalt es ist neblig es friert Klte ein es ist hei es ist nett es ist regnerisch es ist schneebedeckt es ist sonnig es ist windig

jacket jam January job join judge juice July jump June just (only) justice keep key kill

Jacke, f Marmelade, f Januar, m Job, m sich anschliessen Richter, m Saft, m Juli, m springen Juni, m nur Gerechtigkeit, f halten Schlssel, m tten

kind king kiss kitchen kitten knee knife know (person) know to knowledge labor lack ladder lady lake lamp land language large last last (previous) late laugh law lay lead leader learn leave left leg legal lemon length less let (allow) letter library lie lie life lift (verb) light (adjective) light (electr) lightning like (as) like (verb)

Art, f Knig, m Kuss, m Kche, f Ktzchen, n Knie, n Messer, n kennen knnen Wissen, n Arbeit, f mangeln Leiter, f Dame, f See, m Lampe, f Land, n Sprache, d breit letzter,-e,-es letzte spt lachen Recht, n legen fhren Anfhrer, d lernen weggehen links Bein, n gesetzlich Zitrone, f Lnge, f weniger lassen Brief, m Bibliothek, f liegen lgen Leben, f heben leicht Licht Blitz, m wie mgen

likely line lip liquid list listen literature little (amount) little (size) live live, dwell local located location lock (noun) long (object) long (time) look lose loss lot loud love (noun) love (verb) low luck lunch

wahrscheinlich Linie, f Lippe, f flssig Liste, f hren, zuhren Literatur, f wenig klein leben wohnen lokal gelegen Standort, m Schloss, n lang lange schauen verlieren Verlust, m Haufen, m laut Liebe, f lieben leise Glck, n Mittagessen, n

machine magazine mail maintain majority make man manner many map March march mark market marriage married mass

Maschine, f Magazin, n Post, f instandhalten Mehrheit, f machen Mann, m, Mensch, m Art, f viele Landkarte, f Mrz, m marschieren kennzeichnen Markt, m Hochzeit, f verheiratet Messe, f

material matter maximum May may maybe me meadow meal mean meaning means meanwhile measure meat meet member memory mention merely message metal method midday, noon middle midnight mile milk million mind minimum minister minute mirror Miss miss (verb) mistake modern moment Monday money month moon more more... than morning most

Material, n Gegenstand, m Maximum, n Mai, m drfen vielleicht mich (accusative), mir (dative) Wiese, f Mahlzeit, f meinen, denken Bedeutung, f Mittel, n unterdessen Mass, n Fleisch, n treffen Mitglied, n Gedchtnis, n erwhnen kaum Botschaft, f Metall, n Methode, f Mittag mittlerer,-e,-es Mitternacht Meile, f Milch, f Million, f Sinn, m, Geist, m Minimum, n Minister, m Minute, f Spiegel, m Frulein vermissen Fehler, m modern Augenblick, m, Moment, m Montag, m Geld, n Monat, m Mond, m mehr mehr...als Morgen, m die meisten

mother motion motor mountain mouse mouth move movement Mr. Mrs. much murder music must my myself nail name napkin narrow nasty natural nature near necessary neck need needle neighbor neighborhood neither...nor never nevertheless new news newspaper next nice night nine nineteen ninety no nobody nod noise none

Mutter, f Bewegung, f Motor, m Berg, m Maus, f Mund, m bewegen Bewegung, f Herr Frau viel Mord, m Musik, f mssen mein,-e mich Nagel, m Name, m Serviette, f eng bse, schlimm natrlich Natur, f nahe notwendig Hals, m brauchen Nadel, f Nachbar, m Nachbarschaft, f weder...noch nie trotzdem neu Nachrichten, pl Zeitung, f nchster,-e,-es nett Nacht, f neun neunzehn neunzig nein niemand nicken Lrm, m niemand

nor normal north nose not note nothing notice novel November now nowhere number nurse nut oak observe obtain obvious occasion occur October of of course off offer office officer official often oil old on on time,in time once one one(impers.) oneself onion only open opinion opportunity opposite or orange orange (color)

