If you’ve just started learning German, you might be struggling to get past the beginner stage.

Maybe you feel overwhelmed by the Germanic umlauts on vowels (ä, ö, ü), or maybe that eszett letter (ß). Perhaps it’s the pace of spoken German that’s made you question your decision to start learning.

While there’s definitely truth to those concerns, worry not. There are several short and easy-to-learn words in German that can serve as a springboard while you become familiar with the language. 

Memorizing even a few basic German words for beginners will be enough of a stepping stone to help you eventually learn more. This is because many German words are composed of several shorter words that, when combined, have a unique meaning.

Take Kühlschrank, for example. This word is composed of Kühl- which means “cool,” and -schrank which translates to “cupboard.”

Combine the two and you get “cool cupboard,” which is a funny way to describe a refrigerator—the actual meaning of the word Kühlschrank.

Pretty relieving to know this, right? 

German isn’t that hard after all. The most difficult part is to summon up the courage to begin. 

That’s why we took the time to put together a categorized masterlist of the most essential words in German for beginners. 

Without further ado, let’s get right into it…

Table of Contents

1. Pronouns
2. Numbers
3. Nouns
4. Verbs
5. Adjectives
6. Conjunctions
7. Others
8. Conclusion

1. Pronouns

The first set of words you should add to your German vocabulary are pronouns. These are the words we use to refer to people, places, or things without actually using their names:

• Susan ate the chocolate bar. = She ate the chocolate bar. 

Here, we’ll be covering three types of pronouns in German: personal, demonstrative, and interrogative. 

Personal Pronouns

We’ll start with personal pronouns, given their importance in sentences. These are crucial for almost any sentence, and we recommend you memorize them by heart before you start with any other words.

English	German
I	ich
you	du
he	er
she	sie
it	es
we	wir
you (plural)	ihr
they	sie
me	mich / mir
you	dich / dir
him	ihm / ihn
her	ihr
us	uns
them	ihnen

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are especially critical for indicating which objects or people you’re referring to in your dialogue. These four basic German words are important to master at the beginner stage.

English	German
this	dieses
that	das
these	diese
those	jene

Interrogative Pronouns / Question Words

Interrogative pronouns, or the “Five Ws,” are the words we use to ask questions. 

English	German
who	wer
whom	wen / wem
whose	wessen
what	was
which	welche

In a similar vein, there are a few interrogative adverbs you should learn at this stage as well: 

English	German
when	wann
where	wo
why	warum
how	wie

2. Numbers

The numbers from one to ten in German are rather similar to those in English. Just like with most languages, learning the first ten digits will help you understand and easily learn the rest of the numbers.

Numbers	English	German
0	zero	null
1	one	eins
2	two	zwei
3	three	drei
4	four	vier
5	five	fünf
6	six	sechs
7	seven	sieben
8	eight	acht
9	nine	neun
10	ten	zehn

3. Nouns

Nouns are one of the most important parts of speech, so you should memorize as many of them in German as you can. When used with verbs, they create a complete sentence—in a pinch, you can even use them alone to get an urgent point across! Below, you’ll find lists of beginner German nouns you should focus on right away. 

Time

Time is king, especially in a country like Germany where punctuality is paramount. Learning time-related vocabulary will come in handy in your day-to-day interactions.

English	German
hour	Stunde
minute	Minute
morning	Morgen
afternoon	Nachmittag
evening	Abend
day	Tag
month	Monat
year	Jahr
Monday	Montag
Tuesday	Dienstag
Wednesday	Mittwoch
Thursday	Donnerstag
Friday	Freitag
Saturday	Samstag
Sunday	Sonntag

People

These are the words you’d learn in the first lesson of probably any German beginner copybook. 

English	German
butcher	Metzger (m.) / Metzgerin (f.)
woodman	Holzfäller (m.) / Holzfällerin (f.)
police officer	Polizist (m.) / Polizistin (f.)
doctor	Arzt (m.) / Ärztin (f.)
nurse	Krankenpfleger (m.) / Krankenschwester (f.)
firefighter	Feuerwehrmann (m.) / Feuerwehrfrau (f.)
teacher	Lehrer (m.) / Lehrerin (f.)
father	Vater
mother	Mutter
sister	Schwester
brother	Bruder
Mr.	Herr
Ms.	Frau

Places Around Town

If you’re traveling in Germany, whether in one town or around the country, these words will help you get by and even ask for directions.

English	German
hospital	Krankenhaus
supermarket	Supermarkt
school	Schule
downtown	Innenstadt
university	Universität
city hall	Rathaus
main square	Hauptplatz
bank	Bank
museum	Museum
restaurant	Restaurant
café	Café
police station	Polizeistation
train station	Bahnhof
bus station	Bushaltestelle

School/Office Essentials

If you have to study or work in Germany, these words will be helpful when you’re in class or at the office.

