This verb list comes from Randall Jones & Erwin Tschirner’s A Frequency Dictionary of German. Core Vocabulary for Learners, which lists the 4034 most commonly used words in German. Here are the 100 most common German verbs along with their English translations. You just have to learn these verbs to start studying German because they are used very often.

1. sein to be
2. haben to have
3. werden to become
4. können can, to be able to
5. müssen must, to have to
6. sagen to say
7. machen to do, make
8. geben to give
9. kommen to come
10. sollen should, ought to
11. wollen to want
12. gehen to go
13. wissen to know
14. sehen to see
15. lassen to let, allow, have done
16. stehen to stand
17. finden to find
18. bleiben to stay, remain
19. liegen to lie, be lying
20. heißen to be called

21. denken to think
22. nehmen to take
23. tun to do
24. dürfen may, to be allowed
25. glauben to believe
26. halten to stop, hold
27. nennen to name, to call (a name)
28. mögen to like
29. zeigen to show
30. führen to lead
31. sprechen to speak
32. bringen to bring, take
33. leben to live
34. fahren to drive, ride, go
35. meinen to think, have an opinion
36. fragen to ask
37. kennen to know
38. gelten to be valid
39. stellen to place, set
40. spielen to play
41. arbeiten to work
42. brauchen to need
43. folgen to follow
44. lernen to learn
45. bestehen to exist, insist, pass (an exam)
46. verstehen to understand
47. setzen to set, put, place
48. bekommen to get, receive
49. beginnen to begin
50. erzählen to narrate, tell
51. versuchen to try, attempt
52. schreiben to write
53. laufen, to run
54. erklären to explain
55. entsprechen to correspond
56. sitzen to sit
57. ziehen to pull, move
58. scheinen to shine, seem, appear
59. fallen to fall
60. gehören to belong
61. entstehen to originate, develop
62. erhalten to receive
63. treffen to meet
64. suchen to search, look for
65. legen to lay, put
66. vor·stellen to introduce, imagine
67. handeln to deal, trade
68. erreichen to achieve, reach
69. tragen to carry, wear
70. schaffen to manage, create
71. lesen to read
72. verlieren to lose
73. dar·stellen to depict, portray
74. erkennen to recognize, admit
75. entwickeln to develop
76. reden to talk
77. aus·sehen to appear, look (a certain way)
78. erscheinen to appear
79. bilden to form, educate
80. an·fangen to begin
81. erwarten to expect
82. wohnen to live
83. betreffen to affect, concern
84. warten to wait
85. vergehen to elapse; to decay
86. helfen to help
87. gewinnen to win
88. schließen to close
89. fühlen to feel
90. bieten to offer
91. interessierento interest
92. erinnern to remember
93. ergeben to result in
94. an·bieten to offer
95. studieren to study
96. verbinden to connect, link
97. an·sehen to look at, watch
98. fehlen to lack, be missing, be absent
99. bedeuten to mean
100. vergleichen to compare

Germans are universally known as a rather serious lot, lacking any sense of humor (disclaimer: NOT TRUE). However, German language bears so many pitfalls, leading to an array of funny situations.

The way German speakers are unintentionally funny is priceless and an invaluable way to break the ice in awkward situations. Just imagine all the business dinners and formal gatherings that were instantly alleviated by a simple mechanical linguistic mistake, which inevitably cracked a smile on every face. It is so human, kind of endearing and brings people together.

Indeed humor can be found everywhere. Did you just hear that reliable businessman (yes, the one in the cutting edge designer suit and its respective ten-thousand-euros watch) saying he was becoming a steak?!  He most probably meant he was getting a steak for dinner, but the direct translation from German to English tends to play surrealistic tricks too often.

A very common mistake regarding dinners is the so called invitation issue. Just watch the face of your German business partner when you cheerfully say, “Thank you for inviting me”. In German to invite means “to pay the bill”. The confusion and then the acknowledgment “Oh, you don’t mean I have to invite you, but, of course, …” is simply priceless.

And what would you answer to: “Excuse me, do you have fire?” Bet you would come up with something original, while that girl only asked for your lighter. But wasn’t it poetic?! You are intrigued on so many levels, aren’t you?! Maybe you would even consider “to make a party” with her after all! Oh, the Germans, they “machen” everything! They don’t just “party”, they “machen Party” (make party). They also “dress up” to go jogging. If only they could see the images that come to the average Anglophone mind at this point.

