-
Simple introductions
There are
two handy phrases to know when meeting people:
Sind Sie ...?
Are you ...?
Ich bin ...
I am
...
By adding a name after
each phrase, you can form a simple question or
answer
Saying 'my'
In German, there are different ways to
say
my
, depending on who
you're talking about.
When
you're talking about a man, you use
mein
.
When you're
talking about a woman you use
mein
e
.
Here are some
examples
Das ist
meine
Frau.
This
is my wife.
Das ist
meine
Tochter.
This is my
daughter.
Das ist
mein
Mann.
This
is my husband.
Das ist
mein
Sohn.
This
is my son.
Das ist
mein
Freund.
This is my (male)
friend.
Das ist
mein
Kollege
This is my (male)
colleague.
Saying 'your'
Ihr
is a very common word in
German, and can have several meanings.
It can mean
your
when addressing someone formally. In this case
it's always written with a capital
letter
When addressing
someone informally, you use
dein
.
Wo wohnt
Ihr Freund, Herr Paul?
Where does your friend live, Mr Paul?
Wo wohnt dein Freund, Heike?
Where does your friend
live, Heike?
It can be used
as an informal
you
when
referring to more than one person. The verb will
end
with
-t
.
Kommst du?
Are
you coming? (one person, informal)
Kommt ihr?
Are
you coming? (more than one person,
informal)
Finally,
ihr
can be used to mean
her
or
their
. The meaning is
obvious from the context.
Das ist Claudia. Peter ist ihr Freund.
This is
Claudia. Peter is her friend.
Hier wohnen Peter und Claudia. Das ist
ihr Haus
This is where
Peter and Claudia live.
This is their
house.
Ihr
means
your
(formal) and
ihr
can mean
her
or
their
. Click on 'Start the
activity' and
use these words correctly
to finish the phrase. You'll need to drag the
right one into the
gap.
Saying 'you'
Every time you
talk to someone in German, you'll need to know
which word for
you
to use,
du
or
Sie
.
You use
du
for
people with whom you're on first-name terms, such
as family, close friends and
children.
Du
is also used in informal
situations, in particular among young people.
Sie
is more
formal and is used with people who you would
address with their surname.
When you address someone as
du
or
Sie
, the verb changes as
well.
Sind Sie
Herr Schmidt?
Are you Mr
Smith?
Bist du
Peter?
Are you Peter?
Using 'Sie'
Sie
is a very common word in German, and can have
several meanings.
It can be
used as the formal word for
you
. In this case
Sie
always begins with a
capital letter and
the verb will end
with
-en
.
Wo
wohnen Sie?
Where do you
live?
Brauchen Sie Benzin?
Do you need petrol?
It can also mean
she
, or
it
when it refers to a
feminine noun. In this case
sie
begins with a small
letter, except at the beginning of a
sentence, and the verb will end with
-t
.
Wo wohnt sie?
Where does she live?
Braucht sie Benzin?
Does she need some petrol?
Haben Sie eine Lufts?
ule?
Have you got an air pump?
Ja, sie ist gleich links von der
Einfahrt.
Yes, it's just
left of the entrance.
Finally,
sie
can
be used to mean
they
. Again,
it begins with a small letter, but the verb will
end
with
-en
.
Wo wohnen sie?
Where are they living?
Brauchen sie Benzin?
Do they need petrol?
Saying 'it'
As
in English you can refer back to something that
has already been mentioned by saying
it
.
In German you use a different word
depending on whether the word is masculine,
feminine or
neuter.
With
der
words,
ie. masculine words, you use
er
:
Hier ist
der
Ku'damm
Here is the Ku'damm
Er
ist hier
It is here
With
die
words,
ie. feminine words, you use
sie
:
Hier ist
die
Kirche
Here is the church
Sie
ist hier
It is here
With
das
words,
ie. neuter words, you use the word
es
:
Hier ist
da
s
Branderburger
Tor
Here is the Brandenburg
Gate
Es
ist hier
It is here
Masculine and feminine
Jobs
in German can be masculine or feminine, like the
people doing them. When a job is done by
a woman, very often an
-in
ending will be added.
Ich bin Lehrer
Ich bin Lehrer
in
Ich bin Polizist
Ich bin
Polizist
in
Ich bin Mechaniker
I'm a teacher (male)
I'm a teacher (female)
I'm a police officer (male)
I'm a police officer (female)
I'm a mechanic (male)
Ich bin
Mechaniker
in
I
'm a mechanic (female)
When you say what you do in
German, you don't need to use the word
a
.
