Say It in German: New Edition

Most useful phrases /

Die nützlichsten Ausdrücke

At Dover Publications we’re committed to producing books in an earth-friendly manner and to helping our customers make greener choices.

Manufacturing books in the United States ensures compliance with strict environmental laws and eliminates the need for international freight shipping, a major contributor to global air pollution. And printing on recycled paper helps minimize our consumption of trees, water and fossil fuels.

The text of this book was printed on paper made with 50% post-consumer waste and the cover was printed on paper made with 10% post-consumer waste. At Dover, we use Environmental Defense’s Paper Calculator to measure the benefits of these choices, including: the number of trees saved, gallons of water conserved, as well as air emissions and solid waste eliminated.

Courier Corporation, the manufacturer of this book, owns the Green Edition Trademark.

Please visit the product page for Say It in German: New Edition at www.doverpublications.com to see a detailed account of the environmental savings we’ve achieved over the life of this book.

Copyright

Copyright © 2011 by M. Charlotte Wolf

All rights reserved.

Bibliographical Note

Say It in German: New Edition, first published in 2011 by Dover Publications, Inc., is a completely revised and updated work, which supercedes Say It in German, originally published by Dover Publications, Inc., in 1950.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wolf, M. Charlotte.

Say it in German / M. Charlotte Wolf.—New ed.

p. cm.—(Dover language guides)

"Is a completely revised and updated work, which

supercedes Say It in German, originally published by

Dover Publications, Inc., in 1950."

9780486310671

1. German language—Conversation and phrase books.

2. German language—Pronunciation. I. Title.

PF3121.W65 2011

438.3’421—dc23

2011019353

Manufactured in the United States by Courier Corporation

47636701

www.doverpublications.com

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Introduction

EVERYDAY EXPRESSIONS

TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION

COMMUNICATION

ACCOMMODATIONS

RESTAURANT AND FOOD

SIGHTSEEING, WORSHIP, AND ENTERTAINMENT

SPORTS, GAMES, AND OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

BANK AND MONEY

SHOPPING

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

NUMBERS, TIME, DATES, AND WEATHER

FAMILY

APPENDIX

Dictionary

Index

Numbers / Zahlen

Introduction

GERMAN LANGUAGE: OVERVIEW

German is one of the Germanic languages and is similar to Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and English. It is the official language of Germany, Austria, and Liechtenstein. In addition, it is one of four official languages in Switzerland, and one of three regularly used in Luxembourg. There are an estimated 126 million native speakers of German, primarily in Europe. It is no surprise then that it is the most widely spoken native language in the European Union. Regionally, German is spoken by native-speaking minorities in forty countries, among them Russia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Romania.

An international language of business, science, research, publishing, and tourism, German is spoken as a foreign language by roughly an additional 80 million people around the world. It is one of the three most frequently learned languages in the world, as well as one of the ten most widely spoken languages in the world. It is among the five most widely used languages on the Internet. Germany is the second most popular destination for U.S. travelers in Europe and among the top ten international travel destinations.

GERMAN LANGUAGE: AT A GLANCE

German is the dominant language in:

Germany (82.7 million)

Austria (8.1 million)

Switzerland (4.6 million)

Liechtenstein (32,000)

. . . has official status in:

Luxembourg (400,000)

Italy (Bolzano/Südtirol) (200,000)

Belgium (70,000)

. . . is spoken by minorities in:

Russia (roughly one million)

France (Alsace and Lorraine) (one and a half million)

Poland (Silesia) (half a million)

Romania (150,000)

Hungary (62,000)

Czech Republic (Bohemia) (60,000)

Denmark (35,000)

Slovakia (15,000)

Groups of German speakers still exist in Kazakhstan, Namibia (former German Southwest Africa), areas of North America (among the Hutterites, Mennonites, and Amish), and in Argentina, and Paraguay, among other non-European regions.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

The pronunciation, sentence patterns, and idioms are given in standard German or Hochdeutsch, which is understood by German speakers everywhere. Regional vocabulary that will help you when you travel around Germany or visit Austria, Switzerland, Northern Italy, Eastern France, Liechtenstein, Bohemia, or Luxembourg is also included.

The phrases in this book have been carefully selected to help you communicate in any German-speaking country, either as a traveler or a resident, and they are categorized according to the situations you will most likely encounter when in a German-speaking country.

The sections have been alphabetized according to their English entries, which are arranged as follows:

(entry #) (English) (German) [phonetic transcription of German entry]

The sections on public notices and road signs are organized in the following way:

(entry #) (German) (English) [phonetic transcription of German entry]

In some sentences, the words in square brackets may be swapped with the substitutions immediately following, which are also in square brackets. Therefore, the entry

Take a [left] [right] turn here

yields two sentences: Take a left turn here, as well as Take a right turn here.