All these translation affairs also work the other way round. When an English speaker intuitively translates “I am warm” to “ich bin warm”, the German person in front of them takes it as a slang confession they were gay. And if occasionally you are “heiß,” than you have just said you are horny.

Back to German speakers: have you already heard that your sister’s roommate’s sister is “getting a baby?” Undoubtedly the Germans are a progressive breed, but believe me, they still “have” their babies just like all of us.

And then people will tell you Germans weren’t funny! How many people do you know who refer to their boss as their “chef”?! Or, when they call you to reschedule your “date”? That is more than certain to bring a smile to your face.

Memorizing the gender of countless German nouns can be pretty frustrating. For someone who is just starting out with German, this can be really confusing – especially as the genders don’t necessarily seem logical.

German nouns can be masculine, feminine or neuter, and this gender affects the form of the articles (and the adjectives) we use:

Feminine: die Frau (the woman)

Masculine: der Mann (the man)

Neuter: das Kind (the child)

There are some general classes of things that always have the same gender:

Masculine:

• male humans and animals (der Mann, der Bock);
• seasons, months, days of the week (der Sommer, der Januar, der Montag);
• winds, weather, points of the compass (der Schnee, der Norden);
• rocks, minerals (der Granit, der Diamant);
• alcoholic and plant-based drinks (der Gin, der Kakao);
• makes of car (der BMW, der Audi);
• rivers outside Germany (der Ganges, der Nil);
• monetary units (der Euro, der Dollar);
• mountains, mountain ranges (der Brocken, der Spessart)

Feminine

• female humans and animals (die Frau, die Henne);
• airplanes, motor-bikes, ships (die Boeing, die “Bismark”);
• rivers inside Germany (die Weser, die Donau);
• names of numerals (die eins, die Milliard)

Neuter

• young humans and animals (das Baby, das Lamm);
• metals, chemicals, scientific units (das Gold, das Aspirin, das Volt);
• letters of the alphabet, musical notes (Das A, das hohe C);
• other parts of speech used as nouns (das Aber, das modern Deutsch);
• hotels, cafes, restaurants, cinemas (das “Hilton”);
• continents, countries, towns (das alte Europa, das neue Polen, das geteilte Berlin)

How to Identify Masculine Nouns in German (der/ein)

Masculine German nouns take the definite article der (the) and indefinite ein (a/an).

To figure out whether a word is masculine, look for the following word endings:

-er, -el, -ling, -ich, -ig, -ner, -ismus, -or, -us, -eich, -ant

Following this rule, you’ll be correct around 80% of the time.

Also, anything to do with calendar dates tends to be masculine – days, months and seasons fall under this category.

Finally, male animals and weather elements are usually masculine.

From this, you can deduce that the following words are masculine:

• der Autor (author)
• der Vater (father)
• der Mittwoch (Wednesday)
• der Regen (rain)*

How to Recognize Feminine Nouns in German (die/eine)

Feminine German nouns use the definite article die (the) and indefinite article eine (a/an).

As with masculine nouns, the easiest way to identify a feminine noun is to look at the word ending. Look out for the following word endings:

-e (mostly, as the exception is male persons or animals, such as der Löwe (the lion)), -ie, -heit, -ei, -in, -ik, -keit, – schaft, -ung, -tät, -ur, -tion

Funnily enough, things that would normally be associated with femininity are usually feminine too – like flowers and trees, along with female animals and people.

• die Blume (flower)
• die Familie (family)
• die Mannschaft (team)

How to Identify Neutral Nouns in German (das/ein)

Neutral German nouns take the definite article das (the) and indefinite article ein (a/an).

To spot neutral nouns, look out for the following word endings:

-chen, -o, -lein, -en, -il, -ma, -tel, -ment, -nis, -tum, -um

Most inanimate objects do fall under the category of neutral. Also, most metals, as well as babies (both human and animal) tend to have neutral genders.

Let’s look at some examples.

• das Kind (child)
• das Fragment (fragment)
• das Gold (gold)

The large majority of nouns beginning with Ge- are neuter, so das Gesetz (the law), das Gespräch (the conversation) or das Gebäude (the building) — BUT die Geschichte (probably the most common of the anomalous Ge- nouns) bucks the trend by taking the feminine form. We recommend you pay particular attention to the feminine noun endings, as these crop up very frequently. You should also ensure you internalize the gender of every new noun you learn — don’t just learn Lehrer, learn the word with it’s definite article: der Lehrer. This way you’ll begin to naturally couple articles with nouns, and this will facilitate your use of the German cases (the next little grammatical hurdle in the German language).

