German small talk vocabulary: 299 words
Everyday greetings, polite phrases and small talk to sound natural fast (English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese). This page lists 40 of them with their German translations, then lets you practise the full set in either direction with spaced repetition.
English to German: the first 40 words
| English | German | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| hello | hallo | A casual word said when greeting someone on meeting them. |
| goodbye | auf Wiedersehen | What you say to someone as you part from them. |
| good morning | guten Morgen | A greeting used in the early hours of the day. |
| good afternoon | guten Tag | A greeting used in the hours after midday. |
| good evening | guten Abend | A greeting used when meeting someone late in the day. |
| good night | gute Nacht | Said when someone is going to bed, not a greeting. |
| please | bitte | A polite word added to a request to soften it. |
| thank you | danke | What you say to show gratitude for a favour or gift. |
| you're welcome | gern geschehen | A polite reply given when someone expresses gratitude. |
| excuse me | entschuldigung | What you say to get attention politely or to pass by someone. |
| sorry | es tut mir leid | What you say to express regret for a fault or bad news. |
| yes | ja | The word used to affirm or agree with something. |
| no | nein | The word used to deny or refuse something. |
| maybe | vielleicht | Used to say something is possible but not certain. |
| of course | natürlich | Used to show that something is obvious or readily agreed to. |
| How are you? | Wie geht es dir? | A question asking about someone's state or well-being. |
| I'm fine | mir geht es gut | A reply stating that you are in good health and spirits. |
| And you? | Und dir? | A short question turning the same topic back to the listener. |
| nice to meet you | freut mich | What you say on being introduced to someone for the first time. |
| What's your name? | Wie heißt du? | A question asking how someone is called. |
| My name is... | ich heiße... | A phrase used to tell others how you are called. |
| Where are you from? | Woher kommst du? | A question asking about someone's home country or town. |
| I'm from... | ich komme aus... | A phrase stating your country or town of origin. |
| How old are you? | Wie alt bist du? | A question asking the number of years someone has lived. |
| Do you speak English? | Sprichst du Englisch? | A question asking whether the other person can use the language of England. |
| I don't understand | ich verstehe nicht | A phrase stating that the meaning of something is unclear to you. |
| Can you repeat that? | Kannst du das wiederholen? | A request asking someone to say the same thing again. |
| Speak slowly, please | sprich bitte langsam | A polite request for someone to talk at a reduced pace. |
| What do you do? | Was machst du beruflich? | Asking about someone's job or profession. |
| How's the weather? | Wie ist das Wetter? | A question asking about current conditions outside, like sun, rain or temperature. |
| It's sunny | es ist sonnig | Said when the sky is clear and bright light shines down. |
| It's raining | es regnet | Said when water is falling from the clouds. |
| It's cold | es ist kalt | Said when the air temperature is low and unpleasantly chilly. |
| It's hot | es ist heiß | Said when the air temperature is very high. |
| Have a nice day | einen schönen Tag noch | A friendly parting wish for pleasant hours ahead. |
| See you later | bis später | A casual goodbye to someone you expect to meet again soon. |
| See you tomorrow | bis morgen | A goodbye to someone you will meet again the next day. |
| Take care | pass auf dich auf | A warm parting phrase wishing someone to stay safe and well. |
| Welcome | willkommen | A greeting said to someone who has just arrived somewhere. |
| Congratulations | herzlichen Glückwunsch | What you say to someone who has achieved something good. |
259 more words in the full “Small Talk & Greetings” library, each aligned across seven languages and scheduled for you by spaced repetition. Add it to your account and start drilling English to German in one click.
What to watch out for in German
- Accents count. Answers are graded accent-sensitively, so you need
äöüßÄÖÜ— LinguaSwap shows a one-tap keypad for them while you type. - Capitalisation counts. German nouns are capitalised, and answers in German are graded that way —
hausis notHaus. - 299 words carry a usage note in the full library, for the cases where a direct translation would mislead you.
Practise German small talk vocabulary
Words come back just before you would forget them, and every language direction is tracked separately.