German is one of the most widely spoken languages in Europe. Aside from Germany, it’s spoken amongst people in Austria, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. German has been considered the language of commerce and business in Europe. The Germans are proud engineers and have been are the forefront of manufacturing high-end mechanics for a while. German people are proud and honest. If you ask someone how they are in German then don’t be surprised if they give you a starkly honest answer! However, to the beginner, German words can get overwhelming! But fret not, there ARE short and easy German words that are easy to learn and use.
The language has often been considered hard to learn due to its 3 genders and long, winding words. It holds many similarities to English, too, though. German vocab will actually bear many resemblances to English. The words zeitgeist, angst and kindergarten are all German. English is the closest language to German after Dutch. Also, some people love getting their tongues round German’s super-long words. If it suits your talking style then you will love pronouncing German!
1. Be aware there is a standardised form of spoken German.
This means German spoken around the world will be very similar.
2. German words are designed to give indications on pronunciation.
The sounds are always the same, regardless of what word they appear in. German pronunciation is pretty rigid. Once you know your way around the way it works, it is very simple (even though the words look very complex!). Also, it’s obvious but German uses the same 26 letters as English with the simple additions of ß and three vowels with umlauts: ä, ö and ü.
German has a very analytical vocabulary. The word aussergewöhnlich, which means ‘unusual’, is a good example. It contains the words ausser, meaning outside, gewöhnen, meaning to get used to and lich, which is a suffix used in adjectives. This word can be reassembled to make ausserlich, which means exterior or superficial.
3. Be aware Germans will correct you!
This is great, and they won’t do it rudely, either!
4. Focus on genders.
German has masculine, neuter and feminine genders. It’s very hard to predict what gender most nouns are. You can’t just not bother with them, either, as the meaning of the phrase changes according to the gender!
This list will give you a good idea of how German words resemble English in both obvious and subtle ways. Try and spot the similarities in how words are pronounced, too. For example, there are many words here ending in ‘en’.
Here’s a list of short and easy German words anyone can learn quickly.
42 Short and Easy German Words
- Hallo – Hello
- Danke – Thank You
- Nein – No
- Ja – Yes
- Lecker – Delicious
- Woche – week
- Heute – today
- Morgen – tomorrow
- Gestern – yesterday
- Machen – do
- Gehen – go
- Kommen – come
- Lachen – laugh
- Good – gut
- Schön – beautiful
- Kaffee – coffee
- Bier – beer
- Tee – tea
- Wein – wine
- Wasser – water
- Lamm – lamb
- Fisch – fish
- Nett – nice
- Sauber – clean
- Fein – fine
- Lieb – dear
- Liebe – love
- Komisch – funny
- Klasse – great
- Hoch – high
- Prima – fantastic
- Stark – Strong
- Lang – long
- Hell – bright
- Fähig – capable
- Kurz – short
- Klein – small
- Groß – Big
- Wunderbar – wonderful
- Ratte – rat
- Dunkel – dark
- Bye – Tschüss
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