German Basic Conversation Skills

Starting a Conversation

• Basic greetings and responses in German: "Wie geht's (denn)?" (How are you?), "Sehr gut!" (Very well!), "Prima!" (Great!), "Gut!" (Good/Well!), "Es geht." (Okay), "So lala." (So-so), "Schlecht." (Badly), "Miserabel." (Miserable)

Telling Time

• Phrases for asking the time: "Wie spät ist es?" (What time is it?), "Wie viel Uhr ist es?" (What time is it?), "Um wie viel Uhr...?" (At what time...)
• Phrases for expressing times: "Viertel nach..." (a quarter after...), "halb..." (half past...), "Viertel vor..." (a quarter to...)

Making Plans

• Phrases for making plans: "Wohin?" (Where?), "in ein Café/ins Café" (to a cafe), "ein Eis essen" (to eat ice cream), "in die Stadt gehen" (to go downtown), "ins Schwimmbad gehen" (to go to the pool/swimming), "baden gehen" (to go swimming), "ins Kino gehen" (to go to the movies), "einen Film sehen" (to see a movie), "in eine Disko gehen" (to go to a disco), "tanzen gehen" (to go dancing), "ins Konzert gehen" (to go to the concert)

Ordering Food and Beverages

• Phrases for ordering food and drinks: "Was bekommen Sie?" (What will you have?), "Ich bekomme..." (I'll have...), "eine Tasse Kaffee" (a cup of coffee), "ein Glas Tee" (a glass of tea), "mit Zitrone" (with lemon), "eine Limonade" (a lemonade), "eine Pizza" (pizza), "Apfelkuchen" (apple cake), "ein Eis" (ice cream), "ein Wurstbrot" (sandwich with cold cuts)
• Phrases for checking out: "Hallo! Ich möchte/will zahlen!" (Paying the check), "Das macht...?" (That comes to...), "(zusammen)..." (total), "Stimmt (schon)!" (Keep the change).
• Words for describing taste: "Wie schmeckt's?" (How does it taste?), "Schmeckt's?" (Does it taste good?), "Sagenhaft!" (Great!), "Lecker!" (Tasty! Delicious!)

Additional Notes

• "jetzt" and "nun" both mean "now" but "nun" is used more to express a point in sequence or after other activities have been done previously.