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. Das ist meine Tochter. Das ist mein Mann. Das ist mein Sohn. Das ist mein Freund. Das ist mein Kollege This is my wife.
This is my daughter.
This is my husband.
This is my son.
This is my (male) friend. 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 Luftsäule? 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 I'm a teacher (male)
Ich bin Lehrer in I'm a teacher (female)
Ich bin Polizist I'm a police officer (male)
Ich bin Polizist in I'm a police officer (female)
Ich bin Mechaniker 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 können.
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 Möller? A re you Mrs Möller?
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?
können to be able to
ich kann I can
du kannst you can (informal)
er/sie/es kann he/she/it can
wir/sie/Sie können 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
<?
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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 fähr t der Bus?
» Welcher Bus fähr t zum Flughafen Tegel? to leave
How often does the bus leave? Which bus goes to Tegel Airport?
spr e chen
» Sie spr e chen Englisch.
» Du spr i chst sehr gut Deutsch. 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
Das ist der Ku'damm Wir sind da That is a taxi
That's the Ku'damm We're there
Ist das ein Taxi?
Ist das der Ku'damm? Sind wir da?Is that a taxi?
Is that the Ku'damm? 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 Straße 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 Käse ist gut.
Der warm e Apfelstrudel ist unsere Spezialität. The English cheese is good.
The warm apple strudel is our speciality.
Ich nehme den englisch en Käse.
Ich nehme den warm en Apfelstrudel. I'll take the English cheese.
I'll take the warm apple strudel.
After verbs such as nehmen, to take, möchten, 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 möchte 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 schön. Das klein e Auto ist schön. Hier ist ein großes Bier. The red bag is nice. The small car is nice. Here's a large beer.
Ich nehme die rot e Tasche. Ich nehme das klein e Auto. Ich nehme ein großes Bier. I'll take the red bag. I'll take the small car. 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.
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