Since Denver’s Oktoberfest is coming up and I’ve been busy dreaming about a return trip to Germany, I thought it’d be fun to share some useful travel phrases in German! While heading back to the land of great bier isn’t on the itinerary for 2019, I can’t wait to visit Germany again and get my fill of beer, pretzels, and sausage.
Rick and I have talked about doing a trip over the real Oktoberfest to experience both a great getaway in Germany and take part in a fantastic and fun tradition. It seems we’ll have plenty of time to perfect our pronunciation when it comes to speaking German, but I’ll at least feel confident with my jas, neins, and dankes!
If you’re lucky enough to get to go to Germany soon, here are some great phrases to help you get around!
German phrases for travel
English | German | Pronunciation
German greetings
Hello … Hallo (ha-loh)
Good day … Guten tag (gooh-ten tahk)
Good evening … Guten abend (gooh-ten ah-bent)
Good night … Gute nacht (gooh-teh nacht)
Goodbye … Auf wiedersehen (ouf vee-der-zey-en)
How are you? … Wie geht es ihnen (vee geyt es een-en)
Fine, thanks … Gut, danke (gooht dahn-ke)
Nice to meet you … Freut mich (froyt mih)
Polite phrases and expressions in German
Yes … Ja (yah)
No … Nein (nine)
Please/You’re welcome … Bitte (bi-tuh)
Thank you … Danke (dahn-ke)
I’m sorry … Es tut mir leid (es toot mir lied)
Excuse me … Entschuldigung (ent-shool-dee-goong)
I don’t understand … Ich verstehe nicht (ikh fair-shtay-er nikht)
I don’t speak German … Ich spreche kein Deutsch (ihk spre-kuh kine doytch)
Do you speak English? … Sprechen sie Englisch? (shpreh-en zee eng-lish)
Questions and directions in German
Who? … Wer? (vair)
What? … Was? (vass)
When? … Wann? (van)
Why? … Warum? (va-room)
Where is….? … Wo ist…? (voh ist)
The bathroom … Die toilette (dee toy-let-uh)
The train station … Die bahnhof (dee ban-hoff)
A hotel … Hotel (hoh-tel)
The airport … Der flughafen (dair flug-hahf-en)
Left … Links (linx)
Right … Recht (rray-ekt)
Straight … Gerade (gur-aduh)
Entrance … Eingang (ayn-gong)
Exit … Ausfahrt (ow-sfart)
Dining & shopping
Do you have…? … Haben sie…? (hah-ben zee)
I’d like… Ich hatte gern… (iH he-te gern)
A ticket … Die fahrkarte (dee far-cart-uh)
Wine … Wein (vine)
Beer … Bier (beer)
Water … Wasser (vah-sar)
How much does… cost? … Wie viel kostet (vee feel kos-tet)
The bill, please … Die rechnung bitte (dee reh-noong bi-te)
Time & numbers in German
What time is it? … Wie viel uhr ist es? (vee feel oohr ist es)
One … Eins (ayns)
Two … Zwei (tsvay)
Three … Drei (dray)
Four … Vier (feer)
Five … Funf (fuenf)
Six … Sechs (zeks)
Seven … Sieben (zee-ben)
Eight … Acht (aHt)
Nine … Neun (noyn)
Ten … Zehn (tseyn)
Like most traveling experiences in other countries, people appreciate the effort even if it’s just a simple please and thank you in their native tongue. After a few biers, you might be slipping back into English anyway – but these basic phrases can definitely help you out as you explore Germany!
What other handy phrases do you learn before visiting a foreign country? Tell us in the comments below!