German and English belong to the group of West Germanic languages and have many words with common language roots. Sometimes you can guess the meaning of the German word because it sounds almost like an English word. This makes learning German language a bit easier for English speakers but it can also create some confusion when it comes to “false friends”. False friends are the words that look same or similar but have a totally different meaning in both languages. German learners need to memorize the most common false friends to avoid the confusion. To help you learn them, here is the list of the most used German-English false friends that every German learner needs to know.

1. bekommen – to get, to receive

werden – to become

 Ich bekomme immer viele Geschenke zu meinem Geburtstag. –  I always get many presents for my birthday.

Ich will Fußballspieler werden. – I want to become a football player.

2. spenden  – to donate

ausgeben (Geld) – to spend (money)

verbringen (Zeit) – to spend (time)

Sie spendet jedes Jahr ihre Kleidung. – She donates her clothing every year.

Ich will nicht so viel Geld für Kleidung ausgeben. – I don’t want to spend so much money on clothing.

Ich verbringe nicht sehr viel Zeit zu Hause. – I don’t spend a lot of time at home.

3. will (from wollen) – want

Ich will – I want

Ich werde – I will

Ich will glücklich sein. – I want to be happy.

Meine Tochter will nicht in die Schule gehen. – My daughter doesn’t want to go to school.

Ich werde dich bald besuchen und wir werden zusammen grillen. – I will visit you soon and we will have a barbecue together.

4. der Chef /die Chefin – boss

der Koch/die Köchin – chef, cook

also

der Küchenchef/die Küchenchefin, der Chefkoch/die Chefköchin – chef

Unser Chef ist sehr nett, ich arbeite gerne mit ihm. – Our boss is very nice, I like working with him.

Dieser Küchenchef ist sehr berühmt. – This chef is very famous.

Ihr Mann ist Koch von Beruf. – Her husband is cook.

5. das Gift – poison

das Geschenk – gift

Die Polizei hat Spuren von Gift gefunden.  – The police found traces of poison.

Hast du viele Geschenke zum Geburtstag bekommen? – Did you get many gifts for birthday?

6. die Rente – pension

die Miete – rent

Wie hoch ist die Rente in Deutschland? – How high is the pension in Germany?

Seine Rente ist sehr niedrig. – His pension is very low.

Die Miete für unsere Wohnung is ziemlich hoch. – The rent for our apartment is rather high.

7. also  – so, therefore

auch – also

Du kannst mir also nicht helfen? – So, you can’t help me?

Also, ich kann das auch selbst machen. – So, I can also do it by myself.

Ich will auch nach Berlin fahren. –  I also want to go to Berlin.

8. die Hochschule – college, university 

If you translate this word literally, it sounds like “high school”. But because of the difference in the school system, what is called high school in other countries can be different schools in Germany, for example, Gymnasium, Realschule, Hauptschule.

Ich habe an der Hochschule Deutsch studiert. – I studied German at college.

9. wer  – who

wo – where

Wer ist dieser Mann? – Who is this man?

Ich weiß nicht, wer er ist. – I don’t know who he is.

Wo wohnst du?  – Where do you live?

10. die Dose  – can, tin

die Dosis – dose

Er hat eine Dose Bier gekauft. – He bought a can of beer.

Magst du Gurken aus der Dose? – Do you like cucumbers from tin?

Eine tägliche Dosis von Zucker sollte nicht überschritten werden. – A daily dose of sugar should be not exceeded.

11. fast – almost

schnell – fast

Ich bin fast 30 Jahre alt. – I am almost 30 years old.

Sie übt Yoga fast jeden Tag. –  She practices yoga almost every day.

Er spricht zu schnell. – He speaks too fast.

12. die Note(-n) – mark(s), grade(s)

die Notiz(-en) – notes

Meine Kinder lernen viel und haben gute Noten. – My children learn a lot and have good grades.

Ich habe die Prüfung mit einer guten Note bestanden. – I  passed the exam with a good mark.

Ich muss Notizen machen, sonst vergesse ich alles. – I have to take notes, otherwise, I will forget everything.

