Grundlagen: Begrüßungen und Fragen

Learn the very basics of German!

In the article series “Grundlagen”, I’ll show you the basics of German. Suitable for beginners (A0-A1). You’ll find exercises at the end of the article.

Today you will learn how to greet somebody, how to introduce yourself, and how to have a short conversation.

In German we’ve got quite a variety of greetings! There are three basic greetings that include the time of the day: “Guten Morgen”, “Guten Mittag” and “Guten Abend”. The other three greetings (“Guten Tag”, “Hallo”, and “Hi”) can be used all day long.

One would guess that “Gute Nacht” is used for greeting somebody during the night but it’s actually not. Exactly like in English you use “Gute Nacht” only for wishing somebody a great sleep.

“Guten Tag” is more formal than “Hallo” or even “Hi”, and therefore a good “allrounder”.

To get to know somebody the following questions are helpful:

• Wie heißt du?

• Woher kommst du?

• Wo wohnst du?

• Welche Sprachen sprichst du?

This is an example dialogue that uses these questions to learn about each other:

A: Hallo! Wie heißt du?

B: Ich heiße Lisa. Und du?

A: Ich heiße Tom. Woher kommst du?

B: Ich komme aus Deutschland. Und du?

A: Ich komme aus Kanada. Wo wohnst du?

B: Ich wohne in Köln. Und du?

A: Ich wohne in München. Welche Sprachen sprichst du?

B: Ich spreche Deutsch und Englisch. Und du?

A: Ich spreche Französisch und Niederländisch.

🎧 You can listen to the dialogue here. The dialogue is read out loud two times. The first version is slow, the second faster.

It’s your turn! The exercises can help you understand and remember the new expressions. Feel free to share your answers in our facebook group, where we check your text and discuss! 💬

Aufgaben: Introduce the people above, either by writing a dialogue like in the example, or by using the following constructions:

• Er/sie heißt…

• Er/sie kommt aus…

• Er/sie wohnt in…

• Er/sie spricht…

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About me:

I am Rebecca, an enthusiastic language coach, teaching German since 2016. I love learning new languages, and helping other people learn languages. As a Duolingo Global Ambassador, I regularly host online-events for “Deutsch als Fremdsprache”. Join my facebook group to stay up to date about the events, and discuss about the German language! You can also book lessons with me on preply.

About this newsletter:

With this newsletter, I want to help all learners of the German language. I will publish learning materials, explanations for grammar and vocabulary, and information about German culture and proverbs. For advanced topics, I’ll write the newsletter in German, so you can exercise reading German texts. I hope to publish at least once a week.

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