What to say in daily life?/Was sagt man im Alltag?
It is essential to have a set of German greetings and wishes. Here go the most frequent ones. Read and listen to them and use them today. Enjoy!
Hi./Hello. – Hallo.
Good Morning. – Guten Morgen.
Good Evening. – Guten Abend.
Bye! – Tschüss!
How are you? – Wie geht es dir?/Wie geht´s?
I´m fine. And you? – Gut. Und dir?
Thank you./Thank you very much! – Danke./Vielen Dank.
You’re welcome. – Gerne./Gern geschehen.
Excuse me, may I pass? – Entschuldigung, darf ich mal vorbei?
I´m sorry. – Tut mir leid.
I don´t know that. – Das weiß ich nicht.
Wishes – Wünsche
Have fun! – Viel Spaß!
See you later! – Bis später!
Good luck! – Viel Glück!
Enjoy your trip! – Gute Reise!
I wish you a nice day! – Ich wünsche dir/Ihnen einen schönen Tag!
Have a nice day! – Schönen Tag (noch)!
Get well soon! – Gute Besserung!
Are you better today? – Geht´s dir heute (schon) besser?
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Yes, no, I see!
There is more than just one way to say “yes”, “no” or “I see”. Maybe you want some variety from time to time? Here we go!
How to say “yes”?
Ja. = Yes.
Ja, bitte. = Yes please.
Natürlich. = Of course.
Klar. = Sure.
Sicher. = Sure.
Logisch. = Sure.
Auf jeden Fall. = Certainly.
Unbedingt! = Absolutely!
In Ordnung./Okay. = Okay.
Einverstanden. = Agreed.
Gerne. = With pleasure.
Hm-hm. (Lift voice in the end.) = Hm-hm.
Ja, ich will. -> When you marry someone.
How to say “no”?
Nein. = No.
Nee. (colloquial) = Nope.
Nö. (more colloquial than “Nee”) = Nope.
Nein, danke. = No thanks.
Leider nicht. = I’m afraid not.
Zum Glück nicht. = Luckily not.
Bitte nicht. = Please don’t.
Auf keinen Fall! = Certainly not!
Niemals! = Never ever!
Eh-eh. (very colloquial, lift voice at first “eh”)
You are listening to someone and really want to show it to the other person? You will use body language, but what do Germans usually say when listening to someone?
Aha. = I see.
Oh. = Oh.
Verstehe. = I understand./Got it.
Hm-hm. = Hm-hm.
Ach…= Ah…
Logisch. = Sure. (Logical.)
Warum nicht…= Why not…
In surprised moments they would also say:
Echt? = Really?
Ach, wirklich? = Oh, really?
Das ist ja irre! = That’s far out!
Das gibt’s ja nicht. = I can’t believe it.
Nein! = No!