13.  die Kaution – deposit

die Vorsicht – caution

Hast du die Kaution zurückbekommen? – Did you get the deposit back?

Ja, aber der Vermieter hat einen Teil von Kaution behalten. – Yes, but the landlord kept a part of the deposit.

14. dick – thick, fat

Meine Katze ist zu dick.– My cat is too fat.

Fast Food macht uns dick. – Fast food makes us fat.

15. die Art – kind, sort, type, manner

die Kunst – art

Ich lese verschiedene Arten von Büchern. – I read different kinds of books.

Welche Art von Musik magst du? – What type of music do you like?

Interessierst du dich für Kunst? – Are you interested in art?

The key to learning German is to speak it. People love those who are learning their language. Imagine having the confidence to have a conversation with a native German speaker, practicing your language skills and experiencing German language and culture like you’ve always dreamed of.

So you know how to say “Guten Morgen” and “Auf Wiedersehen” – that’s super cool but you are going to need a few more skills to become a master of the German language.

Here they are:

1. Word Genders 

If you’re consistently getting the genders of words right, even when using different cases, then you’re onto a winner. Here’s an unusual one for you though – what is the gender of the word Gebäude (building)?

Tempted to say feminine due to the ‘e’ on the end? Gebäude is actually neuter.

2. Subordinating conjunctions

What is wrong with the phrase weil ich liebe meine Katze (because I love my cat)? The verb isn’t at the end of phrase as it should be, since weil is a subordinating conjunction.

Admittedly, this one isn’t so important when speaking, as native speakers sometimes don’t bother popping the verb to the end, but a true grammar fanatic would know of the rule and make sure they used it in their written German at least.

3. Knowing what verbs to use with sein in the perfect tense

Does saying ich bin gefahren come instinctively to you now? Do you wince a little if you hear someone say ich habe gegangen?

Getting the hang of which verbs to use with sein and which to use with haben in the perfect tense separates beginners from advanced learners of German.

4. Possessive pronouns

This just requires some memorization, but messing up can give you away as a non-native speaker.

If it’s feminine or plural, go for deren, if it’s masculine or neutral, go for dessen. For example: Die Frau, deren Katze auf dem Boden lag (the woman, whose cat lay on the floor).

5. Nach or Nachdem? Vor or Bevor? 

If you’ve fully understood the difference between nach and nachdem or vor and bevor, then you’re on your way to sounding native.

As as rule of thumb, the preposition by itself is followed by a noun,  eg nach dem Film, whereas nachdem is followed by a phrase with a verb, for example nachdem ich den Film gesehen habe.

6. Als or wenn? 

This can prove a tricky judgement call when describing past events, but you should use als for an event that happened only once in the past, and wenn for events that happened more than once in the past.

7. The Passive 

The passive in different tenses can prove to be a real head-scratcher, especially when you add in the element of modal verbs.

Is saying Ihm konnte nicht geholfen werden (he couldn’t be helped) a piece of cake? Then hats off to you.

8. Knowing what verbs match with what prepositions

This truly marks out a native speaker from a German-learner. There’s not really a rule for knowing which preposition aligns with which verb, you just have to learn it.

A few useful ones are fahren nach (to travel to), warten auf (to wait for) and sich freuen auf (to look forward to).

9. Adjective endings

No matter how well you think you have learned them, when talking or writing at speed, adjective endings always seem to trip you up.

However, once you stop just hap-hazardly attaching an -en to the end of every adjective and start instinctively applying them properly, you can consider yourself pretty darned adept at German.

10. Capitalizing nouns 

A classic rookie error is failing to give all nouns a capital letter. Once you’ve grasped it and you can scribble away in German without having to give it too much thought, then you know your language skills are just that tiny, little bit better than when you started.

In German, some verbs separate into two parts when used in present tense. While that might sound weird—to take a word and break it apart even for normal use—we do the same thing in English. In English, they’re called “phrasal verbs.”

For example, consider what you do with a library book: do you check it? No. You check it out. You can also check for the library book while you’re browsing through the aisles (you know, to make sure it’s there). And when you bring it back, you make sure it gets checked back in—once the librarian has checked it over to make sure you haven’t written all over it in crayon or spilled beer onto the cover.

Just by adding one preposition (a word that shows the relationship between two things, such as in, on, at, over, under, etc.), we can change the meaning of the verb. In German, plenty of verbs are made of a prefix (often a preposition) and a core verb. When a prefix is added to a core verb, the meaning changes.