weder normal Norden Nase, f nicht Notiz, f nichts bemerken Roman, m November, m jetzt nirgendwo Zahl, f Krankenschwester, f Nuss, f Eiche, f beobachten erhalten offensichtlich Gelegenheit, f vorfallen Oktober, m von natrlich, gewiss weg anbieten Bro, n Offizier, Beamter offiziell oft Oel, n alt auf pnktlich ein mal ein, eine man sich Zwiebel, f nur ffnen Meinung, f Gelegenheit, f gegenberstehend oder Orange, f orangegelb

orchestra order ordinary organization original orning other otherwise our outside oven over overcoat own

Orchester, n bestellen gewhnlich Organisation, f original Morgen, m anderer,-e,-es sonst unser, -e draussen Ofen ber Mantel, m eigener,-e,-es

German Vocabulary
page pain painting pair pale paper parents park parking part particular partly party passport past patient pattern pay payment pea peace pear pen people performance perhaps period permit Seite, f Schmerz, m Gemlde, n Paar, n Bleich Papier, n Eltern, pl Park, m Parkieren Teil, m Besonders teilweise Party, f Pass, m Vergangenheit, f geduldig Muster, n zahlen Zahlung, f Erbe, f Frieden, m Birne, f Kugelschreiber, m Leute, pl Leistung,Vorstellung, f vielleicht Punkt(Zeichen), m erlauben

person personal pick picture piece pig pink place, spot plan plant plate play pleasant please pleasure plenty point police pool poor popular population pork portion position possible post office postcard pot potato power powerful practice pray prepare present president pressure pretty prevent previous price probably problem product program progress

Person, f persnlich pflcken Bild, n Stck, n Schwein, n blarot Ort, m, Stelle, f Plan, m Pflanze, f Teller, m spielen angenehm bitte Vergngen, n sehr viel Punkt, m Polizei, f Schwimmbecken, n arm beliebt Bevlkerung, f Schweinefleisch, n Teil, m Lage, f mglich Postbro, n Postkarte, f Topf, m Kartoffel, f Macht, f,Kraft, f mchtig Uebung, f beten, bitten vorbereiten Geschenk, n Prsident, m Druck, m hbsch vorbeugen vorheriger,-e,-es Preis, m wahrscheinlich Problem, n Produkt, n Programm, n Fortschritt, m

promise property proposal propose protection proud prove provide prune

versprechen Eigentum, n Vorschlag vorschlagen Schutz, m stolz beweisen liefern Zwetschge, f

some more German words public ffentlich publish verffentlichen pull ziehen pure rein purple purpurfarbig purpose Zweck, m push stossen put legen, stellen quality Qualitt, f queen Knigin, f question Frage, f quickly schnell quiet ruhig quite ganz rabbit Kaninchen, n race Rasse, f radio Radio, n railroad Eisenbahn, f rain Regen, m rain (verb) regnen raise aufziehen range Bereich, m rapidly schnell rare selten rate Kurs, m,Preis, m rather eher raw roh reach, manage erreichen read lesen ready bereit real wirklich reality Wirklichkeit, f realize erkennen,ausfhren really wirklich

rear reason reasonable receive recently recognize record recover red reduce refrigerator refuse regard region regular relation relatively relief religion remain remark remember remove repeat reply report represent require research (do ~) research (noun) responsible rest restaurant result return rice rich right (direction) right (fair) right (noun) ring rise risk river road rock role

Hinterseite, f Grund, m vernnftig erhalten, bekommen krzlich erkennen Schallplatte, f sich erholen rot verringern Khlschrank, m ablehnen Hinblick, m Gegend regelmssig, blich Verhltnis, n verhltnismssig Erleichterung, f Religion, f zurckbleiben Bemerkung, f sich erinnern entfernen wiedeerholen antworten berichten darstellen erfordern Forschen Forschung, f verantwortlich sich ausruhen Restaurant, n Ergebnis, n zurckkehren Reis, m reich rechts rechtig Recht, n luten aufstehen Risiko, n Fluss Landstrasse, f Fels, m Rolle, f