Regular verbs
When you look
up a verb in a German dictionary, it normally ends
in
-en
. This form is known
as
the infinitive.
wohn
en
to live
komm
en
t
o come
To show who is doing
something you need to change the verb ending.
ich
komm
e
I come
ich
wohn
e
I live
du
komm
st
you come (informal)
du
wohn
st
you live (informal)
Sie
komm
en
y
ou come (formal)
Sie
wohn
en
you live (formal)
Lots of German verbs follow this
regular pattern.
Irregular verbs
Many verbs follow the same pattern when
changing their endings. They are regular verbs.
But
there are some very frequently
needed ones that work differently.
Here
are some of the most useful ones:
sein,
haben
and
k?
nnen
.
sein
to be
ich bin
I am
du bist
you are (informal)
er/sie/es ist
he/she/it is
wir/sie/Sie sind
w
e/they/you
(formal) are
Sind
Sie
Frau M?
ller?
A
re you Mrs
M?
ller?
Bist
du
Student?
Are
you a student?
haben
to have
ich habe
I have
du hast
you have (informal)
er/sie/es hat
he/she/it has
wir/sie/Sie haben
w
e/they/you (formal) have
Hast
du
Lust?
Would
you like to?
Haben
Sie
ein Zimmer frei?
D
o you have a room
available?
k?
nnen
to be able to
ich kann
I can
du kannst
you can (informal)
er/sie/es kann
he/she/it can
wir/sie/Sie k?
nnen
we/they/you (formal) can
Kann
ich
helfen?
Can
I help you?
Was
kann ich
noch tun?
W
hat else can I
do?
Asking
questions
As in English you can start a
question with a question word. Here are some
common question
words.
Try guessing the meanings before
displaying
the
translations
Was...?
Wann...?
Wo...?
Wer...?
Wohin...?
Wie viel...?
What...?
When...?
Where...?
Who...?
Where to...?
How much...?
Changing vowels
Most German
verbs follow a regular pattern. Only the endings
change to show who is doing
something.
Ich
komm
e
aus England
I come from England
Du
komm
st
aus Schottland
You come from Scotland
But there are some German
verbs where the spelling and pronunciation changes
depending on
who or what you're talking
about. In these examples the middle vowel changes.
f
a
hren
?
Wie oft
f
?
hr
t
der Bus?
?
Welcher Bus
f
?
hr
t
zum Flughafen Tegel?
spr
e
chen
?
Sie
spr
e
chen
Englisch.
?
Du
spr
i
chst sehr gut Deutsch.
to leave
How
often does the bus leave?
Which bus
goes to Tegel Airport?
to
speak
You speak English
(formal).
You speak German
very well (informal).
This
change also happens to some nouns in the plural.
As in English, the question word comes
at the start of the sentence, followed by the
verb.
Was sind
Sie von Beruf?
W
hat's your job?
Was ist
das?
What's that?
Wo
wohnen
Sie?
Where do you live?
Wohin, bitte?
Where to, please?
Sometimes when asking a question, there
is no question word. You can simply change the
word
order of the sentence, just as you
do in English.
Try asking
the questions before
displaying
them
Das ist
ein Taxi
That is a taxi
Das
ist
der Ku'damm
That's the
Ku'damm
Wir sind
da
We're there
Ist das
ein
Taxi
?
Is that a
taxi?
Ist das
der
Ku'damm
?
Is that
the Ku'damm?
Sind wir
da
?
Are we there?
Saying 'the'
German nouns, whether referring to
people or objects, are either
ma
sculine
,
feminine
or
neuter
.
When you
look up words in the dictionary you will see this
marked as
m, f, n
respectively. Each
type of noun has a
different word for
the
.
der
is used with
masculine
nouns
der
Ku'damm
t
he Ku'damm
der
Bruder
the brother
die
is used with
feminine
nouns.
die
Stra?
e
the street
die
Freundin
the (female) friend
das
is used with
neuter
nouns.
das
Rathaus
t
he town council
das
Kind
the child
It's a good idea to learn nouns with
the appropriate word for
the
as you go along, as gender is
important
when building up sentences.
At times you'll hear the words
den
and
dem
also meaning
the
. You'll see and hear
these forms
when they appear at certain
positions in the sentence, eg. after verbs and
prepositions.
Using 'den'
In German, some words take different
forms depending on where they appear in a
sentence.
See
how
Der
englisch
e
K?se ist gut.
The English cheese is good.
Der
warm
e
Apfelstrudel ist
unsere Spezialit?
t.
The warm
apple strudel is our speciality.
Ich
nehme
den
englisch
en
K?se.
I'll take the English cheese.
Ich
nehme
den
warm
en
Apfelstrudel.
I'll take the warm apple strudel.
After verbs
such as
nehmen
,
to take
,
m?
chten
,
to want
or
haben
,
to
have
, you use
den
instead
of
der
.
Similarly, you use
einen
instead of
ein
. accusative
in that position will take an
-en
ending.
See
how
Das ist
ein
neu
er
Mantel.
