Translate to German:
Hello!
Hallo!
Hallo works any time of day. It is informal, similar to “hello” in English.
Note that German distinguishes more strictly between formal and informal greetings than English.
Translate to German:
Good morning
Guten Morgen
Guten Morgen is the standard greeting used in the morning, just like “good morning” in English.
Gut (“good”) changes its ending depending on the word, it describes.
Translate to German:
Good afternoon!
Guten Tag
Guten Tag (literally “good day”) is the standard formal daytime greeting in German, it can be used any time of the day until the evening.
Translate to German:
Good evening
Guten Abend
Guten Abend is a formal greeting used in the evening, just like “good evening”.
Translate to German:
Good night!
Gute Nacht
Gute Nacht is used when saying goodbye for the night, similar to “good night” in English. It’s typically said before going to sleep.
Nacht is a feminine noun, therefore the adjective gut changes its ending to -e.
Translate to German:
Bye!
(informal)
Tschüss!
Tschüss is an informal way to say “bye” and is commonly used among friends and family.
Translate to German:
Goodbye
(formal)
Auf Wiedersehen
Auf Wiedersehen is the formal way to say “goodbye”.
[What is being said in the audio recording?]
Guten Tag!
Translation:
“Good day/Good evening”
Translate to German:
Yes
Ja
Translate to German:
No
Nein
[What is being said in the audio recording?]
- Man: Danke!
- Woman: Bitte!
Translation:
- Man: “Thank you”
- Woman: “You’re welcome”
Translate to German:
English
Englisch
Translate to German:
German
Deutsch
Translate to German:
I speak English.
Ich spreche Englisch.
German verbs ending in -e often indicate the speaker is using the verb to refer to oneself. (“I” = Ich)
Translate to German:
Do you speak English?
Sprechen Sie Englisch?
To ask a simple Yes/No question in German, you invert the word order of the statement, placing the conjugated verb (sprechen) first, followed by the subject (Sie).
Note that the formal version of “you” is used here: Sie. Use the informal du (“you”) instead when speaking to friends and family: Sprichst du Englisch?
Translate to German:
I don’t speak German.
Ich spreche kein Deutsch.
The literal translation is “I speak no German”, so kein is used to negate nouns.
[What is being said in the audio recording?]
- Woman: Sprichst du Englisch?
- Man: Ja
Translation:
- Woman: “Do you speak English?”
- Man: “Yes.”
Translate to German:
Hi, my name is Sam.
Hallo, ich heiße Sam.
Heiße comes from the verb heißen, which means “to be called”, so ich heiße literally translates to “I am called”.
Translate to German:
What’s your name?
(informal)
Wie heißt du?
Heißt also comes from the verb heißen, so this question literally asks: “How are you called?”
Note that the formal Sie is used with adults who aren’t friends or family, so the question would be Wie heißen Sie?
[What is being said in the audio recording?]
- Man: Sprechen Sie deutsch?
- Woman: Ein bisschen.
Translation:
- Man: “Do you speak German?”
- Woman: “A little bit.”
Translate to German:
Nice to meet you!
Freut mich, dich kennenzulernen!
Freut mich, dich kennenzulernen literally means “I am pleased to get to know you”, but it is used like “Nice to meet you” (informal).
Note that the formal version uses Sie (“you”) instead of dich (“you”): Freut mich, Sie kennenzulernen.
Translate to German:
Same to you
Gleichfalls.
Gleichfalls means “likewise” and is a quick, friendly way to reciprocate good wishes or compliments, similar to saying “same to you” in English.
[What is being said in the audio recording?]
- Man: Wie heißen Sie?
- Woman: Ich heiße Jenny. Freut mich, Sie kennenzulernen.
- Man: Gleichfalls!
Translation:
- Man: “What is your name?”
- Woman: “My name is Jenny. Nice to meet you.”
- Man: “Likewise!”