roof room round rule run

Dach, n Zimmer, n rund Regel, f laufen, rennen

sad safe salad salt same sample satisfied Saturday sausage save say scarcely scene school science scissors screw sea search season seat second secret secretary see seek seem seldom select sell send sense September serious serve as service settled seven seventeen

traurig sicher Salat, m Salz, n gleicher,-e,-es Probe, f zufrieden Samstag, m Wurst, f retten, sichern sagen kaum Szene Schule, f Wissenschaft, f Schere, f Schraube, f Meer, n suchen Jahreszeit, f Sitz, m zweiter,-e,-es Geheimnis, n Sekretrin, f sehen suchen scheinen selten auswhlen verkaufen senden, schicken Sinn, m, Gefhl, n September, m ernsthaft dienen als Dienst, m abgemacht sieben siebzehn

seventy several sex sexual shadow shall shape share sharp shave she sheep shelter ship shirt shoes shoot shop shore short shot shoulder show sick, ill side sign (noun) sign (verb) signal signify silence silver similar simple sin since sing sister sit situation six sixteen sixty size skin skirt sky sleep

siebzig mehrere Geschlecht, n sexuell Schatten, m sollen Form, f teilen scharf sich rasieren sie Schaf, n Obdach, n Schiff, n Hemd, n Schuhe, pl schiessen Laden, m Strand, m kurz Schuss Schulter, f zeigen krank Seite, f Zeichen, n unterschreiben Signal, n bedeuten Ruhe, f Silber, n gleich einfach Snde, f seit singen Schwester, f sich setzen Lage, f sechs sechzehn sechzig Grsse, f Haut, f Rock, m Himmel, m schlafen

slight slow small smell smile smith smoke smooth snail snake snow so soap society soft soil soldier solid solution some (object) somebody someone sometimes somewhere son song soon sound soup sour source south space speak speed spend spider spirit splendid spoon spot spread spring square staff stage stairs

geringfgig langsam klein riechen lcheln Schmied, m rauchen weich, glatt Schnecke, f Schlange, f Schnee, m so Seife, f Gesellschaft, f weich Boden(Erde), m Soldat, m fest Lsung, f einige jemand jemand manchmal irgendwo Sohn, m Lied, n bald Klang, m Suppe, f sauer Quelle, f Sden Raum, m sprechen Geschwindigkeit, f ausgeben Stall, m Geist, m prchtig Lffel, m Stelle, f, Ort, m ausbreiten Frhling, m Platz, m Personal, n Bhne, f Treppe, f

stamp stand star stare start state station stay steel step still stir stock stomach stone stop stop (verb) store storm story stove straight strange strawberry stream street strength strong struggle student study success successful such suddenly sufficient sugar suggest suit suit (verb) suitable summer sun Sunday supper supply support

Briefmarke, f stehen Stern, m starren, blicken beginnen Staat, m Bahnhof, m bleiben Stahl, m Schritt, m immer noch rhren Aktie, f Magen, m Stein, m Haltestelle, f anhalten Laden, m Sturm, m Geschichte, f Ofen, m geradeaus fremd, seltsam Erdbeere, f Strom, m, Fluss, m Strasse Kraft, f , Strke, f stark streiten,kmpfen Student, m,-in, f studieren Erfolg, m erfolgreich solcher,-e,-es pltzlich gengend Zucker, m empfehlen Anzug, m passen passend Sommer, m Sonne, f Sonntag, m Abendessen, n liefern untersttzen

suppose supreme sure surface surprise sweet swim

annehmen hchster,-e,-es sicher Oberflche, f Ueberraschung, f sss schwimmen

table take talk tall task taste (noun) taste (verb) taxes tea teach teacher tear (verb) tears technique telephone television tell temperature ten tension term test than thank thank you that that (which) the the( plural) theater their then there therefore these they thick

