Language Tips!

Although it is easy to get around Berlin without learning any German, as most official offices speak English and most Germans will want to practice their English on you, it goes a long way if you know a little. The German language can prove a little tough at times: for one thing, you can't be 100 percent sure whether you will be kicked or kissed until the end of the sentence; for another, the German's quirky habit of joining words together, or even splitting them, can be hard to keep up with.

Another tricky aspect is that everything has a gender: male, female or neutral i.e the cat = die Katze (feminine), the dog = der Hund (masculine) the girl = das M?dchen (neutral?) but the boy = der Junge (masculine), and all hell lets loose if you need to order a knife, fork and spoon as they are all different sexes!

There are a whole range of German words which look pretty similar to their English equivalents, so signs such as POLIZEI, RESTAURANT, HOTEL and TAXI are hardly going to tax most travellers, but here are a handful of others that may be useful: Kneipe - Pub
Der Kaffebecher - Coffee Pot
Die Buchhandlung - Book Shop
Das Krankenhaus - Hospital
Die Bushaltstelle - Bus stop
Der Laden - Shop
Der Zeitungsh?ndler or die Zeitungsh?ndlerin if female- Newsagent
Der Bahnhof - Station
Der Flughafen - Airport

If you are staying in Berlin for a longer period of time then it would be worthwhile to enroll in one of the many language schools.

Comments

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Anaya
United States

This really helps me and I learn very much from it.

Reply Feb 7th, 2014
angelica mifsud
Malta

I am from Malta and I am studying German... One thing I really Love to say.. Ich Liebe Deutsch

Reply May 2nd, 2012
APU
Bangladesh

Very nice language

Reply Jan 8th, 2012
United States

ich love duch

Reply May 14th, 2010
Jolanda
Australia

dus gut!

Reply Jan 5th, 2010
Katlyn
United States

This was a good help but they didn't show the formal version which would be more helpful. :]

Reply Nov 19th, 2009
binita k.c
Nepal

hi i am binita. i m a student. i like to learn german very much. i have leaernt german also.

Reply Oct 22nd, 2009
Joshua Hall
United States

not a review! Frenchy and Ving, shut the fu[K up, you guys are completely retarded! frenchy is just pissed off because the germans kicked their @$$! and ving is jealous because the germans have a variation in their food groups, all he/she eats is rice and noodle! grow up you two, move out of your moms basement and get a life!!!

Reply Oct 16th, 2009
Ving
Vietnam

lol frency how do u even no im asian heheh

Reply Aug 31st, 2009
Frenchey
France

omg VING your the funnyest asian ever! Are you a comedian? you should be but i think that the germans dont know what you talking about they only speak german! maybe you should go to germany and teach them a thing or two!

Reply Aug 31st, 2009
Ving
Vietnam

i totaly agree with frenchy and fuzz this is stupid! i felt like ripping my ears out so i didnt have to hear this crap! what idiot whats to speak german anyway. i think u should do something more productive with ur time like rub ur face in the dirt.

Reply Aug 31st, 2009
frenchey
France

this is stupid and a waste of space on this site! Although my friends and i enjoyed laughing at you stupid language i recommend you take this off the website!

Reply Aug 31st, 2009
jan o lopon
Ireland

so cool but u need to have more words like what is ur name and what age are u but it is still so COOL LOL

Reply Mar 5th, 2009
Yazmin H.??
United States

Well I think that learning languages is very important, because that way you can communicate with people from other countrys. I had to learn German because one of my friends was from German and I couldn't communicate with her only by doing sign languages. So, I got tired of and decided about learning German and she learned Spanish and English. It was easy to learn German and it was also fun!!!!So German is a very nice Language!!German ROCK!!!!!!Danke for everything!!!!!

Reply Dec 4th, 2008
fuzz
United Kingdom

it was the worst site ever i couldn't find anything

Reply Sep 4th, 2008
Mexxxx
Azerbaijan

Mein frau ist schwanger!!! - very useful sentence ^_^

Reply Jul 9th, 2008
Mexxxx
Azerbaijan

Mein frau ist schwanger!!! - very useful sentence ^_^

Reply Jul 9th, 2008
Nico
Germany

there is a mistake. the text says "germans want to practice their english". hardly anyone wanna do this coz in berlin many students learn french as first language (historical reasons). so dont expect everybody will be able to speak english

Reply May 30th, 2008
mouse
Slovakia

haha thats funny xD i like the sentence with beer :P how happy I am that our schools teach both languages(engl/germ ;) aaaa ich freue mich sehr auf die n?chste loveparaaade!! endlich komme ich auch!!^^

Reply May 17th, 2008
Susanna
Ireland

I love the German language though it is very hard to learn. Lang lebe Deutschland!

Reply May 2nd, 2008
savanna
United States

wow you speake in my languge but i have never herd it befor.

Reply Mar 10th, 2008
Nico
Germany

I think there are many useful sentences missing. I add some: "Wo finde ich das Brandenburger Tor?" or "Wo ist das Brandenburger Tor?" (both mean: Where is the Brandenburg Gate);"Gibt es hier in der N?he ein gutes Lokal?"(Is there any good restaurant near by here?);"Sprechen sie etwas langsamer, mein Deutsch ist noch nicht so gut"(Don't speak so fast, my German is not that good yet)"Lassen sie mich in Ruhe!"(Leave me alone!). I hope these sentences will help you to get around in Berlin. Ich freue mich auf jeden, der nach Deutschland kommt. Vielleicht sehen wir uns ja bald in Berlin. Auf Wiedersehen!"

Reply Jan 27th, 2008
Dakota
Albania

Guten Tag!

Reply Jan 7th, 2008
miki
Bosnia And Herzegovina

svidja mi se ali engleski je zaista neophodan

Reply Dec 16th, 2007
Brandon
Albania

Guten Tag!!!

Reply Nov 26th, 2007
ROB ROB
Canada

Why am I seeing so many derogatory comments on these pages. I see so many negative references to gay people as well. Why? Are these people jealous they are not gay? Or perhaps they have not yet been able to accept their own gay orientation. In either case who cares. Gay people don't pose a danger to anyone, no more than a heterosexual person. SO what's up with all the stupid comments? Now can we keep the comments within the context of these pages, and stop with the sexual remarks. They really show One's low level of intelligence. Cheers

Reply Nov 11th, 2007
Gum
United States

Couldn't we get a few more phrases on there? Come on, you didn't have room for 'nein' (no) or 'bitte' (please/your welcome)? Pathetic. Also, Tyson's right: 'Entschuldigung' means excuse me. "Es tut mir leid" is how you apologize.

Reply Oct 19th, 2007
cumi
Indonesia

hmmm how do you say "I'm really really sorry for sleeping with your wife." signifying pure apology

Reply Jul 21st, 2007
1337boiii
Algeria

have a nice Tag (NOT)

Reply Jun 25th, 2007
mt
United States

i love it it's gut

Reply May 21st, 2007
Tyson
Netherlands

the apologetic expression for saying "I'm Sorry"/"excuse me", which i think is meant. should be "Entschuldigen Sie bitte"(formal) or more simply "Entschuldigung"(the noun and less formal)

Reply Mar 14th, 2007
Nix
Germany

Er, shouldn't that be "gute Nacht"?

Reply Feb 12th, 2007