No matter where you travel in the world, making the effort to learn some of the local lingo certainly goes a long way. In a world where English-speaking tourists all too commonly assume that everyone else on the planet can and should speak their language, travellers who make the effort to learn basic phrases and use them in their interactions with locals quickly find that their efforts are not only highly appreciated, but that it also often results in a smoother journey overall.
In Berlin, the vast majority of people speak English quite well. But that’s not to say you shouldn’t be polite and attempt to speak ein bisschen Deutsch (a little German)! Outside of the capital, English speakers are less common, particularly amongst the older proportion of the population. Whatever region you intend to travel to in Germany, show some courtesy and politeness by using some common German phrases.
Here are some of the most useful German phrases for tourists:
Guten Tag (formal): Good day (formal)
Hallo: Hello (informal)
Bitte: Please
Bitteschön: You’re welcome
Dankeschön: Thank you
Danke: Thanks
Auf Wiedersehen: Goodbye (formal)
Tschüss: Bye (informal)
Ja: Yes
Nein: No
Entschuldigung: Excuse me / sorry
Kein problem: No problem
Guten Morgen: Good morning
Guten Abend: Good evening
Prost: Cheers
Wie geht’s: How are you? (informal)
Wie heißen Sie? What is your name?
Ich heiße…: My name is….
Ich komme aus…: I come from…
Sprechen Sie Englisch? Do you speak English?
Wie viel Kostet das? How much does that cost?
Wo ist die Toilette? Where is the toilet?
Ich verstehe nicht: I don’t understand.
Ich hatte gern…: I would like to have…
Ich möchte bezahlen: I would like the check, please.
Können Sie mir helfen? Can you help me?
Deutschland ist wunderschön: Germany is a wonderful country.
Mein Deutsch ist schlect: My German is bad.
Happy travels!
This is great! I’m currently learning German. It’s good to know I already learned the basic to travel. And that last one made me laugh, it’s true my German is really bad at the moment. haha Thanks for sharing!
Yes, Cristi, the last one is so important and so commonly used! I love it! Glad to hear that you’re learning German — you should book a ticket over here and get some practise! Thanks for stopping by. x
I am learning German at the moment and I am getting the hang of it for being 15. I needed tips and this did help. The last one helped because my German is bad!
Hi! German here, and I just wanted to add a tiny correction: All nouns are capitalized in German so “Kein problem” is actually “Kein Problem” But other than that, this is a great and helpful article for beginners starting to learn German.
Hi Rachel: Always hard to know which are the really useful words and phrases for everyone: We all have different needs and wants! Greetings and polite phrases are certainly the main essentials. We always found to be able to ask polite “Where is…” questions useful, although phones and GPS make as more self-reliant. Our http://www.lingo-late.com site is our attempt to help travelers to learn the “essentials”. If you don’t mind we’ll also add some of yours…
There’s a word or phrase my Grandparents used that I cant find because I dont know how to spell it. In English it sounded like this. Octa leiber sane. Can anyone help me with this? I think they said it when surprised or in a hurry.