German

Basic German Phrases & Weekdays

English Correct German Spelling

How are you? Wie geht es Ihnen?
I am good. Es geht mir gut.
What is your name? Wie heißen Sie?
My name is ... Ich heiße ...
Where do you come from? Woher kommen Sie?
I am from Pakistan. Ich komme aus Pakistan.
Where do you live? Wo wohnen Sie?
I live in Islamabad. Ich wohne in Islamabad.
What do you do? Was machen Sie?
I am learning German. Ich lerne Deutsch.
Good morning Guten Morgen
Good day Guten Tag
Good evening Guten Abend
Good night Gute Nacht

🗓️ Months of the Year (Monate)

English German
January Januar
February Februar
March März
April April
May Mai
June Juni
July Juli
August August
September September
October Oktober
November November
December Dezember

🌦️ Seasons of the Year (Jahreszeiten)

English German
Spring der Frühling
Summer der Sommer
Autumn/Fall der Herbst
Winter der Winter
 Times of the Day in German (Tageszeiten)

German English Translation

Morgen Morning
Vormittag Forenoon / Late Morning
Mittag Noon
Nachmittag Afternoon
Abends In the evening
Nacht Night
Mitternacht Midnight

Basic German Words & Phrases Explained

German English Explanation

wie how Used in questions: Wie geht's? = How are you?
ist is Comes from the verb sein (to be): Das ist gut = That is good
ich I Used when you're talking about yourself: Ich bin Ali = I am Ali
du you Used with friends or people your age
(informal)
Sie you (formal) Used in polite/formal settings (capital "S" shows it’s formal)
bin am First person form of sein: Ich bin müde = I am tired
bist are (you) Second person: Du bist nett = You are nice
heißt is called From heißen: Wie heißt du? = What’s your name?
gut good Ich bin gut = I am good
nicht not Used to make things negative: Ich bin nicht müde = I’m not
tired

Example Sentences Using These:

• Wie heißt du? → What is your name?

• Ich heiße AJ. → My name is AJ.
• Wie geht es dir? → How are you? (informal)
• Mir geht’s gut. → I’m good.
• Das ist mein Buch. → That is my book.
• Days of the Week (Wochentage)

English German
Monday Montag
Tuesday Dienstag
Wednesday Mittwoch
Thursday Donnerstag
Friday Freitag
Saturday Samstag
Sunday Sonntag
 Conjugation of Common Verbs

1. machen (to do/make)

Pronoun machen (to do)
ich mache
du machst
er/sie/es macht
wir machen
ihr macht
sie/Sie machen

2. heißen (to be called)

Pronoun heißen (to be called)
ich heiße
du heißt
er/sie/es heißt
wir heißen
ihr heißt
sie/Sie heißen

3. haben (to have)

Pronoun haben (to have)
ich habe
du hast
er/sie/es hat
wir haben
ihr habt
sie/Sie haben

4. sein (to be)

Pronoun sein (to be)
ich bin
du bist
er/sie/es ist
wir sind
ihr seid
sie/Sie sind

Simple Declarative Sentences (Aussagesätze - Statements):

• Basic Structure: Subject - Verb - Object (SVO) - often similar to English.
 • Trick: Think "Who does what to whom/what?"
• Example (from your list):
o Das (Subject - What is it?) ist (Verb - is) deine Frau (Object - your wife).
o Das (Subject) ist (Verb) meine Schwester (Object - my sister).

2. Questions (Fragen):

• W-Questions (W-Fragen - Questions starting with "Wer," "Was," "Wo,"

"Wann," "Warum," etc.):
o Structure: W-Word - Verb - Subject - Other Information
o Trick: The "W-word" always comes first, then the verb "jumps" in front of
the subject.
o Example (from your list):
▪ Wer (W-Word - Who) ist (Verb - is) das (Subject - that)?
• Yes/No Questions (Ja/Nein-Fragen - Questions that can be answered with "Ja"
or "Nein"):
o Structure: Verb - Subject - Other Information
o Trick: The verb "jumps" to the very beginning of the sentence.
o Example (from your list):
▪ Bist (Verb - are) du (Subject - you) verheiratet (Other Information -
married)?

3. Sentences with Negation (Sätze mit Negation - Sentences with "nicht" - not):

• Placement of "nicht": "nicht" usually comes before the part of the sentence it
negates.
• General Guidelines:
o To negate the verb: "nicht" usually comes after the subject and before the verb
(or the conjugated part of a multi-part verb).
o To negate an object or adverbial phrase: "nicht" comes directly before that
object or phrase.
• Example (from your list):
o Ich (Subject - I) bin (Verb - am) nicht (Negation - not) geschieden
(Object/Adjective - divorced).

