German courses

By Jennifer SYC
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Saying hello
The most common ways to greet someone in German are

 Hallo :Hello/Hi
 Grüß dich: Hello/(Greet you)
 Grüezi: Hello/Good morning (term used in Switzerland
 Servus: Hello / Good morning (in Southern Germany and in Austria)
 Moin moin: Good morning (in the north of Germany)
 Guten Morgen :Good morning – early morning
 Grüβ Gott:Hello (in Southern Germany and in Austria)
 Guten Tag:Good morning/day – around 10h00
 Guten Abend :Good evening (around 17h30/18h00)
 Gute Nacht: Good night (when going to bed)

Saying bye-bye
There are also many ways to say goodbye.

 Tschüss :Goodbye [Informal]/Bye)

 Auf Wiedersehen: Goodbye (formal way)
 Auf Wiederhören :Goodbye [on the telephone])
 Bis später :See you later
 Bis bald :See you soon
 Bis morgen :See you tomorrow
 Bis Freitag :See you on Friday
 Alles Gute :All the best
 Viel Glück :Good luck
 Mach’s gut :Take care

Asking and responding to “How are you?”

How are you? How’s it going? How many times a day do we hear or say these brief greetings at
the beginning of our conversations? So many times, in fact, that half the time, we don’t even
pay attention. These pleasantries (Nettigkeiten) are common in German-speaking countries as
well. The most common ways to ask how someone is doing are:

 Wie geht’s? :How are doing (informal)

 Geht es Ihnen gut? :Are you well?
 Wie geht es dir? :How are you? [Informal]
 Wie geht es Ihnen? :How are you? [Formal]
German courses
By Jennifer SYC
® Rights reserved

As you’d expect, when someone asks you how you’re doing, there are many possible responses.

 Gut, danke. (I’m fine, thank you.)

 Es geht mir sehr gut. (I’m very well.)
 Ziemlich gut. (I’m rather well.)
 Nicht schlecht. (Not bad.)
 Viel besser. (Much better.)
 Nicht gut. (Not well.)

Once you’ve said that you’re fine, or good, or so-so, it is customary to ask how the other person
is doing. You can do this easily by saying Und dir? (And you? [Informal]) Or Und Ihnen? (And
you? [Formal]).

Politeness

"Danke"
The basic word for thank you in German is Danke (pronounced dank-uh).
Danke is an 'all-rounder' – it can be translated as both 'thank you' and 'thanks' and it's
therefore acceptable in formal situations and also in the most casual of situations (when it
translates as a causal thanks). "No, thank you" is simply "Nein, danke".
All forms of saying thank you in the German language are based on and around the
word Danke.

 Danke schön: (literally: thank you kindly/nicely)

 Danke sehr: (literally: thank you very much)
 Vielen Dank: (literally: many thanks)
 Herzlichen Dank: (literally: heartfelt thanks)

Responding to thanks in German

The German language response to thanks depends on the form used and on the situation
(casual or more formal).
The standard response to Danke is simply: “Bitte” (Literally: please, but in response to thanks
meaning you're welcome).
In response to Danke schön you will hear and should say: Bitte schön
In response to Danke sehr you will hear and should say: Bitte sehr

Both Bitte schön and Bitte sehr translate as 'You're welcome'.