random question in german
Here's a basic German question:
Was ist dein Name? (What is your name?)
German Language Study Guide
Basic Greetings and Introductions
Guten Tag!(Good day! - formal, general greeting)Hallo!(Hello! - informal)Guten Morgen!(Good morning!)Guten Abend!(Good evening!)Gute Nacht!(Good night! - used when going to bed)
Introducing yourself:
Was ist dein Name?(What is your name? - informal)Wie heißen Sie?(What is your name? - formal)Ich heiße [Name].(My name is [Name].)Ich bin [Name].(I am [Name].)
Asking how someone is:
Wie geht es dir?(How are you? - informal)Wie geht es Ihnen?(How are you? - formal)Responses:
Mir geht es gut, danke.(I'm doing well, thank you.)Es geht.(It's going.)Nicht so gut.(Not so good.)
Polite Phrases
Bitte schön!(Please / You're welcome!)Danke schön!(Thank you very much!)Entschuldigung!(Excuse me / Sorry!)Auf Wiedersehen!(Goodbye! - formal)Tschüss!(Bye! - informal)
Basic Vocabulary
Ja(Yes)Nein(No)Bitte(Please / You're welcome)Danke(Thank you)Wasser(Water)Brot(Bread)Kaffee(Coffee)Tee(Tea)
Simple Questions
Woher kommst du?(Where are you from? - informal)Ich komme aus [Land/Stadt].(I come from [country/city].)Sprechen Sie Englisch?(Do you speak English? - formal)Ich spreche ein bisschen Deutsch.(I speak a little German.)
Numbers (Grundzahlen - Cardinal Numbers)
eins(1)zwei(2)drei(3)vier(4)fünf(5)sechs(6)sieben(7)acht(8)neun(9)zehn(10)
Basic Grammar Concepts
Nouns and Gender: All nouns in German have one of three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) and are always capitalized.
der(masculine: e.g.,der Mann- the man)die(feminine: e.g.,die Frau- the woman)das(neuter: e.g.,das Kind- the child)
Verb Conjugation (Present Tense - for 'sein' - to be)
ich bin(I am)du bist(you are - informal singular)er/sie/es ist(he/she/it is)wir sind(we are)ihr seid(you are - informal plural)sie/Sie sind(they are / you are - formal singular/plural)
Sentence Structure: Often follows Subject-Verb-Object, but word order can be flexible, especially with time and place information.
W-Fragen (Question Words)
Was?(What?)Example:
Was machst du?(What are you doing?)
Wer?(Who?)Example:
Wer ist das?(Who is that?)
Wo?(Where? - specific location)Example:
Wo wohnst du?(Where do you live?)
Wohin?(Where to? - direction)Example:
Wohin gehst du?(Where are you going?)
Woher?(Where from?)Example:
Woher kommst du?(Where are you from?)
Wann?(When?)Example:
Wann kommst du?(When are you coming?)
Wie?(How?)Example:
Wie geht es dir?(How are you?)
Warum?(Why?)Example:
Warum lachst du?(Why are you laughing?)
Welche/r/s?(Which? - varies by gender of noun)Example:
Welche Farbe magst du?(Which color do you like?)
Wie viel?(How much? - uncountable)Example:
Wie viel Wasser trinkst du?(How much water do you drink?)
Wie viele?(How many? - countable)Example:
Wie viele Bücher hast du?(How many books do you have?)
Wessen?(Whose?)Example:
Wessen Buch ist das?(Whose book is that?)