Lesson 1 of 69 · A1, Unit 1: First words
Greetings and politeness
German draws a clear line between du, the informal 'you' for friends, family, children, and people your own age in casual settings, and Sie, the polite 'you' for strangers, shop staff, officials, and anyone older you don't know well. Greetings come in both.
When in doubt, use Guten Tag and Sie. Hallo and Tschüss are the friendly everyday pair, and you'll hear them constantly.
By the end you can:
- greet someone at any time of day, formally or casually
- say please, thank you, sorry, yes, and no
- ask how someone is, with du or Sie, and give a short answer
1.Two ways to say “you”
Before you say anything in German, you choose between du and Sie. Du is for friends, family, children and people your own age in relaxed settings. Sie — always with a capital S — is for strangers, shop staff, officials, and adults you don’t know well.
| Situation | Use |
|---|---|
| a friend, a classmate, a child | du |
| a shop assistant, a waiter | Sie |
| your neighbour, if you’ve never agreed on du | Sie |
| a new colleague who says “Wir duzen uns hier” | du |
You’re buying a train ticket at the counter. Which “you”?
2.Hello and goodbye through the day
Guten Tag works from late morning to early evening, with anyone. In the morning say Guten Morgen, in the evening Guten Abend. Gute Nacht is only for bedtime. With friends, Hallo and Tschüss cover everything.
Guten Morgen!
Good morning!
Guten Tag!
Hello! (polite, all day)
Guten Abend!
Good evening!
Auf Wiedersehen!
Goodbye! (polite)
Tschüss! Bis bald!
Bye! See you soon!
Notice the endings: Guten Morgen, Guten Tag, Guten Abend — but Gute Nacht. That’s because Nacht is feminine. You’ll see why in lesson 4; for now, learn them as set phrases.
It’s 8 p.m. and you walk into a restaurant. You say…
3.Please and thank you
Danke is thank you, and the answer is Bitte. Bitte is the busiest word in German: it means please, you’re welcome, and here you are — and Bitte? on its own means “Sorry, what did you say?”
Danke schön!
Thank you very much!
Bitte schön!
You’re very welcome! / Here you are!
Gern geschehen.
My pleasure.
Entschuldigung!
Excuse me! / Sorry!
Someone says Danke! What’s the usual answer?
4.How are you?
To a friend: Wie geht’s? To someone you call Sie: Wie geht es Ihnen? Germans take the question at face value, so an honest short answer is normal — and you ask back with Und dir? or Und Ihnen?
Gut, danke. Und dir?
Good, thanks. And you? (informal)
Sehr gut, danke. Und Ihnen?
Very well, thanks. And you? (polite)
Es geht.
So-so.
Nicht so gut.
Not so good.
Your new boss asks Wie geht es Ihnen? You answer and ask back…
Words in this lesson (23)
Hallo!
Say it: HAH-loh
Hi! / Hello!
Guten Morgen!
Say it: GOO-ten MOR-gen
Good morning!
Used until about 10 or 11 a.m. Friends often shorten it to just Morgen!
Guten Tag!
Say it: GOO-ten TAHK
Hello. / Good day. (polite, all-purpose)
The safe greeting for any shop, office, or stranger during the day.
Guten Abend!
Say it: GOO-ten AH-bent
Good evening!
Gute Nacht!
Say it: GOO-tuh NAKHT
Good night!
Only when someone is going to bed or you're parting late at night — never as a greeting.
Tschüss!
Say it: CHEWS
Bye! (casual)
Auf Wiedersehen!
Say it: owf VEE-der-zay-en
Goodbye. (polite)
literally until seeing-again
Bis später!
Say it: bis SHPEH-ter
See you later!
Bis bald!
Say it: bis BALT
See you soon!
Danke
Say it: DAN-kuh
Thank you / Thanks
Danke schön
Say it: DAN-kuh SHURN
Thank you very much
Bitte
Say it: BIT-tuh
Please / You're welcome / Here you are
One of the hardest-working words in German: please, you're welcome, here you go, and 'pardon?' all in one.
Bitte schön
Say it: BIT-tuh SHURN
You're very welcome / Here you are
Gern geschehen
Say it: GERN guh-SHAY-en
My pleasure
literally gladly happened
Entschuldigung
Say it: ent-SHUL-di-gung
Excuse me / Sorry
Stress the second syllable: the prefix ent- is never stressed.
Ja
Say it: YAH
Yes
Nein
Say it: NAIN
No
Wie geht's?
Say it: vee GAYTS
How are you? (casual)
literally how goes it
Hallo Tom! Wie geht's?
Hi Tom! How's it going?
Wie geht es Ihnen?
Say it: vee GAYT es EE-nen
How are you? (polite)
Gut, danke.
Say it: GOOT, DAN-kuh
Good, thanks.
Und dir?
Say it: unt DEER
And you? (informal)
Und Ihnen?
Say it: unt EE-nen
And you? (polite)
Grüß Gott!
Say it: GREWS GOT
Hello! (southern Germany and Austria)
Standard in Bavaria and Austria. In the north you'll hear Moin! instead.
See it in context
- Verkäuferin
Guten Morgen!
Say it: GOO-ten MOR-gen
Good morning!
- Kunde
Morgen! Zwei Brötchen, bitte.
Say it: MOR-gen. tsvai BRURT-khen, BIT-tuh
Morning! Two bread rolls, please.
- Verkäuferin
Bitte schön. Sonst noch etwas?
Say it: BIT-tuh SHURN. zonst nokh ET-vas
Here you are. Anything else?
- Kunde
Nein, danke. Tschüss!
Say it: NAIN, DAN-kuh. CHEWS
No, thanks. Bye!
- Verkäuferin
Tschüss, schönen Tag noch!
Say it: CHEWS, SHUR-nen TAHK nokh
Bye, have a nice day!
Did you follow it?
What time of day is it?
What does the customer buy?
What does Sonst noch etwas? mean?
Beyond the words
Greet the room
Germans commonly greet everyone when entering a small shop, a doctor's waiting room, or a lift with Guten Tag or Hallo, and say Tschüss or Auf Wiedersehen when leaving. It's normal politeness, not friendliness toward strangers.
Servus, Grüezi, Moin
Österreich · Schweiz · DeutschlandGreetings change across the German-speaking world. In Austria and Bavaria, Servus is a friendly hi and bye, and Grüß Gott is the polite hello. In Switzerland, Grüezi is the polite hello (Grüezi mitenand to a group), friends say Hoi or Sali, and Merci is as common as Danke. In northern Germany, Moin works at any time of day.
Say it in German
Read the English, say the sentence out loud, then check yourself.
Good day, how are you? (polite)
Good, thanks. And you? (informal)
Two bread rolls, please.
No, thanks. Bye!
Flashcards and a quick quiz
23 words. Flip through them, then take the quiz: multiple choice, typing, listening, and matching.
Meaning
Yes
Ja
YAH
Or drill every lesson together.
Remember
- Choose du or Sie first. When in doubt, Sie.
- Guten Morgen, Guten Tag, Guten Abend — Gute Nacht only at bedtime.
- Danke — Bitte. Bitte also means please and here you are.
- Wie geht’s? to friends, Wie geht es Ihnen? to everyone else.