Language Tips!

Although it is easy to get around Berlin without learning any German, as most official offices speak English and most Germans will want to practice their English on you, it goes a long way if you know a little. The German language can prove a little tough at times: for one thing, you can't be 100 percent sure whether you will be kicked or kissed until the end of the sentence; for another, the German's quirky habit of joining words together, or even splitting them, can be hard to keep up with.

Another tricky aspect is that everything has a gender: male, female or neutral i.e the cat = die Katze (feminine), the dog = der Hund (masculine) the girl = das Mädchen (neutral?) but the boy = der Junge (masculine), and all hell lets loose if you need to order a knife, fork and spoon as they are all different sexes!

There are a whole range of German words which look pretty similar to their English equivalents, so signs such as POLIZEI, RESTAURANT, HOTEL and TAXI are hardly going to tax most travellers, but here are a handful of others that may be useful:

Kneipe - Pub
Der Kaffebecher - Coffee Pot
Die Buchhandlung - Book Shop
Das Krankenhaus - Hospital
Die Bushaltstelle - Bus stop
Der Laden - Shop
Der Zeitungshändler or die Zeitungshändlerin if female- Newsagent
Der Bahnhof - Station
Der Flughafen - Airport

If you are staying in Berlin for a longer period of time then it would be worthwhile to enroll in one of the many language schools.

Click to listen

Yes
Please
How much does this cost?
Do you speak English?
How much does beer cost?

No
How are you?
Cheers!
Two beers please!
I lost my passport - can you help me?

Hello
Goodbye
Thank you
Do you have a sister?
Drop by tonight and I'll show you my stamp collection

Berlin language tips

ich love duch

reviewed by from United States on May.14.2010

dus gut!

reviewed by Jolanda from Australia on Jan.05.2010

This was a good help but they didn't show the formal version which would be more helpful. :]

reviewed by Katlyn from United States on Nov.19.2009

hi i am binita. i m a student. i like to learn german very much. i have leaernt german also.

reviewed by binita k.c from Nepal on Oct.22.2009

not a review! Frenchy and Ving, shut the fu[K up, you guys are completely retarded! frenchy is just pissed off because the germans kicked their @$$! and ving is jealous because the germans have a variation in their food groups, all he/she eats is rice and noodle! grow up you two, move out of your moms basement and get a life!!!

reviewed by Joshua Hall from United States on Oct.16.2009

lol frency how do u even no im asian heheh

reviewed by Ving from Vietnam on Aug.31.2009

omg VING your the funnyest asian ever! Are you a comedian? you should be but i think that the germans dont know what you talking about they only speak german! maybe you should go to germany and teach them a thing or two!

reviewed by Frenchey from France on Aug.31.2009

i totaly agree with frenchy and fuzz this is stupid! i felt like ripping my ears out so i didnt have to hear this crap! what idiot whats to speak german anyway. i think u should do something more productive with ur time like rub ur face in the dirt.

reviewed by Ving from Vietnam on Aug.31.2009

this is stupid and a waste of space on this site! Although my friends and i enjoyed laughing at you stupid language i recommend you take this off the website!

reviewed by frenchey from France on Aug.31.2009

so cool but u need to have more words like what is ur name and what age are u but it is still so COOL LOL

reviewed by jan o lopon from Ireland on Mar.05.2009

Well I think that learning languages is very important, because that way you can communicate with people from other countrys. I had to learn German because one of my friends was from German and I couldn't communicate with her only by doing sign languages. So, I got tired of and decided about learning German and she learned Spanish and English. It was easy to learn German and it was also fun!!!!So German is a very nice Language!!German ROCK!!!!!!Danke for everything!!!!!

reviewed by Yazmin H.?? from United States on Dec.04.2008

it was the worst site ever i couldn't find anything

reviewed by fuzz from United Kingdom on Sep.04.2008

Mein frau ist schwanger!!! - very useful sentence ^_^

reviewed by Mexxxx from Azerbaijan on Jul.09.2008

Mein frau ist schwanger!!! - very useful sentence ^_^

reviewed by Mexxxx from Azerbaijan on Jul.09.2008

there is a mistake. the text says "germans want to practice their english". hardly anyone wanna do this coz in berlin many students learn french as first language (historical reasons). so dont expect everybody will be able to speak english

reviewed by Nico from Germany on May.30.2008

haha thats funny xD i like the sentence with beer :P
how happy I am that our schools teach both languages(engl/germ ;)
aaaa ich freue mich sehr auf die n?chste loveparaaade!! endlich komme ich auch!!^^

reviewed by mouse from Slovak Republic on May.17.2008

I love the German language though it is very hard to learn. Lang lebe Deutschland!

reviewed by Susanna from Ireland on May.02.2008

wow you speake in my languge but i have never herd it befor.

reviewed by savanna from United States on Mar.10.2008

I think there are many useful sentences missing. I add some: "Wo finde ich das Brandenburger Tor?" or "Wo ist das Brandenburger Tor?" (both mean: Where is the Brandenburg Gate);"Gibt es hier in der N?he ein gutes Lokal?"(Is there any good restaurant near by here?);"Sprechen sie etwas langsamer, mein Deutsch ist noch nicht so gut"(Don't speak so fast, my German is not that good yet)"Lassen sie mich in Ruhe!"(Leave me alone!). I hope these sentences will help you to get around in Berlin. Ich freue mich auf jeden, der nach Deutschland kommt. Vielleicht sehen wir uns ja bald in Berlin. Auf Wiedersehen!"

reviewed by Nico from Germany on Jan.27.2008

Guten Tag!

reviewed by Dakota from Albania on Jan.07.2008

svidja mi se ali engleski je zaista neophodan

reviewed by miki from Bosnia on Dec.16.2007

Guten Tag!!!

reviewed by Brandon from Albania on Nov.26.2007

Why am I seeing so many derogatory comments on these pages. I see so many negative references to gay people as well. Why? Are these people jealous they are not gay? Or perhaps they have not yet been able to accept their own gay orientation. In either case who cares. Gay people don't pose a danger to anyone, no more than a heterosexual person. SO what's up with all the stupid comments?
Now can we keep the comments within the context of these pages, and stop with the sexual remarks. They really show One's low level of intelligence.
Cheers

reviewed by ROB ROB from Canada on Nov.11.2007

Couldn't we get a few more phrases on there? Come on, you didn't have room for 'nein' (no) or 'bitte' (please/your welcome)? Pathetic. Also, Tyson's right: 'Entschuldigung' means excuse me. "Es tut mir leid" is how you apologize.

reviewed by Gum from United States on Oct.19.2007

hmmm how do you say "I'm really really sorry for sleeping with your wife."

signifying pure apology

reviewed by cumi from Indonesia on Jul.21.2007

have a nice Tag (NOT)

reviewed by 1337boiii from Algeria on Jun.25.2007

i love it it's gut

reviewed by mt from United States on May.21.2007

the apologetic expression for saying "I'm Sorry"/"excuse me", which i think is meant. should be "Entschuldigen Sie bitte"(formal) or more simply "Entschuldigung"(the noun and less formal)

reviewed by Tyson from Netherlands on Mar.14.2007

Er, shouldn't that be "gute Nacht"?

reviewed by Nix from Germany on Feb.12.2007

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