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German Portal
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Common German Words and Phrases

This is a great place to start if you are looking for a place to build upon your basic German vocabulary - especially when it comes to learning common German phrases and key words.

On this page you can learn the translation for such common words as 'Yes and No', plus 'Please and Thank You'. There are also other useful phrases like, 'My name is...', 'How are you?', and 'Help me'. There's plenty more too, so scroll down to learn some new phrases or use our quick links to jump straight to the section you are most interested in!

Common Words and Phrases in German:

Words in bold added during the last update. You can also view this list of common words and phrases from English to German.


Saying 'Yes' and 'No' in German

Ja ➔ Yes

Nein ➔ No


German for 'Please' and 'Thank You'

Bitte ➔ Please


Danke ➔ Thanks / Thank you.

Danke euch allen. ➔ Thank you all.

Danke schön. ➔ Thank you very much.

Danke sehr. ➔ Thank you very much.

Danke vielmals. ➔ Thank you very much.


Bitte schön. ➔ You're welcome. (lit. nicely pleased)

Bitte sehr. ➔ You're welcome. (lit. well pleased)


'What is Your Name?' in German

Wie Heisst du? ➔ What's your name?


Mein Name ist (name). ➔ My name is (name).

Ich heiße (name). ➔ I am called (name).


Asking 'How Are You?' in German

Wie geht es dir? ➔ How are you?

Wie geht's? ➔ How are you?

Wie ging es dir in letzter Zeit? ➔ How have you been doing lately?


Mir geht es schlecht. ➔ I feel bad.

Mir geht es gut. ➔ I feel good.

Vielen Dank für die Nachfrage. ➔ Thank you for asking.

Und dir? ➔ And you?


Mir geht es auch gut. ➔ I'm doing well too.


Statements for when Your German Isn't Good

Kannst du bitte langsamer sprechen? ➔ Can you speak slower?

Ich kann kein Deutsch. ➔ I don't speak German.

Mein deutsch ist nicht gut. ➔ My german isn't good.


Asking and Answering Where You're From in German

Wo kommst du her? ➔ Where do you come from?

Woher kommst du? ➔ Where do you come from?


Ich bin Amerikaner(in). ➔ I am American. (add 'in' for female, leave out for male)

Ich bin aus New York. ➔ I'm from New York.

Ich komme aus den Niederlanden. ➔ I'm from the Netherlands.

Ich komme aus den USA. ➔ I'm from the USA.

Ich komme aus England. ➔ I'm from the UK.

Ich komme aus Kanada. ➔ I'm from Canada.

Ich lebe/wohne in England. ➔ I live in the UK.


German for 'When is Your Birthday?'

Wann haben Sie Geburtstag? ➔ When is your birthday?

Wann hast du Geburtstag? ➔ When is your birthday? (Informal)


Mein Geburtstag ist... ➔ My birthday is...

Mein Geburtstag ist im Juni. ➔ My birthday is in June.


Other Useful German Phrases

Wie alt bist du? ➔ How old are you?

Was ist das? ➔ What is this?

Hilf mir! ➔ Help me!


This list of common German words and phrases was last updated on April 2, 2025.



Next Up

German Numbers: Learn how to say German numbers.

Perhaps you want to learn common words and phrases in these other languages?

Afrikaans, Arabic, Bengali, Bosnian, Burmese, Dutch, Filipino, Finnish, French, Gaelic, German, Greek, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hindi, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Lithuanian, Malay, Mandarin, Maori, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Somali, Spanish, Swedish, Ukrainian, Urdu, and Vietnamese.


The Fine Print

I don't speak German myself, so there could be mistakes in the translations. Most of what is here is user-submitted, but I do try to check for accuracy and make corrections as I can. Thanks for your understanding. Best of luck on your German language learning journey!



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