When you start with a German separable verb, referred to in German as a “trennbares Verb” (separable verb), you might begin working with it in the infinitive form. Or at least you should if you prefer to keep life simple.

For example, aufstehen (“stand up” or “get up”) is literally “upstand” or “upget” since the preposition is stuck on the front. If you want to talk about what time you get up in the morning, you would split that “auf-” off from the front of the trennbares Verb, “aufstehen,” then you would put it at the end of the sentence and conjugate “stehen” like you normally would:

Ich stehe um sieben Uhr auf. (I get up at seven o’clock.)

Let’s do another one with the verb zuhören (to listen to).

If you want to say “I listen to you,” separate the “zu-” from the front and put it at the end, again conjugating the main verb, “hören,” according to the subject:

“Ich höre dir zu.” (I listen to you.)

Also, remember that in this case we say “dir” and not “dich” or “du” because we’re using the dative case. What a lovely, easy language!

As a final, common example, if you call your friend, you use the verb “anrufen” (to call), which becomes:

“Ich rufe meine Freundin an.” (I call my friend.)

How do you know if a prefix or verb is separable?

Fortunately, you don’t have to go through and memorize every verb and whether or not it’s a separable verb. You can just memorize which prefixes come off and which ones don’t. And if you really want to keep your required efforts to a minimum, you just need to remember which verb prefixes don’t separate; that list is shorter and easier to remember.

The following are non-separable prefixes:

be-, ent-, emp-, er-, ge-, miss-, ver-, and zer-

That’s it. You’re done. No, really, it’s that simple. Seriously!

For example:

Kaufen (to buy): “Ich kaufe einen Apfel.” (I buy an apple.) No prefix. Easy.

Einkaufen (to shop or to buy): “Ich kaufe einen Apfel ein.” (I buy an apple.) Notice how that prefix isn’t on our list of separable prefixes? Then pop that ein off and stick it on the end.

Verkaufen (to sell): “Ich verkaufe einen Apfel.” (I sell an apple.) Here we have the prefix ver-, which is on our list of nonseparable prefixes, so we leave it right where it is.

One side note: the difference between kaufen and einkaufen can sometimes be confusing, so you might want to read a bit more about that.

And just for fun, here’s another example:

Sprechen (to speak): “Wir sprechen Deutsch.” (We speak German.) No prefix, no problem.

Absprechen (to agree): “Wir sprechen den Preis ab.” (We agree on the price.) Here we have a prefix that isn’t on our list of inseparable prefixes, ab, so we take it off the verb and stick it at the end.

Versprechen (to promise): “Wir versprechen, nur Deutsch zu sprechen.” (We promise to only speak German.) That there ver- is a non-separable prefix so we leave it alone.

How Do You Know Where to Separate Separable Verbs and What to Do with the Two Halves?

At this point, you probably have a pretty good handle on where the separation goes when you’re dividing up separable verbs, but in case you’d like to check out a detailed list of prefixes and their associated meanings, you’ll know exactly where to cut the verb or where to insert the “ge-”.

The rule is always to separate between the prefix and the core verb.

Here’s a basic example:

“Ich habe es abgesprochen.” (I arranged it.)

See how the “ge-“ goes between the “ab-“ and the “gesprochen?” But by now you knew that already, right?

Just in case you want to make double sure, try this one:

“Die Milch ist abgelaufen.” (The milk has expired.)

A word on negation: If you want to negate separable verbs, put the “nicht” right before the prefix.

Zum Beispiel (for example), we would say “he washed his hands” as:

“Er wäscht sich seine Hände ab.”

If Herr Muster (Mr. Sample) is a bit of a slob, we can say:

“Er wäscht sich seine Hände nicht ab.”
(He doesn’t wash his hands off.)

Learning German doesn’t have to be hard. In fact, if you take it one step at a time it becomes almost effortless.

German separable verbs come easily after you have a good handle on a few core verbs and you know which prefixes separate. With that knowledge under your belt, you should be able to use separable verbs with confidence. And before you know it, your verb separation anxiety will be a thing of the past.

Tongue twisters, or Zungenbrecher, are a fantastic way to train your tongue in German pronunciation. It’s not only language learners who use tongue twisters—even speech therapists use them to help train native speakers, so you’re in good company!