T
his is a new coat.
Ich
m?
chte
einen
neu
en
Mantel.
I
'd like a new coat.
The form is known as the
accusative case, and it also occurs after certain
prepositions. This only
happens with
masculine words in the singular. Feminine and
neuter words don't change.
See
how
Die
rot
e
Tasche ist sch?n.
The red bag is nice.
Das
klein
e
Auto ist
sch?
n.
The small
car is nice.
Hier ist
ein
gro?
es
Bier.
Here's a large beer.
Ich
nehme
die
rot
e
Tasche.
I'll
take the red bag.
Ich
nehme
das
klein
e
Auto.
I'll
take the small car.
Ich
nehme
ein
gro?
es
Bier.
I'll
take a large beer.
Saying 'a'
In German there
are two different words for
a
:
ein
with
der
and
das
words, ie. masculine and
neuter words, and
eine
with
die
words, ie. feminine
words.
ein Kaffee
a coffee
eine Currywurst
a
curried sausage
ein Bier
a beer
It's easy
to confuse the word for
a
with the word
eins
.
Eins
is only used for the
number one, ie.
when you are counting.
eins, zwei,
drei,...
one, two,
three,...
Ein Bier, bitte.
One beer, please.
Zwei Bier, bitte.
Two beers, please.
Drei Bier, bitte.
Three beers, please.
At times you'll
hear the words
einen
and
einem
also meaning
a
. You'll see and hear these
forms
when they appear at certain
positions in the sentence, eg. after verbs and
prepositions.
Ich m?
chte einen Kaffee
I
'd like a
coffee
Saying
where you're from
You can say where you
come
from
like this:
Ich komme
aus
...
followed by the name of the place.
Ich komme
aus
England
I come from England
Ich komme
aus
Berlin
I come from Berlin
Ich komme
aus
Schottland
I
come from
Scotland
If you want to say
the place you live
in
you
say
Ich wohne
in
...
Ich wohne
in
Berlin
Ich wohne
in
Deutschland
Ich wohne
in
Frankfurt
I live in Berlin
I live in Germany
I live in Frankfurt
Asking and talking about
destination
To ask about a destination
or where you're going, you use
wohin
,
where
to
.
Wohin gehen
Sie?
Where are you
going?
To state
the destination, you can use
nach
or
zu
.
You use
nach
with city and country
names.
Ich fahre
nach
Berlin
I'm driving to Berlin
In most other
cases you use
zu
.
Zu
changes according to the
word that follows it.
With
der
or
das
words,
zu
changes to
zum
, which is short for
zu + dem
,
to
the
:
der
Ku'damm
?
zum
Ku'damm
das
Rathaus
?
zum
Rathaus
With
die
words,
zu
changes to
zur
, which is short for
zu + der
,
to
the
:
die
Oranienburger
Stra?
e ?
zur
Oranienburger
Stra?
e
die
Galerie ?
zur
Galerie
Asking and talking about
location
To ask where something is
located you use
wo
,
where
:
Wo
wohnst du?
Where do you live?
When you indicate the place
where something is located you use
in
:
Ich wohne
in
Berlin
I live in Berlin
To state location, you can also use
an
.
An
is like the word
at
in English, and you use
it in a similar way:
Ich studiere
an
der
Universit?
t in Berlin
I'm studying at Berlin
University
Both
in
and
an
can change depending on
the word that follows them.
With
der
and
das
words,
in
changes to
im
, which is short for
in + dem
,
in
the
:
das
Krankenhaus
?
Ich arbeite
im
Krankenhaus
An
follows a similar pattern. With
der
and
das
words,
an
changes to
am
, which is short for
an +
dem
,
at the
:
der
Potsdamer Platz
?
Ist das
am
Potsdamer
Platz?
With
die
words,
in
and
an
cause the
die
to change to
der
:
die
Oranienburger
Stra?
e
?
Ich
wohne
in der
Oranienburger
Stra?
e
die
Universit?
t
?
Ich
studiere
an der
Universit?
t
Numbers 1-10
Here are the
German numbers 1 to 10. Saying them out loud will
help you learn them as well as
improve
your pronunciation.
eins
1
zwei
2
drei
3
vier
4
fü
nf
5
sechs
6
sieben
7
acht
8
neun
9
zehn
10
Sometimes you'll hear
zwo
instead of
zwei
for the number 2. This
is to help distinguish it from the
number 3,
drei
,
which sounds quite similar, especially when
speaking o
n the phone.
Numbers 11-99
The German
numbers 11-30 follow a similar pattern to English:
elf
11
zw?
lf
12
dreizehn
13
vierzehn
14
fü
nfzehn
15
sechzehn
1
6
siebzehn
17
achtzehn
18
neunzehn
1
9
zwanzig
20
Numbers 21-99 are made up slightly
differently. The smaller number always comes
first, followed
by
und
,
and
, then the larger number.
