The 100 Most Useful German Words for Beginners

There are roughly 300,000 words in the German language. You need about 100 of them to survive your first week.

That's not an exaggeration. Frequency studies consistently show that the most common few hundred words account for the vast majority of everyday speech. Learn the right 100 words and you'll be able to introduce yourself, order food, ask for help, understand signs, follow simple conversations, and — crucially — stop smiling and nodding when someone asks you a question.

This list isn't the 100 most common words by raw frequency (that list would be full of articles, conjunctions, and prepositions you'd absorb naturally anyway). Instead, it's the 100 most useful words — the ones that unlock real situations and give you something to say when it matters.

Every noun includes its article. Every verb is in its infinitive form. And if a word has a trap waiting for English speakers, I've flagged it.

Greetings & Basics (1–12)

These are the words you'll use within your first five minutes in a German-speaking country. If you learn nothing else, learn these.

#	German	Pronunciation	English	Notes
1	Hallo	HAH-lo	Hello	Works everywhere. Can't go wrong.
2	Tschüss	CHEWSS	Bye	Casual. For formal goodbyes, use Auf Wiedersehen.
3	Ja	yah	Yes
4	Nein	nine	No	Sounds exactly like the English number nine.
5	Bitte	BIT-tuh	Please / You're welcome	Does double duty. Bitte after a request means "please." Bitte after someone thanks you means "you're welcome."
6	Danke	DAHN-kuh	Thank you	The starting point. For 7 ways to go beyond Danke, see our full guide.
7	Entschuldigung	ent-SHOOL-dee-goong	Excuse me / Sorry	Long word, but you'll say it constantly. Use it to get someone's attention, apologise, or squeeze past someone on a train.
8	Guten Morgen	GOO-ten MOR-gen	Good morning
9	Guten Tag	GOO-ten TAHK	Good day / Hello (formal)	The standard polite greeting in most of Germany.
10	Guten Abend	GOO-ten AH-bent	Good evening
11	Auf Wiedersehen	owf VEE-der-zay-en	Goodbye (formal)	Literally "until we see each other again."
12	Wie geht's?	vee GAYTS	How are you?	The casual default. For the full formal vs casual breakdown, we've got a dedicated post.

Pronouns (13–19)

You can't build a sentence without these. German pronouns change across grammatical cases, but start with the nominative forms here and expand later.

#	German	English	Notes
13	ich	I	Always lowercase unless it starts a sentence.
14	du	you (informal)	For friends, family, kids, animals, and God.
15	er	he
16	sie	she / they	Also means "they" (plural). Context makes it clear.
17	es	it
18	wir	we
19	Sie	you (formal)	Always capitalised. Using Sie vs du is a social decision, not just grammar.

Essential Verbs (20–40)

These 21 verbs will let you express most of what you need as a beginner. German verbs conjugate (change form based on the subject), but learn the infinitive first — that's the base form listed here.

#	German	Pronunciation	English	Notes
20	sein	zine	to be	Irregular. The most important verb in the language.
21	haben	HAH-ben	to have	Also used as an auxiliary for past tense.
22	machen	MAH-khen	to make / to do	The Swiss Army knife of German verbs.
23	gehen	GAY-en	to go (on foot)
24	kommen	KOM-men	to come
25	wollen	VOL-len	to want	A modal verb. Ich will = I want. Sounds blunt in German — Ich möchte (I would like) is softer.
26	können	KUR-nen	to be able to / can
27	müssen	MEWS-sen	to have to / must	Ich muss gehen = I have to go.
28	sagen	ZAH-gen	to say
29	wissen	VIS-sen	to know (a fact)	Different from kennen (#30). Wissen is for facts: Ich weiß es nicht (I don't know).
30	kennen	KEN-nen	to know (a person/place)	Ich kenne ihn = I know him. You wissen facts but kennen people.
31	sehen	ZAY-en	to see
32	essen	ES-sen	to eat
33	trinken	TRINK-en	to drink
34	sprechen	SHPREKH-en	to speak	Sprechen Sie Englisch? = Do you speak English?
35	verstehen	fair-SHTAY-en	to understand	Ich verstehe nicht = I don't understand. Memorise this sentence. You will need it.
36	kaufen	KOW-fen	to buy
37	brauchen	BROW-khen	to need
38	helfen	HEL-fen	to help	Takes the dative case: Kannst du mir* helfen?* (Can you help me?)
39	finden	FIN-den	to find	Also means "to think/consider": Ich finde das gut = I think that's good.
40	arbeiten	AR-by-ten	to work

Question Words (41–47)

Seven words that let you ask about anything.

#	German	Pronunciation	English
41	was	vahs	what
42	wer	vair	who
43	wo	voh	where
44	wann	vahn	when
45	warum	vah-ROOM	why
46	wie	vee	how
47	wie viel	vee FEEL	how much / how many

A pattern worth noticing: German question words almost all start with w, just like English question words. Was/what, wer/who, wo/where, wann/when, warum/why. The languages are cousins, and this is one of the places where the family resemblance is strongest.

Numbers (48–57)

You only need zero through ten to get started. Everything else is built from these.

#	German	English
48	null	zero
49	eins	one
50	zwei	two
51	drei	three
52	vier	four
53	fünf	five
54	sechs	six
55	sieben	seven
56	acht	eight
57	neun	nine

Tip: on the phone or in noisy environments, Germans often say zwo instead of zwei to avoid confusion with drei. They sound similar at a distance.