Just as English-speakers enjoy a good “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers” challenge every now and then, Germans love their Zungenbrecher – literally, tongue-breakers.

The key to tongue twisters is the repetition in their sounds. This is the whole point of them: They repeat a bunch of really difficult sounds over and over, forcing your tongue to get to grips with them. After stumbling over the difficult phrases a few times, your tongue will eventually become used to the sounds. Once you can fluently say a tongue twister, you will be able to copy the sounds in your everyday spoken German.

Tongue twisters will also improve your memory and focus. The repetition will help to focus your brain on a single task. While this is good in your native language, it’s much more of a benefit in a foreign tongue. After a few tongue twisters, your brain will be in the German zone and tuned in for language practice.

Being able to ace a German tongue twister may seem like an impossible task, but if you take things slowly you’ll soon realize just how easy they are to pick up.

Here are 10 German tongue-twisters to improve your German!

1. Fischers Fritz fischt frische Fische; Frische Fische fischt Fischers Fritz.

Translation: Fritz, the fisherman’s son, fishes for fresh fish; For fresh fish fishes Fritz, the fisherman’s son.

Okay, so there’s a lot going on in this one. Continually switching between the fi and fri sounds is hard enough, but there’s also the tricky sche which non-native speakers often struggle with. To tackle this one, take each word separately.

Once you can pronounce each individual word without any problems, begin to pair them up. Eventually—and don’t worry if this takes a lot of practice—you’ll be able to build up and say one sentence all at once. As your confidence rises, speed it up and impress your friends!

2. Brautkleid bleibt Brautkleid und Blaukraut bleibt Blaukraut. 

Translation: A wedding dress will always be a wedding dress and red cabbage will always be red cabbage.

All those b sounds are the potential pitfalls here. There’s also a sneaky br in there. Germans usually roll their r when it follows a consonant, something which is uncommon in English and can be difficult for an English speaker to correctly pronounce. Once you’ve nailed it in this tongue twister, it’ll come naturally in your spoken German.

3. Der Dachdecker deckt dein Dach, drum dank dem Dachdecker, der dein Dach deckt.

Translation: The roofer roofs your roof, so thank the roofer who roofs your roof.

So much alliteration! And it’s this alliteration that’s so often used in English tongue twisters too. There aren’t any overly complicated sounds in this one—it just requires perseverance to get over all those d sounds. If you slow things down from the start you’ll be singing it before long.

4. Am Zehnten Zehnten um zehn Uhr zehn zogen zehn zahme Ziegen zehn Zentner Zucker zum Zoo.

Translation: On October 10th at 10:10, 10 tame goats pull 10 centners (a European unit of weight) of sugar to the zoo.

The German z can be difficult for the native English speaker. We just don’t have a sound like it in our language. Once you know how to do it, it’s relatively easy to say—you just have to imagine that there’s an imaginary t in front of it, so you pronounce it as ts. This tongue twister becomes slightly easier to rattle off once you know this trick!

5. Acht alte Ameisen assen am Abend Ananas.

Translation: Eight old ants ate pineapples in the evening.

Again, this one shouldn’t be too difficult. The main point is being able to say all those a sounds in such a short span of time! One benefit of this twister is getting your brain used to pronouncing the German a as ah—unlike an American ay sound.

6. Bierbrauer Bauer braut braunes Bier.

Translation: Beer brewing farmers brew brown beer.

Even more b sounds! We’ve already seen these difficult b and br sounds in tongue twister #2 on this list. This one ups the ante along with its br pronunciation.

To master this one, take the words Bierbrauer, braut and braunes on their own and learn their pronunciations separately. Once you’ve conquered them individually, join the sentence back together and slowly take it on as a whole.

7. Graben Grabengräber Gruben?
Graben Grubengräber Gräben?
Nein!
Grabengräber graben Gräben.
Grubengräber graben Gruben.

Translation: Do gravediggers dig ditches?
Do ditchdiggers dig graves?
No!
Gravediggers dig graves.
Ditchdiggers dig ditches.

There are lots of vowel sounds jumping around in this mini poem-like twister. The umlaut on some of the a‘s changes their sound from ah to ay. Once you know this, the tongue twister becomes much simpler. But there are still some r sounds in there that need rolling—but if you’re this far down the list, you’ll have met them already!