For example:
ein + und + zwanzig =
einundzwanzig
=
21
drei + und +
fü
nfzig =
dreiundfü
nfzig
=
53
einundzwanzig
21
zweiundzwanzig
22
dreiundzwanzig
23
drei?
ig
30
vierunddrei?
ig
34
vierzig
40
fü
nfundvierzig
45
fü
nfzig
50
sechsundfü
nfzig
56
sechzig
60
siebenundsechzig
6
7
siebzig
70
achtundsiebzig
78
achtzig
80
neunundachtzig
89
neunzig
90
Numbers 100 and above
To
make up numbers higher than 100 you simply add
-hundert
in front of the
smaller numbers:
hundert + eins =
hunderteins
hundert +
zweiunddrei?
ig =
hundertzweiunddrei?
ig
hundert + und + eins =
hundertundeins
hundert +
und + zweiunddrei?
ig =
hundertundzweiunddrei?
ig
(ein)hundert
100
zweihundert
200
dreihundert
300
vierhundert
400
fü
nfhundert
500
sechshundert
600
siebenhundert
7
00
achthundert
800
neunhundert
900
425
101
132
You can link words with
und
, but it's completely
optional.
101
132
For 200 to
900, you add the number of hundreds in front of
–
hundert
As you
can see, because the numbers are written as one
word they can be quite long!
vierhundertfü
nfundzwanzig
Using 'bitte'
You'll hear and see the word
bitte
a lot in German. It
can have several meanings, depending on
the situation, but it's always polite.
Bitte
can mean
please
K?
nnen Sie mir helfen,
bitte
?
Can you help me, please?
Ein Bier,
bitte
.
A beer, please.
Bitte sehr
is used when
handing something over.
Bitte sehr
, Ihr Bier.
Here you are, your beer.
Bitte sch?n
is
used in reply to
Danke
Danke
Thank you.
Bitte
sch?n
You're welcome.
Wie bitte?
or
simply
Bitte?
is also very
useful. It's the equivalent of
Pardon?
and you can use it
to ask for repetition or whenever you
don't understand something
Quantities and portions
In
German when you're talking about a quantity, eg.
a piece of...
or
a cup of...
, you don't use
the
word
of
.
ein
Stü
ck Kuchen
a
piece of cake
eine Tasse
Tee
a cup of tea
ein Paket Zucker
a packet of sugar
ein Pfund K?
se
a pound of cheese
eine Flasche Wasser
a
bottle of
water
If you're requesting
several items, you can just use the words for
once, twice
... followed by
the
item you want, which is always in
the singular, even if you want more than one.
einmal Bratwurst
one fried sausage
zweimal Bratwurst
t
wo grilled
sausages
dreimal Bratwurst
three grilled sausages
Compound nouns
Many German nouns are formed by putting
two or more shorter nouns together.
Erdbeere +
torte
strawberry + cake
Milch + Kaffee
milk + coffee
Erdbeertorte
strawberry gateau
Milchkaffee
milky coffee
These compound nouns are
often linked in the middle with
-e,
-en, -es
or
-n
.
The word for
the
is
usually the one corresponding to the
last noun added in the compound.
der Kranke +
das
Haus
sick
person + house
die Kinder +
der
Garten
children + garden
die
Schokolade +
der
Kuchen
chocolate + cake
das
Kranke
n
haus
hospital
der
Kindergarten
nursery
der
Schokolade
n
kuchen
chocolate cake
Plurals
All plurals use the
same word for
the
-
die
.
To make a noun plural in German, you
usually add one or two letters to the end of the
singular
form
Many masculine and neuter nouns, ie.
der
and
da
s
nouns, add an
-e
to form the
plural:
der Salat
salad
der Wein
wine
das Packet
packet
die
Salat
e
salads
die
Wein
e
wines
die
Packet
e
packets
Many feminine nouns, ie.
die
nouns, add an
-n
or
-en
to form the plural:
die Scheibe
slice
die Frau
woman
die
Scheib
en
slices
die
Frau
en
women
If a noun already ends in
-en
in the singular, the
ending doesn't change in the plural:
ein Br?
tchen
a
bread roll
zwei Br?
tchen
two bread rolls
der Kuchen
cake
die Kuchen
cakes
Note that some words with
an
a, o
or
u
in the first syllable take
an umlaut in the plural.
der Apfel
apple
der Sohn
son
der
Bruder
brother
die
?
pfel
apples
die
S
?
hn
e
sons
die
Br
ü
der
brothers
You'll
notice there are exceptions to these rules. It's a
good idea to learn these as you come
across them, for example:
das
Kind
child
die
Kind
er
children
Saying 'I'd like...'