German Vocabulary: Days and Greetings

Weekdays and Weekends

• The days of the week are Montag, Dienstag, Mittwoch, Donnerstag, Freitag, Samstag, and Sonntag.
• The weekend is das Wochenende.

Months

• The months of the year is der Monat.
• Some months are Januar, Februar, März, April, Mai, Juni, Juli, August, September, Oktober, November, and Dezember.

Times of Day

• The times of day are der Morgen, der Vormittag, der Mittag, der Nachmittag, der Abend, and die Nacht.

Seasons

• The seasons are der Frühling (spring), der Sommer (summer), der Herbst (autumn/fall), and der Winter (winter).

Greetings

• Hallo is an informal greeting used with friends and family.
• Guten Morgen is used in the morning until about 10:00 AM.
• Guten Tag is more formal and used from mid-morning until early evening.
• Guten Abend is used in the evening.
• Grüß dich is a common informal greeting in Southern Germany.
• Servus is a common greeting in Southern Germany and Austria.
• Tschüss is an informal goodbye used with friends and family.
• Auf Wiedersehen is formal and means "until we see each other again."
• Bis bald means "until soon" and is informal.
• Bis später is used when you expect to see the person again later.
• Bis morgen is used when you'll meet again the next day.
• Gute Nacht is used when going to bed or late at night.

Asking "How Are You?"

• Wie geht’s? is an informal greeting used with friends, family, and peers.
• Wie geht es Ihnen? is formal and used with strangers or in professional settings.
• Wie geht es dir? is used with friends, family, or peers.
• Mir geht’s gut. is a neutral response to "How are you?"
• Es geht mir gut, danke. is a polite and positive response.
• Nicht schlecht. is a neutral response.
• Mir geht’s nicht so gut. is a response if you're feeling unwell or down.

Polite Expressions

• Bitte means "please."
• Danke means "thank you."
• Vielen Dank means "thank you very much."
• Gern geschehen means "you're welcome."
• Entschuldigung means "excuse me" or "I'm sorry."

Numbers

• Numbers 0-12 are unique and must be memorized: null, eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, sechs, sieben, acht, neun, zehn, elf, zwölf.
• Numbers 13-19 are formed by combining the unit with "zehn" (ten): dreizehn, vierzehn, fünfzehn, sechzehn, siebzehn, achtzehn, neunzehn.
• Tens are formed by using the word for the unit followed by "zig" (except for zwanzig): zwanzig, dreißig, vierzig, fünfzig, sechzig, siebzig, achtzig, neunzig.
• Numbers 21-99 are reversed: einundzwanzig, zweiunddreißig, fünfundvierzig, siebenundfünfzig, achtundsechzig, neunundneunzig.
• 100 is einhundert, 1000 is eintausend.

Telling Time

• The basic structure for telling time is Es ist [hour] Uhr [minutes].
• Uhr means "o'clock" or "clock" and separates the hour and minutes.
• Half past the hour is halb + the next hour: Es ist halb vier - It's 3:30 (literally "half to four").
• Quarter past the hour is Viertel nach + the hour: Es ist Viertel nach drei - It's 3:15 (literally "quarter after three").
• Quarter to the hour is Viertel vor + the hour: Es ist Viertel vor vier - It's 3:45 (literally "quarter before four").
• Es ist Mittag is noon (12:00 PM).
• Es ist Mitternacht is midnight (12:00 AM).
• To ask what time it is, one can ask "Wie spät ist es?" or "Wieviel Uhr ist es?"