German vocabulary
German vocabulary for real conversations
These are the German words and phrases you need for daily life: at the bakery, on the train, and around a friend's kitchen table. Every noun is shown with der, die, or das, because learning the article with the word is the easiest way to remember its gender. Many long German words are just short words joined together, so each topic you learn makes the next one easier.
Italian
Hindi
French
Portuguese
SpanishGreetings & Essentials
Hellos, thank-yous, polite phrases, and the small words every conversation needs.
Food & Drink
Meals, ingredients, drinks, and the phrases you need at a café or restaurant.
People & Family
Family members, friends, jobs, and how to talk about the people in your life.
Emotions & Descriptions
Feelings, personality, and the adjectives you use to describe people and things.
Body & Health
Body parts, symptoms, and what to say at the doctor or pharmacy.
Everyday Verbs
The 100 action words you use most, from “to be” to “to invite”.
Travel & Getting Around
Transport, directions, hotels, money, and phrases for finding your way.
Home, Clothes & Daily Life
Rooms, furniture, clothes, work and school, and shopping.
Nature, Animals & Weather
Animals, landscapes, plants, and how to talk about the weather.
Time, Numbers & Colors
Numbers 0–1,000, days, months, seasons, colors, and telling time.
Why speaking matters
Why saying words out loud helps them stick
Reading a word list teaches you to recognize a word. Using it in a sentence, out loud, teaches you to produce it when you need it. That is the skill a real conversation asks for.
ChatPal is built around that second step: you pick a scenario, speak, and get feedback, so the words on this page become words you can actually say.
The ChatPal way
Learn a word, then use it out loud
- 01
See it in context.
Every word here comes with real example sentences, not just a translation.
- 02
Say it out loud.
In ChatPal you speak German with an AI conversation partner, at your own pace.
- 03
Get feedback.
ChatPal gives you personalized feedback on what you said, so you know what to fix.
- 04
Use it in real scenarios.
Practice ordering food, meeting people, or asking for directions until the words come naturally.
FAQ
Learning German vocabulary
How many German words do I need to have a conversation?
A few hundred well-chosen words will carry simple conversations: verbs like sein, haben, and gehen, question words like wo and wann, and polite words like bitte and danke. Compounds help you grow fast, because once you know krank (sick) and das Haus, das Krankenhaus (hospital) makes sense. Start with Greetings & Essentials and Everyday Verbs, then add the topic you need most.
What is the hardest part of German vocabulary for English speakers?
Gender, and the way articles change with case. Der Tisch becomes den Tisch when it is the object of a sentence, and dem Tisch after words like mit. Gender often has no clear logic, as in der Löffel (spoon), die Gabel (fork), and das Messer (knife), so learn every noun with its article and say them together out loud.
How do I remember German words long-term?
Learn words in small families. German reuses the same roots, so fahren (to drive), die Fahrkarte (ticket), and der Fahrer (driver) all share fahr-. Say each new word in a short sentence about your own life, and come back to it a few days later without looking.
Can I practice speaking German with AI?
Yes. In ChatPal you speak German out loud with an AI conversation partner, in realistic scenarios like ordering at a bakery or asking the way to the Hauptbahnhof. After each conversation you get personalized feedback on what you said, and you can try it free for 7 days.
Looking for another language? See all vocabulary lists
Ready to say it out loud?
ChatPal is a voice-first app for practicing real conversations in German. Try real scenarios and get personalized feedback on your speaking.
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