8. Hottentottenpotentatentantenattentat 

Translation: Assassination of a Hottentot potentate’s aunt.

Who thought just one word would count as a tongue twister?! Welcome to the world of German compound words! Germans love joining their words together which results in some ridiculously long trains of letters just like the one above.

To have this word effortlessly trip off your tongue, you need to attack it as if it were smaller words. Take each of its component parts on their own: Hottentotten, Potentaten, Tanten, Attentat. As previously mentioned, say these very slowly until you know the pronunciation inside out. Then join them up into the one long word.

9. In Ulm, um Ulm, und um Ulm herum.

Translation: In Ulm, around Ulm, and all around Ulm.

None of the sounds in this sentence should be difficult for American tongues (apart from maybe that sneaky r in herum, but by now you’re able to handle this, right?). The trick is being able to slip in the l where needed. It’s not the most difficult tongue twister on this list, but it’s probably the most fun to say at full speed!

10. Im dichten Fichtendickicht sind dicke Fichten wichtig.

Translation: In the thick spruce thicket thick spruces are important.

For this tongue twister you need to be able to differentiate between ch and ck. The former is more of a guttural sound, one which we don’t have in English. The latter sound is pronounced just as we would say it.

It can be tricky interchanging these as quickly as is needed in this phrase but, as with all tongue twisters, speed is the key! Start off slowly and build it up until you can say it like a native!

There is a number of ways to say “I’m sorry” in German.

Basically, “Entschuldigung!” means “Excuse me!” or “Apologies!” and “Es tut mir leid” means “I am sorry.”

If you look a bit closer, “die Entschuldigung”(feminine) is a noun meaning: “the apology”, but the root of the word is “die Schuld” = “guilt”. “ent-” is a prefix of verbs meaning “de-” or “dis-” and “-ung” makes it a noun. So literally it means: “deguiltyfication”. So you ask for your sin or guilt to be forgiven or, which is more present in the word, you give a reason why it should be forgiven. In most cases this reason is that you ask for it by saying: “Entschuldigung”. If the case is more severe, it won’t be so easy though.

Then it might be better to try “Es tut mir leid.” Important word here is the verb “leidtun”. It is a separable verb so the first part gets sent to the end of the sentence when the verb is being conjugated. “Tun” means just “to do”, or in this connection it is close to “inflict”. So the word means “to inflict ‘leid’ on someone”. In the form above: “It(es) inflicts ‘leid’ on me(mir).” Now “leid” stems from the noun “das Leid” = “the harm/suffering/sorrow”. But here it is not meant as strongly, “sorrow” would be the highest border when you want to express what you feel about somebody’s loss. But basically it expresses that in hindsight you are sorry about it, wish you didn’t do it and already feel bad because you did it. It can be used more casually but looking at the heritage of the word it cannot surprise that many Germans don’t use it for every small thing.

Here are some examples of expressing the apology in German, with English translation:

Entschuldigung! – Pardon!

Es tut mir leid, ich kann heute Abend nicht bleiben. – I’m sorry, I cannot stay tonight.

Es tut mir leid, nicht in der Lage zu sein, Ihren Wunsch zu erfüllen. – Excuse me for not being able to fulfill your request.

Entschuldigen Sie die Störung. – Excuse me for disturbing you.

Verzeihen Sie meine Ausdrucksweise. – Pardon my French.

Modal particles are flavoring words that add a deeper element to language. In German, these could be words that soften the harshness of a comment, add a persuasive or suggestive element to a request or otherwise add subtle meaning to a sentence without changing the grammatical context.

Most of the time, particles are only used in spoken contexts. However, in the digital age, they’re also commonly used in German social media, due to the informality of the medium. A lot of the time, the particle will follow the verb in the sentence—however, some come at the end.

When spoken, particles remain unstressed, so even though you’re excited to use your favorite particle in a sentence, hold back and don’t stress it—just throw it in there to add an extra flare to your speech. Native speakers will definitely take notice!

Modal particles can be broken down into a few different types: particles that affirm elements of a sentence, particles that negate or resign elements of a sentence and particles that intensify or highlight elements of a sentence.

There are also a handful of particles that don’t fall into any category and simply need to be memorized. These are just guidelines, however, as some particles have different meanings depending on context.

Affirmation

1. Aber

This can sometimes mean “indeed” or “however,” depending on how it’s used. Don’t get it confused with aber (but) when used as a coordinating conjunction.

