Whether you’re hiking the Alps or relaxing in a Bavarian beerhouse, using this German travel phase guide will enrich your holiday experience.

No trip to a German-speaking country would be complete without taking a German travel phrase guide packed with useful basic German words. Fortunately, I’ve prepared one for you!

When you first start out speaking a foreign language, you’ll have quite a few near misses. Sometimes you’ll translate things literally, or simply forget to apply a grammar rule. This happens with the German language and all many other languages. Whether you’re a beginner, intermediate or in need of a refresher, check out these popular German courses by German teacher Kerstin Cable from Fluent Languages.

 

 

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Planning a trip to Berlin? Don’t miss my Berlin 3-Day Itinerary: 19 Absolute Best Things to do in Berlin

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Where is German spoken?

Did you know that German is spoken by about 95 million people?

German (Deutsch) is the official language of Germany, Austria, and Liechtenstein, as well is one of the four official languages of Switzerland. The German spoken in Switzerland is called Schweizerdeutsch. German is also widely spoken in South Tyrol (Italy), Luxembourg, and Belgium.

German is a West Germanic language and shares similarities with other major languages, such as Afrikaans, Dutch,  and English. It is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English.

German Pronunciation

You may have already heard that German is a very close relative of English, so pronunciation is fairly easy to pick up.

Here are some important tips on vowel pronunciation to keep in mind:

ei as in line
ie as in lean
ö as in worm (but without the r)
ü as in tea (but with the lips rounded)
ä as in get
eu or äu as in boy

Now for some tips on consonant pronunciation:

sch  as in shoe
sp and st as in shp and sht
ß as in boss
z as in cats

German Vocabulary

You will come across a lot of German vocabulary that won’t look entirely foreign to you such as, das Haus (the house), der Hund (the dog/hound), die Strasse (the street), ein Mann (a/one man), machen (to make), sprechen (to speak) and so on.

By the way, did you notice that all the nouns were capitalised? That’s no accident.

Now, back to German vocabulary. Some German words will seem familiar because English is a Germanic language.

But things changed, and English became heavily influenced by Latin when the Norman’s invaded England in the 11th-century. From then on, an awful lot of French words were adopted into the English lexicon so it tends to look more like French than like German. For example, the verb to compare, which in French is comparer, and vergleichen in German.

Find out more about German grammar and how hard German is to learn here.

In some ways, German vocabulary will look more foreign to you than French or Spanish!

Greetings

Hello!
Hallo!
hâ-loh! (informal greeting)

Good day!
Guten Tag!
gooh-ten tahk!

Good evening!
Guten Abend!
gooh-ten ah-bent!

Good-bye!
Auf Wiedersehen!
ouf vee-der-zey-en!

Please/You’re welcome
Bitte
bi-te

Thank you
Danke
dân-ke

Excuse me
Entschuldigung
ênt-shool-dee-goong

My name is….
Ich heiße….
iH hays-e….

Pleased to meet you
Freut mich
froyt miH

Basic Questions

Do you speak English?
Sprechen Sie Englisch?
shprêH-en zee êng-lish?

How are you?
Wie geht es Ihnen?
vee geyt ês een-en?

Would you help me please?
Würden Sie mir bitte helfen?
vuer-den zee meer bi-tehêl-fen?

What’s your name?
Wie heißen Sie?
vee hays-en zee?

What time is it?
Wie viel Uhr ist es?
vee feel oohr ist ês?

What’s the weather like?
Wie ist das Wetter?
ee ist dâs vêt-er?

How much does . . . cost?
Wie viel kostet . . .?
vee feel kos-tet…?

Where do I find . . .?
Wo finde ich . . .?
voh fin-de iH…?

 

Where are the bathrooms?
Wo sind die Toiletten?
voh zint dee toy-lêt-en?

Do you have…?
Haben Sie…?
hah-ben zee…?

Where is…?
Wo ist…?
voh ist…?

Could you please talk more slowly?
Können Sie bitte langsamer sprechen?
kern-en zee bi-te lâng-zâm-er shprêH-en?

Could you repeat that, please?
Können Sie das bitte wiederholen?
kern-en zee dâs bi-tevee-der-hoh-len?

Numbers

 

SURVIVAL GERMAN TRAVEL

0 null nool
1 eins ayns
2 zwei tsvay
3 drei dray
4 vier feer
5 fünf fuenf
6 sechs zêks
7 sieben zee-ben
8 acht âHt
9 neun noyn
10 zehn tseyn

Days

Monday
Montag
mohn-tahk

Tuesday
Dienstag
deens-tahk

Wednesday
Mittwoch
mit-voH

Thursday
Donnerstag
don-ers-tahk

Friday
Freitag
fray-tahk

Saturday
Samstag / Sonnabend
zâms-tahk / zon-ah-bent

Sunday
Sonntag
zon-tahk

Months

January
Januar
yâ-noo-ahr

February
Februar
fey-broo-ahr

 

SURVIVAL GERMAN TRAVEL

March
März
mêrts

April
April
ah-pril

May
Mai
may

June
Juni
yooh-nee

July
Juli
yooh-lee

August
August
ou-goost

September
September
zêp-têm-ber

October
Oktober
ok-toh-ber

November
November
no-vêm-ber

December
Dezember
dey-tsêm-ber

Eating Out

The menu, please
Die Speisekarte bitte
dee shpay-ze kâr-te bi-te

I’d like….
Ich hätte gern….
iH hê-te gern….

I’d like….
Ich möchte gern….
iH merH-te gern….

Could you recommend something?
Könnten Sie etwas empfehlen?
kern-ten zee êt-vas êm-pfey-len?

Another (beer) please
Noch (ein Bier) bitte
noH [ayn beer] bi-te

Excuse me
Entschuldigen Sie bitte
ênt-shool-dee-gen zeebi-te

The check, please
Die Rechnung bitte
dee rêH-noong bi-te

A receipt, please
Eine Quittung bitte
ayn-e kvi-toong bi-te

Enjoy your meal
Guten Appetit
gooh-ten âp-e-teet

Emergencies

Help!
Hilfe!
hilf-e!

Police!
Polizei!
po-li-tsay!

Fire!
Feuer!
foy-er!

Get a doctor!
Holen Sie einen Arzt!
hohl-en zee ayn-en ârtst!

I am sick
Ich bin krank
iH bin krânk

I don’t know my way around here
Ich kenne mich hier nicht aus
iH kên-e miH heer niHt ous