English	German
pen	Kugelschreiber
notebook	Notizbuch
computer	Computer
pencil case	Federmappe
headphones	Kopfhörer
mouse	Maus
keyboard	Tastatur
wifi	WLAN
charger	Ladegerät
cable	Kabel
backpack	Rucksack
desk	Schreibtisch
copybook	Heft

Body Parts

English	German
eye	Auge
nose	Nase
ear	Ohr
face	Gesicht
arm	Arm
chest	Brust
cheek	Wange
forehead	Stirn
mouth	Mund
chin	Kinn
armpit	Achselhöhle
abdomen	Bauch
leg	Bein
toe	Zeh
finger	Finger
ankle	Knöchel
hip	Hüfte
forearm	Unterarm
elbow	Ellbogen
wrist	Handgelenk

Food

Germans are proud of their cuisine and German culture values eating healthy, fresh food rather than buying frozen or ready-to-eat meals. Here’s a list of words for your next grocery shopping spree.

English	German
ٍٍvegetables	Gemüse
fruit	Obst
meat	Fleisch
milk	Milch
egg	Ei
coffee	Kaffee
yogurt	Joghurt
bread	Brot
bacon	Speck
pie	Kuchen
ham	Schinken
chicken	Huhn
juice	Saft
sausage	Wurst

4. Verbs

As a beginner in German, you’ll greatly benefit from picking up the most commonly used verbs. Learning them together with nouns will give you a headstart when it comes to forming sentences and communicating with others. 

Daily Routine Verbs

If you’re into daily journaling, doing that in German will require you to know a set of daily routine-related verbs. Here’s a list to get you started:

English	German
to get up	aufstehen
to eat	essen
to drink	trinken
to go	gehen
to work	arbeiten
to study	studieren
to drive	fahren
to ride	reiten
to sleep	schlafen
to wake up	aufwachen
to hang	hängen
to do laundry	Wäsche machen
to nap	ein Nickerchen machen
to work out	trainieren
to go out	ausgehen
to prepare	vorbereiten
to cook	kochen
to clean	putzen
to wash	waschen
to tidy up	aufräumen
to connect	verbinden
to communicate	kommunizieren
to wear	tragen
to warm up	aufwärmen
to grab	greifen
to mix	mischen
to hold	halten
to freeze	einfrieren
to change	wechseln
to move	bewegen

Other Common Verbs

English	German
to give	geben
to get	bekommen
to do	tun
to make	machen
to let	lassen
to ask	fragen
to smile	lächeln
to find	finden
to use	benutzen
to take	nehmen
to come	kommen
to look	schauen
to hear	hören
to smell	riechen
to talk	sprechen
to exit	gehen
to call	rufen
to feel	fühlen
to answer	antworten
to laugh	lachen
to cry	weinen
to steal	stehlen
to run	rennen
to walk	gehen
to meet	treffen
to create	erschaffen
to finish	beenden

5. Adjectives

Using adjectives in your speech or writing can add a layer of meaning and help you better express yourself. To get you started, here are a few beginner German adjectives in different categories. 

Describing Objects

English	German
big	groß
small	klein
long	lang
short	kurz
round	rund
rectangular	rechteckig
smooth	glatt
rough	rau

Describing People

English	German
pretty	hübsch
handsome	gutaussehend
tall	groß
short	klein
disgusting	ekelhaft
sociable	kontaktfreudig
funny	lustig
beautiful	schön
lovely	lieblich
caring	fürsorglich
selfless	selbstlos
arrogant	arrogant
humble	bescheiden
courageous	mutig
weak	schwach
strong	stark
quirky	schrullig

Describing Emotions

Being able to describe our own emotions is critical for well-being and also helps us better understand others. Here’s a list of adjectives for describing emotions:

English	German
happy	glücklich
sad	traurig
joyful	freudig
angry	sauer
depressed	depressiv
anxious	ängstlich
stressed out	gestresst
jolly	fröhlich

Describing Weather

English	German
rainy	regnerisch
wet	nass
humid	feucht
dry	trocken
arid	dürr
cool	kühl
frigid	kalt
foggy	neblig
windy	windig
stormy	stürmisch
breezy	luftig
windless	windstill
calm	ruhig

6. Conjunctions

English	German
and	und
but	aber
then	dann
because	weil
so	so / also

7. Others

Below is a short list of filler words that Germans use in their conversations. Using these will make you sound like a native and they’ll come in handy in many situations.

English	German
I see (sudden understanding)	ach so
sure	klar
simply	halt
well	tja
already	schon

8. Conclusion

Armed with these German beginner words, you’ll be able to understand even more of the spoken language than you may have thought (thanks to those nifty word combinations!). How many of these words were new to you? And how many did you know already? We look forward to hearing from you in the comments! 

As you read more German, pay attention to how different words are composed. You’ll often notice they can be broken down into parts, which will help you derive their meanings more easily. 

Your goal should be to learn around 1000 German words; statistically, that’d cover 85.5% of all words you hear.

In other words, if you learn 1000 words, you’ll be able to speak German almost fluently. You’ll only have issues expressing yourself 14.5% of the time.

Memorize the 200+ from our list, and you’ll only be 800 words away from fluency.

Wondering where and how to learn those other 800 words?

Buckle up and head to GermanPod101.com.

Here, you can access lessons and word lists for the most important day-to-day vocabulary. Our lessons all feature the most effective learning tools, such as flashcards, slideshows, slowed-down audio, line-by-line breakdowns, and more.

You can also opt for 1-on-1 guidance from a language expert to answer your questions. Your private tutor can even give you a personalized learning program to match your learning goals.

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