Category: Essential German Vocabulary

You are bound to make either cultural mistakes or miscommunicate as a German student while traveling among German-speaking countries. Therefore on your long list of vocabulary essentials to master should be German expressions of forgiveness and excusing oneself as well. As for which expression to use, it is better to […]

Use these conversion techniques to create hundreds of German words out of English. Many words ending become… Examples in… in English in German ion stay the same Information Situation Portion ant stay the same arrogant tolerant Restaurant ent stay the same intelligent prominent Experiment al stay the same formal normal […]

You know you need to know a few basics, but you’re a busy person. Here’s some help in the form of a one-page “phrasebook” for people in a hurry.  You can print out the complete one-page version of the phrasebook. ESSENTIAL GERMAN 1 Common Phrases   Getting Around yes – […]

The Germans have a worldwide reputation for their productivity and work ethic, and none of our Prussian values is better known than the “German punctuality”. No matter if you are arranging a first date or a dentist appointment, the etiquette of punctuality is important in Germany. In today’s article you’ll […]

Conversing in German is one thing, but conducting business in German if you’re not a native speaker can be a bit challenging. Here are some examples of terms you may encounter when doing business in a German-speaking country, listed alphabetically. BUSINESS-RELATED GERMAN VOCABULARY accountant der Buchhalter/die Buchhalterin certified public accountant (CPA) m.der Wirtschaftsprüfer […]

THE TIPS YOU NEED TO ASK FOR DIRECTIONS IN GERMAN Asking for directions is easy. Understanding the torrent of German you may get back is another story. Most German textbooks and courses teach you how to ask the questions, but fail to deal adequately with the understanding aspect. That’s why […]

GERMAN COLOR SYMBOLISM AND EXPRESSIONS       Every language has its own colorful expressions and symbolism, including German. But here we’re talking about colorful (bunt, farbenfroh) in a literal sense: expressions that contain grün, rot,blau, schwarz, braun, and other colors. In English we can “feel blue,” “be yellow,” or “see red.” In German these […]

SIMPLE-LOOKING GERMAN PARTICLES THAT ARE ACTUALLY TRICKY German words such as aber, auch, denn, doch, halt, mal, nur, schon and even ja look deceptively simple, but are often a source of errors and misunderstanding for even intermediate learners of German. The main source of problems is the fact that each one of these words can have multiple meanings and functions in […]

THE TIPS YOU NEED TO ASK FOR DIRECTIONS IN GERMAN Asking for directions is easy. Understanding the torrent of German you may get back is another story. Most German textbooks and courses teach you how to ask the questions, but fail to deal adequately with the understanding aspect. That’s why we will also teach you some coping skills […]

here are at least half a dozen ways to say “to” in German. But one of the biggest sources of “to” confusion comes from just two prepositions: nach and zu.Fortunately, there are clear distinctions between the two. The preposition nach, except in the idiomatic phrase “nach Hause” ([to] home, homeward), is used exclusively with geographic place names […]