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German speaking lesson 5

The first impression of someone you’ve just met is really important. If you’re heading to a German speaking region, the following tips will also be handy. Here are some basic German communication skills we would like to share with you. 

Basic German greetings

German

English

Hallo!

Hello!

Guten Morgen!

Good morning!

Guten Tag!

Good day!

Grüß Gott!

Good day! (Used mostly in southern Germany and Austria)

Guten Abend!

Good evening!

Auf Wiedersehen!

Goodbye! (formal)

Tschüss!

Goodbye! (informal)

Ciao!

Goodbye! (borrowed from Italian; popular with younger Germans)

 

Because Germans value efficiency, they often greet a single word. Below are the following examples of shortened greetings.

German

English

Morgen!

Good morning!

Tag!

Good day!

Abend!

Good evening!

 

“Yes” and “No”

At one time or another, everyone must make decisions or get answers to questions, and the required response is frequently “yes”, “no”, or sometimes “maybe”. You’ll surely need these important words.

German

English

ja

Yes

nein

No

vielleicht

Maybe

 

We have a small exercise. We’re going to ask you a question. Listen carefully.

German

English

Ist das Essen?

Is this food?

 

Now, you have to quickly think about what your answer will be: ja, nein or vielleicht. Then you will listen to our answers and see if we have the same idea. Get set! Ready! Go!

 

“Please” and “Thank you”

Being polite is very important because it helps us build relationships. Being polite can also reduce the social distance between two people, which makes it easier to communicate.

German

English

Bitte

Please

Dankeschön

Thank you

Danke

Thank you (this shortened version is much more common)

 

Just the same in English, the word bitte (please) can exist in many places in a German sentence.

In the middle of a sentence

Can you please stand up?

At the beginning of a sentence

Please stand up.

At the end of a sentence

Stand up please.

 

Nevertheless, the word bitte is most commonly placed in the middle of a sentence in German.

German

English

Finde bitte die Kokosnüsse.

Find (please) the coconuts.

Fahr bitte das Boot.

Drive (please) the boat.

 

This is the end of our today's German speaking lesson. We hope that you can know how to use German greetings and essentials correctly. And don’t forget to follow us in the next German lessons.

Tags: learn speaking German, German greetings and essentials, how to learn speaking German, learn German lessons, German greetings, German essentials, learn the German language, German speaking lessons

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