“Donnerstag wird aber wärmer als Heute sein.” (But Thursday will be warmer than today.)

“Das Pferd ist aber sehr klug!” (The horse is [indeed] very smart!)

“Du bist aber süß!” (Aw, you’re so sweet!)

2. Ja

This one is possibly easiest to remember as an affirmation because of its generally translated meaning of “yes.” Much like aber, it’s used to affirm whatever the sentence is trying to say.

“Sein Geburtstag ist ja wichtig!” (His birthday is [indeed] important!)

“Deine Freundin ist ja attraktiv.” (Your girlfriend is [quite] attractive.)

Ja can also be used as an intensifier.

3. Wohl 

Wohl is a very tricky particle to use because it’s usually translated to mean “well,” as in the phrase Ich fühle mich wohl (I feel well). However, as a particle it can mean that the speaker is assuming something to be true.

“Klaus isst nie Fleisch, er ist wohl Vegetarier.” (Klaus never eats meat, he is [assumingly] vegetarian.)

In this sentence, the wohl signifies that the speaker does not for certain know Klaus is vegetarian, but since he never eats meat the speaker is assuming it to be true.

It can also be used in an ironic context, when the speaker does know something to be the case, or wants to imply that it’s the case.

“Er hat sich einen Porsche gekauft.” (He bought himself a Porsche.)
“Er muss wohl jemanden beeindrucken.” (Looks like he needs to impress someone.)

Negation

4. Doch

Ah, doch. It sometimes seems like this word is used so often just because it’s so hard to translate. In fact, it simply does not have a one-word English equivalent. The best way to think of it is “really!” or “on the contrary.” A children’s argument might look like this:

“Nein!” “Doch!” “Nein!” “Doch!” (No! Yeah! Nuh-uh! Yeah-huh!)

Here’s another example:

“Du spinnst! Er hat nicht vor seinem Professor gekotzt!” (You’re kidding! He didn’t barf in front of his professor!)
“Doch, und es war ihm nicht mal peinlich!” (On the contrary, he didn’t even find it embarrassing!)

Perhaps the true appeal of doch lies in how concisely it can be used. It says in one word what would take several in English. English is, however, a Germanic language after all, and what remains of doch can be seen in the word “though.” The usages don’t line up, but they’re in the same family.

5. Halt

While not quite as common as the previous particles, halt is one that’s still important to understand. When it’s used, it shows the speaker attempting to displace blame or burden onto another force. Depending on who’s speaking, though, you might hear halt all the time (think of, like, the often ridiculed valley girl).

“Alter, du hast mein ganzes Schnitzel aufgegessen!” (Dude, you ate my whole schnitzel!)
“Ich hatte halt Hunger!” (What can I say, I was hungry!)

“Wie hat sie denn darauf reagiert?” (How did she react, then?)
“Sie war halt richtig sauer.” (She was, like, totally peeved.)

Intensification

These particles exaggerate or intensify. They may be used to draw emphasis to something or to illustrate the significance or importance of part of a sentence.

6. Schon

Schon can be used to intensify the message that’s being conveyed or to show a sense of anger.

“Die Katze ist schon traurig!” (That cat really is sad!)

“Gib mir schon das Geld!” (Give me the money already!)

7. Mal

This one conveys a sense of interest, and can be used as a suggestion. It can also soften commands or make things sound less formal.

“Hörst du mal gern Reggaemusik?” (Do you like to listen to reggae music?)

“Moment mal, ich bin müde!” (Give me a minute, I’m tired!)

8. Nun

Nun is often used with questions to show an intensification or possibly anger in what is being asked. In more formal contexts, it just means “now.”

“Was machst du nun mit dem Gewehr?” (Now what are you doing with that gun?)

“Bist du nun blöd oder einfach nur faul?” (Are you [in fact] stupid or just lazy?)

9. Denn

Used almost exclusively to convey a subtle interest in something, denn is an excellent particle to use on first dates! Depending on how you say it, however, the word can also add annoyance or anger to a sentence. Don’t worry, though, if you’re speaking with the right tone of voice, nobody will ever get confused.

“Wo hast du denn Russisch gelernt?” (So, where did you learn Russian?)

“Was machst du denn mit dem Einhorn?” (What are you doing with that unicorn?)

“Bist du denn immer noch nicht fertig?!” (Are you still not finished?)