105 Basic German Words – Best Vocab List for Beginners
Are you looking for a vocab list that includes the most important German words? You’ve come to the right place.
We’ve compiled a list of the 105 most important words in German that will help you not only survive, but thrive in Germany, Austria, or German-speaking Switzerland.
From articles over pronouns to verbs and nouns – this is the best list to start learning German as a beginner.
Read next: 12 Cool German Words That Don’t Exist in English
Contents
Important German Articles
German articles are the most basic German words you can learn.
There are the indefinite articles ein, eine (“a” in English) and the definite articles der, die and das (“the” in English).
There is no plural form of the indefinite article (just like in English) and the plural of the definite article is “die”.
Whenever you learn a new noun, make sure you learn the corresponding article with the noun.
| German | English |
|---|---|
| der | the (masculine) |
| die | the (female/plural) |
| das | the (neutral) |
| ein | a (male, neutral) |
| eine | a (female) |
German Pronouns
Pronouns will be your best friends when you address different people around you.
Some pronouns have different uses – there are formal and informal ways of addressing someone.
| German | English |
|---|---|
| ich | I |
| du | you |
| er | he |
| sie | she |
| es | it |
| wir | we |
| ihr | you (plural, informal) |
| sie | they/you (formal) |
| mein | my |
| dein | your |
| sein | his |
| ihr | her |
| unser | our |
| euer | your (plural, informal) |
| ihr | their/your (formal) |
Most Important German Nouns
Here are some of the most important German nouns. When comparing this list compared to the other sections, you may notice that all of these German words are capitalized. This is because in German, nouns are capitalized!
| German | English |
|---|---|
| Mann | man |
| Frau | woman |
| Kind | child |
| Mädchen | girl |
| Junge | boy |
| Haus | house |
Most Common German Verbs
German has regular and irregular verbs – you’ll come across all kinds of them on your German learning journey.
Here we have compiled the most important and common German Verbs.
| German | English |
|---|---|
| sein | to be |
| habe | to have |
| gehen | to go |
| wollen | to want |
| essen | to eat |
| trinken | to drink |
| schlafen | to sleep |
| sprechen | to speak |
| schreiben | to write |
| hören | to listen |
| können | to be able to (can) |
| lernen | to learn |
German Question words
You’ll notice that some German question words are quite similar to the English question words. There are however also some false friends – watch out for “wer” (who) and “wo” (where).
| German | English |
|---|---|
| wer | who |
| wie | how |
| wo | where |
| wann | when |
| was | what |
| warum | why |
| weshalb | why |
Most Common German Adjectives
Adjectives color a language, literally and figuratively, and add richness to any conversation. Pro tip – learn adjectives in contrasting pairs, you will remember them more easily.
| German | English |
|---|---|
| klein | small |
| gross | big |
| alt | old |
| jung | young |
| schön | beautiful |
| wundervoll | wonderful |
| hässlich | ugly |
| nah | close |
| weit | far |
| kalt | cold |
| warm | warm |
German Greetings and Farewells
You’ll see that many greetings and farewells in German feature the word “guten” or “gute”. It means good and initiates expressions such as good morning, good afternoon, good evening or good night, among others. These are important words to added to your German Vocabulary.
| German | English |
|---|---|
| Hallo | hello |
| Guten Morgen | good morning |
| Guten Tag | hello, welcome, greetings |
| Guten Abend | good evening |
| Gute Nacht | good night |
| Tschüss | goodbye (informal) |
| Auf Wiedersehen | goodbye (formal) |
| Bis bald | see you later |
If video is more your medium, this also a great list of basic German words for beginners.
German Words about Time
The German language has some fun, quirky words that can’t be translated to English such as “vorgestern” to refer to the day before yesterday and “übermorgen”, the day after tomorrow. Check out the different words to express time in German below.
| German | English |
|---|---|
| heute | today |
| morgen | tomorrow |
| übermorgen | the day after tomorrow |
| gestern | yesterday |
| vorgestern | the day before yesterday |
| nächste Woche | next week |
| letzte Woche | last week |
| Sekunde | second |
| Minute | minute |
| Stunde | hour |
| Tag | day |
| Woche | week |
| Jahr | year |
| Wochentag | day of the week |
| Wochenende | weekend |
| Montag | Monday |
| Dienstag | Tuesday |
| Mittwoch | Wednesday |
| Donnerstag | Thursday |
| Freitag | Friday |
| Samstag | Saturday |
| Sonntag | Sunday |
Other Basic German Words
These are some other “miscellaneous” words that are very frequently used and most basic German words. You’ll no doubt encounter them often.
| German | English |
|---|---|
| ja | yes |
| nein | no |
| danke | thank you |
| bitte | please |
| Entschuldigung | I’m sorry, excuse me |
| Wie gehts? | How are you? |
| und | and |
| oder | or |
| aber | but |
| weil | because |
| hier | here |
| da | there |