People & Relationships (58–66)

#	German	Article	English	Notes
58	der Mann	der	man / husband
59	die Frau	die	woman / wife	Also used as the formal title "Mrs."
60	das Kind	das	child	Neuter — grammatical gender doesn't follow biology.
61	der Freund	der	friend (male) / boyfriend	Context determines which meaning. Mein Freund usually means boyfriend.
62	die Freundin	die	friend (female) / girlfriend	Same ambiguity as above.
63	die Familie	die	family
64	die Leute	die (plural only)	people	Always plural. There's no der Leut.
65	der Arzt	der	doctor (male)	Female: die Ärztin.
66	der Kollege	der	colleague (male)	Female: die Kollegin. Ends in -e but is masculine — one of those exceptions.

Food & Drink (67–76)

The vocabulary you need to not starve.

#	German	Article	English	Notes
67	das Wasser	das	water
68	der Kaffee	der	coffee	Germans drink more coffee per capita than Italians. You'll use this word.
69	das Bier	das	beer	Neuter — the single most important exception to the "alcoholic drinks are masculine" pattern.
70	das Brot	das	bread	Germany has over 3,000 registered bread varieties. This word pulls its weight.
71	die Milch	die	milk
72	das Frühstück	das	breakfast	Literally "early piece" — the piece you eat early.
73	das Mittagessen	das	lunch	Literally "midday eating."
74	das Abendessen	das	dinner	Literally "evening eating." German compound words are nothing if not descriptive.
75	die Rechnung	die	bill / check	Ends in -ung — always feminine.
76	die Speisekarte	die	menu	Literally "food card."

Places & Getting Around (77–86)

#	German	Article	English	Notes
77	die Straße	die	street / road
78	der Bahnhof	der	train station	Die Bahn = the railway. Der Hof = the yard/court.
79	die Haltestelle	die	stop (bus/tram)
80	der Flughafen	der	airport	Flug = flight, Hafen = harbour. A harbour for flights.
81	das Hotel	das	hotel
82	das Krankenhaus	das	hospital	Literally "sick house." German doesn't sugarcoat.
83	die Apotheke	die	pharmacy	Not a drugstore — German pharmacies are strictly medical.
84	der Supermarkt	der	supermarket
85	die Toilette	die	toilet / restroom	Wo ist die Toilette? — The sentence you're not embarrassed to ask, but probably should learn early.
86	links / rechts	—	left / right	Not nouns — directional adverbs. Links is left, rechts is right.

Time & Days (87–93)

#	German	Article	English	Notes
87	heute	—	today
88	morgen	—	tomorrow	Lowercase morgen = tomorrow. Capitalised der Morgen = the morning.
89	gestern	—	yesterday
90	jetzt	—	now
91	die Uhr	die	clock / o'clock	Wie viel Uhr ist es? = What time is it?
92	die Stunde	die	hour
93	die Woche	die	week

Adjectives & Descriptions (94–100)

A small set of adjectives that let you describe almost anything at a basic level.

#	German	Pronunciation	English	Notes
94	gut	goot	good
95	schlecht	shlekht	bad
96	groß	grohs	big / tall
97	klein	kline	small / short
98	neu	noy	new
99	alt	ahlt	old
100	schön	shurn	beautiful / nice	The "ö" sounds like the "u" in "burn." One of those sounds English speakers need to practise.

10 Survival Sentences Built From This List

Vocabulary is only useful if you can string it into sentences. Here are 10 sentences built almost entirely from the 100 words above — the kind of sentences you'll actually need.

Entschuldigung, sprechen Sie Englisch? — Excuse me, do you speak English?
Ich verstehe nicht. — I don't understand.
Wo ist die Toilette? — Where is the toilet?
Kann ich bitte die Rechnung bekommen? — Can I get the bill, please? (Bekommen means "to get" — not "to become." It's a classic false friend.)
Ich möchte einen Kaffee, bitte. — I'd like a coffee, please. (Notice einen — masculine accusative. Cases in action.)
Wie viel kostet das? — How much does that cost?
Ich brauche Hilfe. — I need help.
Wo ist der Bahnhof? — Where is the train station?
Das ist sehr gut. — That's very good.
Ich komme aus… — I come from… (Add your country.)

What to Do With This List

A list of 100 words is a starting point, not a strategy. Here's how to actually turn it into usable vocabulary:

Don't try to learn all 100 at once. Pick 10 per day. Spend time with each one — say it out loud, use it in a sentence, write it down. Ten words a day means you'll have this entire list in under two weeks.

Always learn nouns with their article. Never memorise Brot. Memorise das Brot. The article is part of the word. If you skip it now, you'll pay for it later when you need to use the correct case.

Look up each word for the full picture. This list gives you the basics, but each word has more to it — plural forms, verb conjugations, formality levels, example sentences. Looking a word up properly takes 15 seconds and saves you from gaps that compound over time.

Save the words you find hardest. Everyone has different sticking points. Some people can't remember Entschuldigung. Others mix up wissen and kennen. Whatever trips you up personally, flag it and review it more often.

Build Your Own Word List on Sprachlify

This list is generic by design — it's the 100 words that are useful for everyone. But the vocabulary that matters most to you depends on your life, your job, your reasons for learning German.

Sprachlify lets you look up any German word and get the full breakdown: translation, article, plural form, verb details, formality label, and an example sentence. Save every word to your personal vocabulary log with one click, and over time you'll build a custom word list that goes far beyond these 100 — one that's shaped entirely by the German you actually encounter.

Start with this list. Then make it yours.