40 MOST COMMON PHRASES IN GERMAN LANGUAGE

Most common phrases in German (according to me! :))
1. Guten Tag! - Hello!
2. Wie geht’s? - How are you?
3. Was geht ab? - What’s up?
4. Es geht - I am Ok
5. Mir geht’s gut - I am doing well
6. Na, alles klar? - So, everything clear?
7. Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof - It’s all Greek to me (I don’t understand this)
8. Aller Anfang ist schwer - Every beginning is hard
9. Prost! - Cheers!
10. Neeee - No
11. Auf jeden Fall - in any case
12. Na ja… - Well… (filler word)
13. Jein… - Yes and no; yes, but…
14. chillen - to chill
15. Ja, ich bin dabei - Yes, I’ll join
16. Entspann dich! - Relax!
17. Geil! - Awesome!
18. Fett - awesome
19. Krass! - Amazing, awesome! (Very strong, usually in a positive way)
20. Die Nase voll haben - to be sick of something (Ich habe die Nase voll von der lauten Musik)
21. Bock haben - be in the mood for something (Ich habe Bock auf’s essen.)
22. jdm. die Daumen drücken - keep fingers crossed
23. Einen Augenblick, bitte! - please wait a moment
24. Wie viel kostet das?- How much is that?
25. Was möchten Sie? - What would you like?
26. Darf ich mit Bargeld bezahlen? - Can I pay cash?
27. Die Rechnung, bitte - Check, please
28. Noch eine, bitte! - One more, please
29. Darf ich mal vorbei? - Can I you are pushing through a crowd and ask to let you
30. Kannst du/Können Sie mir helfen? - Could you help me?
31. Schön Sie kennenzulernen - Nice to meet you
32. Alles Gute zum Geburtstag - Best wishes on your Birthday
33. Guten Appetit.
34. Ich stimme dir zu - I agree with you
35. Stimmt so - It’s OK (when you leave tips for example and ask waiter to keep the change)
36. Der Zug ist schon abgefahren - equivalent to the American expression “that ship has sailed”
37. Eigentlich schon, aber - I agree, but..
38. Bis später! - See you later!
39. Mach’s gut! - Have a good one!
40. Tschüß - Bye!

📷 FILMING EQUIPMENT

🎈PROMOS

I use affiliate links whenever possible (if you purchase items listed above using my affiliate links, I will get a bonus)

[Finndu]

"Es geht" is more like it is okay but not necessarily good at the moment. If you want to give it a more positive attitude you can say "es läuft" literally "it runs" compared to "it goes"

[deutschlernenmitkiliandeut]

"Es geht" bedeutet: " Es geht mir schlecht, aber ich möchte das nicht so direkt sagen."

[therealjakobrd]

I’m German and I love to see how people from other countries want to learn our language! I know that it’s quite difficult but it’s worth it😘😀😍

[stuffstuff]

The idiom "I only understand trainstation" makes sense when you put it into the context of its origin: When driving in a foreign country by train, many of the stations names will end with the respective word for "station" in the country's language. Since this word will be repeatedly announced throughout the travel, you will learn to understand it. However, if the conductor announces something more elaborate than just the stations name, the only thing the german will understand, would probably be the word for "station", hence the saying "Ich versteh nur Bahnhof".
While the idiom is used just like "It's all greek to me", the premise is a little different. There is another german idiom that works more like "it's all greek to me" in terms of phrasing, but is applied when something seems weird, in the sense that it must be a foreign thing, which is "Das kommt mir spanisch vor"-->"Seems spanish to me"

[mariax]

Is lustig das als deutsche anzugucken 😂😂😂

[Verbalaesthet]

If you ever wondered where "Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof" came from it came from the soldiers in World War 1 who were fed up fighting the war and didnt wanna hear anything unrelated to "Bahnhof" which meant that they would be returning home.

[AdventurousJohnny]

I wanna say: great video, love the thoughts you put into it. Sounding 'natural' speaking german is pretty hard to achieve I'd say, but here are some of my thoughts on your examples that might help others.