Tisch, f nehmen reden gross Aufgabe, f Geschmack, m abschmecken Steuern, pl Tee, m lehren Lehrer, m, Lehrerin, f reissen Trnen, pl Technik, f Telefon, n Fernsehen, n erzhlen Temperatur, f zehn Spannung, f Semester, n testen als danken danke das welcher,-e,-es der, die, das die Theater, n ihre dann dort deswegen diese sie dick

thin thing think thirst thirteen thirty this this morning though thought thousand thread three throat through throw thumb thunder Thursday thus ticket tie tiger till time times (many) tiny tire tired title to to you today toe together toilet tomato tomorrow tone tongs tongue too too much tooth toothbrush tortoise total

dnn Sache, f, Ding, n denken Durst, m dreizehn dreissig dieser,-e,-es heute morgen obwohl Gedanke, m tausend Faden, m drei Hals, m durch werfen Daumen, m Donner, m Donnerstag, m so, darum Fahrkarte, f Kravatte, f Tiger, m bis Zeit, f mal winzig Reifen, m mde Titel, m zu dir heute Zehe, f zusammen Toilette, f Tomate, f morgen Ton, m,Klang, m Zange, f Zunge, f auch zu viel Zahn, m Zahnbrste, f Schildkrte, f total

touch tower town trade traffic train translate travel (verb) treatment tree trip trouble trousers truck true, trust truth try Tuesday turn twelve twenty twice two ugly umbrella uncle under underground understand unique universe university unless until unusual up up to now us use vacuum cleaner valley value various vast veal vegetable

berhren Turm, m Stadt, f Handel, m Verkehr, m Zug, m bersetzen reisen Behandlung, f Baum, m Reise, f Schwierigkeiten Hose, f Lastwagen, m wahr Vertrauen, n, Trust, m Wahrheit, f versuchen Dienstag, m Kurve, f, Reihe, f zwlf zwanzig zwei mal zwei hsslich Schirm, m Onkel, m unter U-Bahn verstehen einmalig Weltall, n Universitt, f falls nicht bis unblich auf, nach oben bis jetzt uns gebrauchen Staubsauger, m Tal, n Wert, m verschieden weit, ausgedehnt Kalbfleisch, n Gemse, n

very victory view village visit voice volume vote wage wagon wait waiter walk (go) wall want war warm wash watch (noun) watch (verb) water way we weapons wear (clothes) weather Wednesday week weight welcome welfare well west wet what wheel when where whether which while white who whole whom whose why

sehr Sieg, m Sicht, f , Ansicht, f Dorf, n besuchen Stimme, f Lautstrke, f whlen, abstimmen Lohn, m Lastwagen, m warten Kellner, m gehen Mauer, f wollen Krieg, m warm waschen Uhr, f betrachten Wasser, n Weg, m wir Waffen, pl tragen Wetter, n Mittwoch, m Woche, f Gewicht, n willkommen Frsorge, f gut Westen nass was Rad, n wann wo ob welcher,-e,-es whrend wei wer, welcher ganz welchen,-e,-es wessen warum

wide wife wild win wind window wine winter wish (verb) with with that within without woman wonder (verb) wonderful wood wool word work (noun) work (verb) worker world worse worthless write wrong yard year yellow yellow yes yesterday yet you you (plural) you(singular) young your (plural) your (singular) youth zero

weit Ehefrau, f wild gewinnen Wind, m Fenster, n Wein, m Winter, m wnschen mit damit darin ohne Frau, f sich fragen wunderbar Holz, n Wolle, f Wort, n Arbeit, f arbeiten Arbeiter Welt, f schlimmer wertlos schreiben falsch Hof, m,Yard, m Jahr, n gelb gelb ja gestern noch dich, dir ihr du, Sie jung euer, Ihr dein, Ihr Jugend, f null

Basic phrases
Previous page Next page Phrases main page Emergencies

Here are some basic German phrases which you can use in everyday conversation, as well as some common words you will see on signs.

ja nein vielleicht

yes no maybe

bitte

please

danke

thanks

danke schn thanks very much vielen Dank thanks very much

The following are some polite ways you can reply to someone who thanks you:
bitte schn gern geschehen keine Ursache you're welcome you're welcome dont mention it

nicht der Rede wert not at all

Hallo und Auf Wiedersehen sagen Saying hello and goodbye

Here are some different ways to greet people:
hi hallo hi (informal) hello

guten Morgen good morning (used before noon) guten Tag good afternoon (used between noon and 6pm)

guten Abend good evening (used after 6pm)