German is a declined language, which means that nouns, articles, adjectives, and verbs take different endings depending on their grammatical status. Substitutions provided along with each sample sentence will always be in the correct grammatical form as required by rules governing conjugation, case, gender, and number. Be aware, however, that substitutions you supply from the index at the end of the book or take from a dictionary may not always be in the correct form. However, German speakers should have no trouble understanding the content of what you say.

German nouns take three genders: masculine (der), feminine (die), and neuter (das). When a noun or pronoun in an entry has different forms for masculine and feminine, both forms are given in brackets; the feminine form is indicated as (fem.), and the masculine form is indicated as (masc.). Make sure to use the genders appropriately, for every noun in German has one. That is, refer to masculine nouns using the masculine form, to feminine nouns using the feminine form, and to neuter ones using the neuter.

German has three different modes of address for the pronoun you. Sie is used for formal occasions when you address one or more people. Ihr is used when addressing a group of people you know (or a group of adolescents or children). Du is reserved for individuals with whom you are familiar, or for an adolescent or child.

Similarly, German has three different forms for the imperative, or command, form.

Thus, Look! translates into:

(Formal, sing. and plural) e9780486310671_img_8193.gif Schauen Sie! e9780486310671_img_8193.gif SHAU-en ZEE

(Informal, addressing two or more people) e9780486310671_img_8193.gif Schaut! SHAUT

(Informal, individual) e9780486310671_img_8193.gif Schau! e9780486310671_img_8193.gif SHAU

PRONUNCIATION

Note that the phonetic transcription provided for each word and phrase is modeled closely after the sound and pronunciation patterns of English, which eliminates the need for creating a special guide to pronunciation. Pronunciation follows each German entry word, phrase, or sentence, broken down into syllables separated by dashes (-). Syllables written in upper case are stressed, while those in lower case are unstressed (e.g., minister: MIN-is-tah).

GERMAN SOUNDS

Below you will find a brief description of German sounds that are markedly different from English. Sounds that are similar to English sounds are not listed.

Vowels, including umlauts and diphthongs

Consonants

EVERYDAY EXPRESSIONS

Useful Phrases

Hi! (informal) e9780486310671_img_8193.gif Tag! e9780486310671_img_8193.gif TAHK

Grüß Gott! e9780486310671_img_8193.gif grewss GOTT (Austria and southern Germany)

Grüezi! e9780486310671_img_8193.gif (Switzerland) GREW-tsee

Hello. e9780486310671_img_8193.gif Hallo. e9780486310671_img_8193.gif HALL-oh

Good morning. e9780486310671_img_8193.gif Guten Morgen.

GOO-ten MOHR-gen

Quick & to the Point/Sidebars

Throughout the book, you will notice two types of shaded boxes. The Quick & to the Point sections summarize the most important words and phrases contained in the chapter. These essential and handy phrases provide the easiest and simplest communication that a traveler may need on any given topic. The sidebars, also appearing in tinted boxes, contain an interesting fact for the traveler. Pertinent to the theme of each chapter, the sidebars may inform readers about a unique aspect of the culture, feature special details about the language, or offer a bit of entertaining trivia.

Good day. e9780486310671_img_8193.gif Guten Tag. e9780486310671_img_8193.gif GOO-ten TAHK

Good evening. e9780486310671_img_8193.gif Guten Abend. e9780486310671_img_8193.gif GOO-ten AH-bent

Good night. e9780486310671_img_8193.gif Gute Nacht. e9780486310671_img_8193.gif GOO-te NAHKHT

Welcome! e9780486310671_img_8193.gif Herzlich Willkommen!

HERTS-lisch VILL-komm-en

Good-bye! e9780486310671_img_8193.gif Auf Wiedersehen! e9780486310671_img_8193.gif owf VEE-da-zayn

Auf Wiederschaun! e9780486310671_img_8193.gif owf VEE-da-shaun (Austria and southern Germany)

Servus! (informal) e9780486310671_img_8193.gif SAIR-voos (Austria and southern Germany)

Bye! (informal) e9780486310671_img_8193.gif Tschüss! e9780486310671_img_8193.gif TSHEWSS

See you! e9780486310671_img_8193.gif Bis dann [später]! e9780486310671_img_8193.gif biss DANN/SHPAY-te

Pleased to meet you! e9780486310671_img_8193.gif Angenehm! e9780486310671_img_8193.gif AN-ge-name

Yes. e9780486310671_img_8193.gif Ja. e9780486310671_img_8193.gif YAH

No. e9780486310671_img_8193.gif Nein. e9780486310671_img_8193.gif NINE

Maybe. e9780486310671_img_8193.gif Vielleicht. e9780486310671_img_8193.gif fee-LEISCHT

Please or you’re welcome. e9780486310671_img_8193.gif Bitte. e9780486310671_img_8193.gif BIT-e