0:38 "Guten Tag" is not really something any german uses in their day to day articulation. It's more commonly used in Mail traffic and such. VERY formal and rarely used.
0:48 "Wie geht's" is not very formal and is not something you'd ask a client e.g. It's a question you ask to break the ice and start a conversation, tho some people use this as a hook to complain about anything going wrong in their life at the momemt, so be warned here.
0:58 "Was geht ab" is pretty much outdated and not used that much anymore, but you'd say that to a friend to start chatting I'd say.
01:24 "Es geht" to me is not that 'it's going well' or 'I'm fine' vibe tbh. It's more like 'I'll say I'm fine but actually I'd like to complain and moan about my current inconveniences.' Usually the comment of 'es geht' is followed by some sort of 'What's wrong?'.
01:39 "Mir geht's gut" is not something you'd hear a lot from a german, simply because germans don't usually talk in first person as weird as that sounds. A much more commonly used phrase would be "Alles gut." which is 'it's all good' or 'all good'.
01:55 "Na" & "Ne" the fillers everyone uses, usually at the end of an expression if you want the other one to say something to what you just said. Like "Das wetter ist heute richtig gut, ne?" 'The weather today is really good, right?" "Aber sowas von..." 'It sure is...'
02:21 perfectly explained, nothing to add here other than germans will shorten it by on letter which makes you sound more natural: "Ich versteh nur Bahnhof."
02:59 perfectly explained. nothing to add.
03:25 perfectly explained, tho you'd really wanna strech that "o" like "proost" (not as an 'u' like in english).
03:38 "Neee" should be extended by the phrases "Nö" "Näh" and maybe "uh-uh". Other than that I'd agree, but "nein" is totally fine and commonly used. You could make a scale of this. On a scale from 1-10, where 10 is the strongest disagreement a "Nee" would be a 3 or 4, a "Nö" would be maybe a 4 or 5. a "Näh!" would be a 6 or 7 and a actual "nein" would definetely be a 10.
03:53 "Auf jeden fall" is greatly explained. Could be translated to "sure" as an answer.
04:13 "Naja..." perfectly explained as "well...", nothing to add to that. It does even have the same range as "well.." depending on you voice, your emphisis and so on.
04:32 "Jein" is really only used by annoying people and idiots ^^ You don't wanna say that, unless you wanna sound like a jerk.
04:50 "Chillen" no need to add anything to that, it is what it is, tho it's frowned upon among people above 35 I'd say.
05:10 "Ja, ich bin dabei" is a great phrase to use as an answer to that question. Great explanation!
05:23 "Entspann dich" is not that common among germans. It'd be more like "Komm mal runter" which translates to "Calm down". The Terminator reference there was a perfect example why you wouldn't want to say that, if your goal is to sound natural. "Entspann dich" sound so mechanical and like an order :D

