However, if you are speaking to a child or someone you know well, you can use “du”. If you are speaking to more than one person you know well, you should use “ihr”.
Once you get to know someone, they may suggest that you use “du” instead of the more formal “Sie”.
You can call me “du”. Sie können mich duzen.
2) The grammatical gender of German nouns has been indicated using the articles “der” (masculine), “die” (feminine) and “das” (neuter).
As the article “die” is used for all plural nouns, whatever their gender, all plural translations have been marked with the gender of the singular noun, as well as the plural marker, for example:
potatoes die Kartoffeln fpl
Feminine forms of nouns have been shown with the masculine form as the main translation:
student der Student / die Studentin
3) The basic form of adjectives has been shown for vocabulary items, for example:
green grün
Remember that if the adjective appears before the noun in German it changes depending on whether the noun it describes is masculine, feminine or neuter, and whether it is singular or plural.
a green salad ein grüner Salat
a green jacket eine grüne Jacke
a green dress ein grünes Kleid
green shoes grüne Schuhe
FREE AUDIO
We have created a free audio resource to help you learn and practise the German words for all of the images shown in this dictionary. The German words in each chapter are spoken by native speakers, giving you the opportunity to listen to each word twice and repeat it yourself. Download the audio from the website below to learn all of the vocabulary you need for communicating in German.
www.collinsdictionary.com/resources
THE ESSENTIALS | DAS WESENTLICHE
Whether you’re going to be visiting a German-speaking country, or even living there, you’ll want to be able to chat with people and get to know them better. Being able to communicate effectively with acquaintances, friends, family, and colleagues is key to becoming more confident in German in a variety of everyday situations.
umbrella
der (Regen)schirm
1. blue
blau
2. red
rot
3. green
grün
4. white
weiß
5. black
schwarz
6. yellow
gelb
THE BASICS | DAS WESENTLICHE
Hello.
Hallo.
Hi!
Hallo!
Good morning.
Guten Morgen.
Good afternoon.
Guten Tag.
Good evening.
Guten Abend.
Goodnight.
Gute Nacht.
See you soon.
Bis bald.
See you tomorrow.
Bis morgen.
See you on Saturday.
Bis Samstag.
Bye!
Tschüss!
Have a good day/ evening!
Schönen Tag / Abend!
YOU SHOULD KNOW…
German people are quite formal when initially introduced, shaking hands upon meeting and parting. Friends and relatives will often greet each other with one kiss on the cheek. “Guten Tag” is used to greet someone during the day; “Guten Morgen” is used in the morning, and “Guten Abend” in the evening.
Yes.
Ja.
No.
Nein.
I don’t know.
Ich weiß nicht.
Please.
Bitte.
Yes, please.
Ja, bitte.
Thank you.
Vielen Dank.
No, thanks.
Nein, danke.
Excuse me.
Entschuldigung.
Sorry?