Thank you. e9780486310671_img_8193.gif Danke. e9780486310671_img_8193.gif DAN-ke

Merci. e9780486310671_img_8193.gif MAIR-see (Switzerland)

May I? e9780486310671_img_8193.gif Darf ich? e9780486310671_img_8193.gif DAHRF isch

Excuse me! e9780486310671_img_8193.gif [Entschuldigung] [Verzeihung]! ent-SHOOL-dee-goong/fair-TSEI-oong

All right; fine. e9780486310671_img_8193.gif In Ordnung. e9780486310671_img_8193.gif in AWRD-noong

It doesn’t matter. e9780486310671_img_8193.gif [Das macht nichts] [Schon gut]. dass MAHHKT nischts/shohn GOOT

Don’t bother. e9780486310671_img_8193.gif Bemühen Sie sich nicht. be-ME W-en ZEE zisch nischt

I’m sorry. e9780486310671_img_8193.gif [Es] tut mir leid. e9780486310671_img_8193.gif ess toot MEE-ah LITE

That’s very kind of you!

Sehr freundlich von [Ihnen]! (formal, singular or plural) ZAIR FROIND-lisch fawn EE-nen

___ [euch]! (informal, addressing groups) e9780486310671_img_8193.gif OISCH

___ [dir]! (informal, singular) e9780486310671_img_8193.gif DEE-ah

Come in! e9780486310671_img_8193.gif Herein! e9780486310671_img_8193.gif hay-a-EIN

Come here!

[Kommen Sie] her! (formal, singular or plural) KOMM-en zee hay-a

[Kommt] ___! (informal, addressing groups)

KOMMT

[Komm] ___! (informal, singular) e9780486310671_img_8193.gif KOMM

Come with me! e9780486310671_img_8193.gif [Kommen Sie] mit! (formal, singular or plural) KOMM-en zee mit

[Kommt] ___! (informal, addressing groups)

KOMMT

[Komm] ___! (informal, singular) e9780486310671_img_8193.gif KOMM

Come back later! e9780486310671_img_8193.gif [Kommen Sie] später wieder! (formal, singular or plural)

KOMM-en zee SHPAY-tah VEE-da

[Kommt] ___! (informal, addressing groups)

KOMMT

[Komm] ___! (informal, singular) e9780486310671_img_8193.gif KOMM

Come early!

[Kommen Sie] früh! (formal, singular or plural)

KOMM-en zee FREW

[Kommt] ___! (informal, addressing groups)

KOMMT

[Komm] ___! (informal, singular) e9780486310671_img_8193.gif KOMM

Wait a moment. e9780486310671_img_8193.gif [Warten Sie] einen Moment.

(formal, singular or plural)

VAHR-ten ZEE EIN-en moh-MENT

[Wartet] ___. (informal, addressing groups)

VAHR-tet

[Warte] ___. (informal, singular) e9780486310671_img_8193.gif VAHR-te

Wait for us!

[Warten Sie] auf uns! (formal, singular or plural)

VAHR-ten ZEE auf OONS

[Wartet ] ___! (informal, addressing groups)

VAHR-tet

[Warte] ___! (informal, singular) e9780486310671_img_8193.gif VAHR-te

Not yet! e9780486310671_img_8193.gif Noch nicht! e9780486310671_img_8193.gif NOKH NISCHT

Not now! e9780486310671_img_8193.gif Nicht jetzt! e9780486310671_img_8193.gif NISCHT YETST

Listen! e9780486310671_img_8193.gif [Hören Sie] zu! (formal, singular or plural)

HOER-en zee TSOO

[Hört] ___! (informal, addressing groups)

HOERT

[Hör] ___! (informal, singular) e9780486310671_img_8193.gif HOER

Look out! e9780486310671_img_8193.gif [Passen Sie] auf! (formal, singular or plural) e9780486310671_img_8193.gif PASS-en zee AUF

[Passt ] ___! (informal, addressing groups)

PASST

[Pass] ___! (informal, singular) e9780486310671_img_8193.gif PASS

Be careful! e9780486310671_img_8193.gif Vorsicht! e9780486310671_img_8193.gif FAW-zischt

Social Phrases and Basic Questions

36. May I introduce [Mr. Müller]?

Darf ich vorstellen; das ist [Herr Müller].

DAHF isch FAW-shtell-en DASS ist HAIR MEWL-eh

37. ___ [Mrs. Huber]¹? e9780486310671_img_8193.gif ___ [Frau Huber].

FROW HOO-beh

38. How are you?

Wie geht es [Ihnen]? (formal, singular or plural)

VEE GAYT ess EE-nen

___ [euch]? (informal, addressing groups) e9780486310671_img_8193.gif OISCH

___ [dir]? (informal, singular) e9780486310671_img_8193.gif DEE-ah

39. Very well,