30+ Simple German Words And Phrases For Beginners

Every language learning journey starts with a word. Sometimes one word may seem insignificant, but if you think about it, almost the whole structure of our communication is made up of words. Do you remember the first word you learned in German? That was the first brick you laid to build your German language proficiency. As we share this process with you, we’ll present a series of simple German words and phrases that every beginner should know to build a solid foundation for mastering the language. So, if you’re interested, let’s dive in!

Greetings – Begrüßung

In any new language, greetings are some of the first words or phrases we learn. Moreover, the greeting is one of society’s most common courtesy rules. Therefore, before we introduce ourselves or start talking about any subject, the first contact we should have with someone should start with a greeting. So let’s take a look at some basic terms to greet someone in German.

English	German
Hello	Hallo
Good morning	Guten Morgen
Good day	Guten Tag
Good evening	Guten Abend
Farewell	Verabschiedung
See you tomorrow	Bis morgen
See you soon	Bis bald
Good night	Gute Nacht
Goodbye/See you later	Auf Wiedersehen
Goodbye (on the phone)	Auf Wiederhören
Bye	Tschüss

Pronouns – Pronomen

Pronouns are great little words in languages. After greetings, pronouns are one of the basic terms that every language learner is introduced to the right at the beginning of their learning journey. In German, pronouns change depending on the case (nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive), so pronouns should be used accordingly. This time we’ll see the different variations of the Geman personal pronouns according to their case. 

English	Nominative	English	Accusative	English	Dative
I	ich	me	mich	me	mir
You	du	you	dich	you	dir
You (formal)	Sie	you (formal)	Sie	you (formal)	Ihnen
He	er	him	ihn	him	ihm
She	sie	her	sie	her	ihr
It	es	it	es	it	ihm
We	wir	us	uns	us	uns
You (plural)	ihr	you all	euch	you all	euch
They	sie	them	sie	them	ihnen

Countries And Nationalities – Länder Und Nationalitäten

Our country and nationality are a big part of our identity. Therefore, when we learn to introduce ourselves, we usually say who we are and where we come from. This article will mention a few countries and nationalities, but if your curiosity is sparked, you can learn about more than 50 countries and nationalities in German here.

Country-English	Land-German	Nationality-English	Nationalität-German
Germany	Deutschland	German	Deutsch
Swiss	Schweiz	Swiss	Schweizerisch
Austria	Österreich	Austrian	Österreichisch
Netherlands	Niederlande	Dutch	Niederländisch
France	Frankreich	French	Französisch
Italy	Italien	Italian	Italienisch
Spain	Spanien	Spanish	Spanisch
Japan	Japan	Japanese	Japanisch
Korea	Korea	Korean	Koreanisch
China	China	Chinese	Chinesisch
Thailand	Thailand	Thai	Thailändisch
United States	Vereinigte Staaten	American	Amerikanisch
Canada	Kanada	Canadian	Kanadisch
Mexico	Mexiko	Mexican	Mexikaner
Cuba	Kuba	Cuban	Kubanisch
Puerto Rico	Puerto Rico	Puerto Rican	Puertorikanisch
Dominican Republic	Dominikanische Republik	Dominican	Dominikanisch
Brazil	Brasilien	Brazilian	Brasilianisch
Colombia	Kolumbien	Colombian	Kolumbianisch
Peru	Peru	Peruvian	Peruanisch
Ecuador	Ecuador	Ecuadorian	Ecuadorianisch

Numbers – Zahlen

Another important fact about us is our age. But, of course, we can’t tell our age if we don’t know how to name the numbers in German. “Numbers” is another of the basic topics we encounter at the beginner’s level of German. So, if you already know them, this is an opportunity to refresh that memory. Let’s count!

	English	German
1	One	Eins
2	Two	Zwei
3	Three	Drei
4	Four	Vier
5	Five	Fünf
6	Six	Sechs
7	Seven	Sieben
8	Eight	Acht
9	Nine	Neun
10	Ten	Zehn
11	Eleven	Elf
12	Twelve	Zwölf
13	Thirteen	Dreizehn
14	Fourteen	Vierzehn
15	Fifteen	Fünfzehn
16	Sixteen	Sechzehn
17	Seventeen	Siebzehn
18	Eighteen	Achtzehn
19	Nineteen	Neunzehn
20	Twenty	Zwanzig
30	Thirty	Dreißig
40	Forty	Vierzig
50	Fifty	Fünfzig
60	Sixty	Sechzig
70	Seventy	Siebzig
80	Eighty	Achtzig
90	Ninety	Neunzig
100	One hundred	Einhundert
1000	One thousand	Eintausend

Professions – Berufe

After saying who we are, where we come from, and our age, another important aspect is our profession/occupation. Therefore, let’s see how to name some professions in German.

English	German
Doctor	der Arzt- die Ärztin
Architect	der Architekt-die Architektin
Baker	der Bäcker-die Bäckerin
Journalist	der Journalist – die Journalistin
Musician	der Musiker- die Musikerin
Nurse	der Krankenpfleger-die Krankenschwester
Photographer	der Fotograf- die Fotografin
Secretary	der Sekretär- die Sekretärin
Student	der Student – die Studentin
Teacher	der Lehrer- die Lehrerin
Waiter – waitress	der Kellner – die Kellnerin
Computer programer	der Programmierer – die Programmiererin
Auto mechanic	der Automechaniker- die Automechanikerin

Family – Familie

Family-related vocabulary is a complementary part of our self-introduction. After giving our personal information, there may be an opportunity to talk about our family. For that purpose, here is a list of some of the family members in German. If you want to go further, you can learn some facts about the German family structure here.

The Family	Die Familie
The father	der Vater
The mother	die Mutter
The son	der Sohn
The daughter	die Tochter
The granddaughter	die Enkelin
The grandson	der Enkel
The brother	der Bruder
The sister	die Schwester
The parents	die Eltern
The grandparents	die Großeltern

Vegetables – Gemüse

There is no vocabulary without food, so that we couldn’t leave out some of these delicious characters. However, since we already covered fruits and other foods in German, veggies are this section’s stars today.

English	German
Broccoli	der Brokkoli
Celery	der Sellerie
Cauliflower	der Blumenkohl
Lettuce	der Gartensalat
Garlic	der Knoblauch
Spinach	der Spinat
Escarole	der Eskariol
Pepper	der Paprika
Red cabbage	der Rotkohl
Pumpkin	der Kürbis
Leek	der Lauch
Corn	der Mais
Eggplant	die Auberginedie Eierfrucht
Avocado	die Avocado
Asparagus	der Spargel
Onion	die Zwiebel
Pea	die Erbse
Green bean	die grüne Bohne
Cucumber	die Gurke
Beetroot	die Rote Bete
Salad rocket	die Rucola
Tomato	die Tomate
Welsh onion	die Winterzwiebel
Potato	die Kartoffel

Means Of Transport – Verkehrsmittel

Last but not least, here we have the means of transportation. Knowing how to ask directions in German and name the means of transportation will allow you to move from one place to another in any German speaking-country without any difficulty.

The Transport	Das Verkehrsmittel
The S-bahn	die S-bahn
The airport	der Flughafen
The taxi	das Taxi
The bus	der Bus
The subway	die U-Bahn
The plane	das Flugzeug
The track	das gleis
The tram	der Straßenbahn

There you have it! 30+ simple German words that will help you increase your vocabulary to enable you to communicate fluently in the German Language.

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