General Tricks and Tips:

• Identify the Verb: The verb is the action word and often the key to understanding the
sentence structure. In simple sentences, the conjugated verb usually comes in the
second position. In questions, it often comes first (yes/no) or second (w-questions).
• Look for Question Words: Words like "Wer," "Was," "Wo," "Wann," "Warum,"
etc., signal a W-question, and they always come first.
• Recognize "nicht": The word "nicht" indicates negation, and its placement is
important for understanding what is being negated.
• Subject-Verb Agreement: The verb ending must agree with the subject (e.g., "ich
bin," "du bist," "er/sie/es ist"). This can help you identify the subject.
• Practice, Practice, Practice: The more you read and listen to German, the more
you'll develop a feel for the correct word order. Try to build simple sentences
yourself.
 • Don't Always Rely on English: German word order can be different from English, so
try to understand the German rules rather than just translating word-for-word.

Applying the Tricks to Your Examples:

• Wer / das / ist: "Wer" is a W-word, so it comes first. "ist" is the verb and comes next.
"das" is the subject. -> Wer ist das?
• das / Frau / ist / deine: "ist" is the verb. "das" is likely the subject. "deine Frau" is the
object. -> Das ist deine Frau.
• das / nein / Schwester / ist / meine: "ist" is the verb. "das" is likely the subject.
"meine Schwester" is the object. "nein" (no) doesn't fit grammatically here to describe
the sister. It should be the possessive pronoun "meine" (my). -> Das ist meine
Schwester.
• verheiratet / du / bist: This looks like a yes/no question. The verb "bist" comes first,
followed by the subject "du," and then the rest. -> Bist du verheiratet?
• geschieden / nicht / bin / ich: "bin" is the verb. "ich" is the subject. "nicht" negates
"geschieden." -> Ich bin nicht geschieden.

Letter Combinations and Examples:

• sp (ʃp):
o Sprache - Language
o Sport - Sport
o spielen - to play
o sprechen - to speak
• st (ʃt):
o Student - Student
o Stuhl - chair
o Straße - street
o Stadt - city
• ie (iː):
o spielen - to play (repeated from the 'sp' section)
o vier - four
o Papier - paper
o viel - a lot
• ei (aɪ):
o Speisekarte - menu card
o schreiben - writing (to write)
o Wein - wine
o (A word written in what appears to be Arabic script, possibly the Urdu
equivalent of "wine")
• ch (ç, x): (The pronunciation varies depending on the preceding vowel)
o Buchstaben - letters (of the alphabet)
o Nacht - night
o Sprache - language (repeated from the 'sp' section)
o noch - still
• ch (after any other alphabet) (x):

• sprechen - to speak (repeated from the first image, but now with a different
pronunciation indicated for 'ch')
• Schwester - sister
• Bücher - books
• Buch - book
• (A word written in what appears to be Arabic script, possibly the Urdu equivalent of
"book")
• ich - I
• dich - you (accusative/dative singular)

• sch (ʃ):

• Schule - school
• Tisch - table
• schön - beautiful
• schon - already

• tsch (tʃ):

• Deutschland - Germany
• Tschüss - bye bye

• eu (ɔʏ):

• Deutsch - German
• Leute - people
• heute - today
• Euro - Euro

• au (aʊ):

• Frau - woman, girl, miss, Mrs.

• traurig - sad

Okay, I see the table of personal pronouns and possessive pronouns/articles in German.
Here's a breakdown of the possessive articles in the nominative case, based on the personal
pronoun and the gender of the noun they modify:

Possessive Articles (Nominative Case)

Personal Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural English

Pronoun Noun (der) Noun (die) Noun Noun Equivalent
(das) (die)
ich (I) mein meine mein meine my
 du (you, dein deine dein deine your (informal)
informal)
er (he) sein seine sein seine his
sie (she) ihr ihre ihr ihre her
es (it) sein seine sein seine its
wir (we) unser unsere unser unsere our
ihr (you, plural euer eure euer eure your (plural
informal) informal)
Sie/sie (you, Ihr/ihr Ihre/ihre Ihr/ihr Ihre/ihre Your
formal/they) (formal)/their

Explanation of the Table:

• Personal Pronoun: This column shows the German personal pronouns (I, you, he,
she, it, we, you pl., they/you formal).
• Masculine Noun (der): This column shows the form of the possessive article when it
precedes a masculine noun in the nominative case.
• Feminine Noun (die): This column shows the form of the possessive article when it
precedes a feminine noun in the nominative case.
• Neuter Noun (das): This column shows the form of the possessive article when it
precedes a neuter noun in the nominative case.
• Plural Noun (die): This column shows the form of the possessive article when it
precedes a plural noun in the nominative case.