Are you planning to visit Germany, Austria or Switzerland soon? Or maybe you’re just looking to improve your German language skills for everyday use?
Either way, having a list of useful German phrases can be incredibly helpful.
In this blog post, we’ve put together a comprehensive list of essential German phrases for everyday situations, including greetings, asking for directions and ordering food.
With these phrases in your arsenal, you’ll be able to navigate through German-speaking countries with ease and impress the locals with your language skills. So, let’s dive in!
Greetings and small talk
1. Informal: Hallo= Hello Formal: Guten Tag= .ood day!
2. Informal: Tschüss =Bye Formal: Auf Wiedersehen= Goodbye!
3. Danke= Thanks
4. Bitte= Please
5. Entschuldigung= Excuse me!
6. Tut mir leid/ Sorry!= Sorry
7. Wie heißt du? = What’s your name?
8. Ich heiße … = My name is …
9. Wie geht es dir? = How are you?
10. Gut, danke. Und dir? = Fine, thank you. How about you?
11. Freut mich, Sie kennenzulernen = Nice to meet you
12. Formal: Können Sie mir helfen? Informal: Kannst du mir helfen? = Can you help me?
13. Formal: Sprechen Sie English? Informal: Sprichst du Englisch?= Do you speak English?
14. Einen Moment, bitte. = One moment, please.
15. Das ist alles, danke. = That’s all, thank you.
16. Es tut mir leid, ich verstehe das nicht = Sorry, I don’t understand
How to get around
1. Wo finde ich einen Geldautomaten?/ ein Taxi?/ … =Where do I find a cash machine/ a cab?/…
2. Wann fährt…= When’s… … der nächste Bus?= … the next bus? … die nächste Bahn? = … the next train?
3. Ich habe mich verlaufen. = I’m lost.
4. Wie komme ich zu… = How do I get to…
In a restaurant
1. Tisch für zwei bitte = (Table for two, please)
2. Ich habe eine Reservierung auf den Namen… (I’ve got a reservation under… )
3. Ich möchte bitte… (I would like… ) … einen Tisch reservieren. (… to book a table, please.) … ein Glas Wein. (… a glass of wine, please.) … die Speisekarte. (… the menu.) … zahlen.(… to pay, please.)
4. Wo ist die Toilette? = (Where is the bathroom?)
5. Wie viel kostet das …? = (How much is this …?)
6. Kann ich mit EC-Karte / Kreditkarte zahlen? (Do you take debit cards / credit cards?)
7. Zum Wohl! / Prost! (Cheers!)
8. Guten Appetit! (Enjoy your meal!)
9. Die Rechnung, bitte. (The bill, please.)
10. Stimmt so. (Keep the change.)
We hope this list of useful German phrases has been helpful to you and will make your next trip or language learning journey a little bit easier. Of course, there are many more situations and phrases that we haven’t covered, so feel free to let us know in the comments what other phrases you would like to know!
Another source of useful German everyday phrases can be found here.
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