The following expressions, on the other hand, are some different things you can say when saying goodbye:
tsch machs gut! auf Wiedersehen gute Nacht bye take care! (informal) goodbye goodnight

bis dann! bis gleich! bis bald! bis spter!

see you! see you soon! see you soon! see you later!

einen schnen Tag noch! have a nice day!

schnes Wochenende!

have a good weekend!

Jemanden auf sich aufmerksam machen und sich entschuldigen Getting someone's attention and apologising
entschuldigen Sie bitte Entschuldigung excuse me (can be used to get someones attention, to get past someone, or to apologise) sorry

If someone apologises to you, you can reply using one of the following expressions:
kein Problem das macht nichts or macht nichts machen Sie sich keine Sorgen no problem that's OK

don't worry about it

Sound is available for all the German phrases on this page simply click on any phrase to hear it.

Sich verstndlich machen Making yourself understood

sprechen Sie Deutsch? do you speak German?

ich spreche kein Deutsch mein Deutsch ist nicht sehr gut

I don't speak German my German isn't very good

ich spreche nur ein kleines bisschen Deutsch I only speak very little German ich spreche ein bisschen Deutsch I speak a little German

knnen Sie bitte etwas langsamer sprechen? could you please speak more slowly?

knnen Sie das bitte aufschreiben? knnten Sie das bitte wiederholen?

could you please write it down? could you please repeat that?

ich verstehe ich verstehe nicht

I understand I don't understand

Andere einfache Ausdrcke Other basic phrases

ich wei ich wei nicht I know I don't know

entschuldigen Sie bitte, wo ist die Toilette? excuse me, where's the toilet?

Schilder, die man hufig sieht Things you might see

Eingang Ausgang Notausgang Entrance Exit Emergency exit

Drcken Ziehen

Push Pull

Toiletten WC Herren Damen

Toilets WC Gentlemen Ladies

Frei Besetzt

Vacant Engaged

Auer Betrieb

Out of order

Rauchen verboten No smoking Privat Kein Zutritt Private No entry

Making friends
Previous page General conversation wie heisst du? Next page Family and relationships what's your name?

ich heisse ... ich bin ... dies ist ...

my name's ... I'm ... this is ...

schn, dich kennenzulernen

nice to meet you

freut mich sehr, dich kennenzulernen pleased to meet you

wie alt bist du? ich bin ... (Jahre alt) 22

how old are you? I'm ... (years old) 22

wann hast du Geburtstag? am ... 16 May woher kommst du? wo wohnst du?

when is your birthday? it's ... 16. Mai where are you from? where do you live?

ich wohne in ... Berlin

I live in ... Berlin

ich komme ursprnglich aus ..., aber jetzt lebe ich in ... ich bin in ... geboren, aber in ... aufgewachsen

I'm originally from ... but now live in ... I was born in ... but grew up in ...

Family and relationships

Previous page Making friends hast du Geschwister? ja, ich habe ... Brder und ... Schwestern nein, ich bin Einzelkind Next page Times and dates do you have any brothers or sisters? yes, I have ... brothers and ... sisters no, I'm an only child

hast du einen Freund? hast du eine Freundin?

do you have a boyfriend? do you have a girlfriend?

bist du verheiratet? bist du Single? bist du mit jemandem zusammen?

are you married? are you single? are you seeing anyone?

ich bin ... Single verlobt verheiratet geschieden verwitwet / Witwe verwitwet / Witwer ich bin mit jemandem zusammen

I'm ... single engaged married divorced a widow a widower I'm seeing someone

ich lebe getrennt

I'm separated

hast du Kinder?

do you have any children?

yes, I've got ...

ja, ich habe ...

einen Jungen und ein Mdchen a boy and a girl ein kleines Baby a young baby

drei Kinder

three kids

ich habe keine Kinder

I don't have any children