05:44 "Geil" is the universal, commonly accepted adjective for "awesome", tho still frowned upon by elderly.
05:49 "Fett" - Do not say that, unless - once again - you wanna sound like a complete jerk.
05:54 "Krass" is more commonly used but it's nowerdays more likely to be used as an increased version of very ("sehr"). Example: "That was a mad effin' backflip, dude!" 'Das war ein krass, geiler Backflip, alter!'. It's very good that you name the possible negative expression of the word!
06:07 "Ich habe die Nase voll" is not that often used. It's more like "Ich hab' die Schnauze voll!" which is and increase of intensitiy to that. "Nase" is just 'nose', but "Schnauze" is what an animal has as a snout. It really adds some spice to it. Saying "... nase voll" is not at all really used.
06:25 "Bock haben auf..." is very well explained, nothing to add, good job!
06:39 "Jemandem die Daumen drücken" Good, great, simple and perfectly explained! : )
06:52 "Einen Augenblick, bitte" is a very nice phrase, not very much used, but very polite, and I wish people would use it.. Nowerdays it just "Wadde mal!" which is a junction off "Warte mal" which means 'wait'. It's very nice to say "Einen Augenblick, bitte", because it is so rare these days.
07:14 "Wie viel kostet das?" is gramatically correct, tho in germany you'd say "Was kostet das?" which is the abosulte mainly used phrase only topped by "Was kost' das?".
07:21 I actually burst out laughing while hearing that because in germany they don't actually ask, what you need or if you need anything unless you're in a shop that sales top price, prestigious items. You'd most of the time have to consult a salesperson to help you and even then, they don't wanna deal with you as a customer tbh. If you ARE - however - at a good retail shop they're probably more likely to ask "Wie kann ich Ihnen helfen?" which means 'How can I help you?' I'd say.
07:48 "Darf ich mich Bargeld bezahlen?" which for now is accepted at any location you could think of.
09:10 "Die Rechnung, bitte". To me it's more likely to say "Können wir bitte zahlen?" which translates to "Could we play, please?". The initial phrase is fine, tho it sounds more like a command.
09:26 "Stimmt so" absolutely correct, nothing to add to that, tho you might wanna know that germans aren't that generous in general with tips.
0936 "Noch eine, bitte". You should be careful with that phrasing, because if you say "Noch EINE, bitte", it's ordering another ROUND of beer for everyone on the table. If it's just you being thursty it'll be "Noch EINS, bitte" which means "another one, please".
09:48 "Darf ich mal vorbei?" is a great way to phrase that, tho it'll be enough in most cases, and sounding more natrual to just say "Darf ich mal?" which is totally fine!
09:55 "Können Sie mir bitte helfen?" is a great way to ask for help because most germans won't ask for help AT ALL, because they think, they know everything better, but mostly because of the "bitte" in between which is uncommon by now.
10:04 "Schön Sie kennenzulernen" ist most likely to be used after the introduction thb. In case of goodbyes, it's more like to say "Hat mich gefreut!" or "War schon Sie kennenzulernen."
10:13 "Alles Gute zum Geburtstag" is a great way to say "HP, BRO!", but just was well as "Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag!".
10:34 "Guten Appetit" is fine and accepted everywhere. Although if you're talking to a coworker or something like that you'd probably say "Guten Hunger!" which means exactly the same but it's a lot more based and informal in some way.
10:42 "Ich stimme dir zu" - noone really says that, it's way too formal and sounds robotic. It'll be more like "Klaro" or "Absolut!" or "Jawoll" or maybe even "Jo". These are more natural to the german language.
10:48 "Der Zug ist schon abgefahren" - TRUE!
11:12 "Eigentlich schon, aber..." yeah.... that's basically saying 'Yea, but actually.... no" - simple as that.
I'd actually include "Hau rein" as an outroduction as an informal, friend to friend sorta "Tschüss" which is commonly known and used.

[MarcoSaavedra]

I loved this video, Marina! I am interested in German as well and this is a great opportunity to learn some phrases. Blessings.

[The_Baphmet]

I’ve been learning German both self-taught and in school. Of course it has all been super formal. And I’ve been wanting to learn more natural, relaxed terms and phrases so this was quite helpful, thank you!

[lenaessl]

„Geil“ is used in Germany as awesome, but if you translate it directly into Englisch it means „horny“. Just to let know. :)

[abuckGER]

I discovered your channel randomly and I wanna thank you for your awesome video. When it started I didn't want to watch a video which is 12 minutes long, but your first sentences were touching.

Mach's gut!

[jacquesp]

It was a real pleasure to hear you giving us wichtige Sätze auf Deutsch.
You are so convincing that you should really carry on teaching us your phrases and experience in Germany.

[timbruse]

German is such a beautiful language. It’s music to my ears as my Oma would speak it to me all the time when I was growing up❤️

[juliegirl]

"Bis später" means "See you later", not "See you soon". It's generally only used if you plan to meet or talk to that person again on the same day. You could also use the phrase "Bis nachher".

[imjustice]

Lmao I feel like "Yesn't" is the equivalent of "Jein" in English 😂

[katk.]

Marina, I like your English Channel very much. And I like your way you teach people. And now I know why... I have been learning Russian at school and I spent my childhood in Dresden. You're triggering positive feelings in me. I burst into tears. Ja lubju tebja!! Mach weiter so! Kati

[linguamarina]

Hallo meine liebe Freunde!! What is your level of German?

[helena.]

thank you for this video! i am very grateful that it doesn’t last for more than 12 mins, keeps me more focused this way. ❤

[StuArch]

Thanks for the video. I studied in Frankfurt for 4 months on the Earasmus scheme in 1994 and then worked in Rastatt in Baden again for only 4 months three years later. I haven't returned there more than twenty years on. I really enjoyed your vid though, keep it up.

[doubleaa]

"German" in the title.
Every German: *OMG*
The comment section is my