Ten Top Tips
Entschuldige means Excuse me. Entschuldigen Sie bitte means Excuse me please, but you can just say 'bitte' for short! If someone thanks you, you should reply 'bitte' - (please) don't mention it.
2. Danke means Thank you. People often use the full expression Danke schön.
The two dots symbol over the letter ö is called Umlaut and means you 'squash' the sound of the letter.
Vielen Dank [feelen dank] means Many thanks (v is pronounced [f]).
3. Sprechen Sie Englisch? means Do you speak English?
In German you start the question with the main verb:
Go you to town? - Gehen Sie in die Stadt?
Must you go? - Müssen Sie gehen?
When you are asking a question, the word for you is Sie.
4. Ja [ya] means yes and nein [nine] means no!
5. Talking about yourself
The word for 'I' is ich.
ich habe - I have
ich bin - I am
After ich, the verb usually ends with -e
ich gehe - I go, ich habe - I have
6. Saying you don't understand
Ich verstehe nicht - I don't understand. v sounds [f]
verstehe is pronounced [fairshtayer].
In German w is pronounced [v]
Think of the name of the car manufacturer Volkswagen: it sounds [Folksvaagen]
7. Watch out for Wer? [vair]
It sounds as if it ought to mean Where? but it means Who?
Wer kommt? - Who is comming?
8. Ask to have something repeated:
Wie bitte? - Pardon?
9. When you see combined letters ei or ie you pronounce the SECOND one as it sound in English:
ei is pronounced [eye]; ie is pronounced [ee]
Remember: ein Glas Bier - [eye'n glass beer]!
10. Saying goodbye
Auf Wiedersehen means Goodbye, but other expressions commonly used include:
Tschüss - Bye
Tschüss is widely used and less formal way of saying Goodbye.
