German · Beginner (A1) · Chapter 1 of 12
Hello and goodbye
Hallo und tschüss
Say hello and goodbye in German at any time of day, introduce yourself, say where you're from and ask how someone is.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Greet people and say goodbye
- Say your name and where you're from
- Ask how someone is and answer
Listen
Before a yoga class in Hamburg, Jonas meets Lena. Then his friend Mia arrives. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Jonas
Guten Morgen! Ich bin Jonas.
Good morning. I'm Jonas.
Lena
Hallo, Jonas. Ich heiße Lena.
Hi, Jonas. My name is Lena.
Jonas
Freut mich. Woher kommst du?
Nice to meet you. Where are you from?
Lena
Ich komme aus Wien. Und du?
I'm from Vienna. And you?
Jonas
Ich komme aus Hamburg.
I'm from Hamburg.
Mia
Hallo, Jonas! Wie geht's?
Hi, Jonas. How are you?
Jonas
Gut, danke. Und dir?
Fine, thanks. And you?
Mia
Auch gut, danke.
Fine too, thanks.
Lena
Tschüss, Jonas! Bis morgen.
Bye, Jonas. See you tomorrow.
Jonas
Tschüss, Lena!
Bye, Lena.
Understand
Saying who you are
There are two easy ways to give your name: (my name is Lena, literally “I am called Lena”) and (I'm Lena). Both are normal and friendly.
German verbs change their ending to match the person. After (I) the verb usually ends in -e. After (“you”, for a friend) it ends in -st. The stem of (heiß-) already ends in ß, so it only adds -t: . (to be) is irregular: , .
Everyone in this chapter uses , the friendly “you”. You'll meet the polite in chapter 3.
| Person | (to be called) | (to be) | (to come) |
|---|---|---|---|
| (I) | |||
| (you) |
- Wie heißt du?What's your name?
- Ich komme aus London.I'm from London.
Greetings through the day
and are relaxed and work at any time. The others depend on the time of day. and are a little more formal: use them in shops and offices.
| German | English | When |
|---|---|---|
| Good morning. | until about 10 or 11 am | |
| Hello. / Good day. | during the day | |
| Good evening. | from about 6 pm | |
| Good night. | when someone goes to bed | |
| Hi. / Hello. | any time, relaxed | |
| Bye. | any time, relaxed | |
| Goodbye. | any time, polite |
Sounds to know: ei, ie, w, ß, ü
German spelling is very regular: once you know a few letter pairs, you can read almost any word aloud. For ei and ie, say the second letter's English name: ei sounds like “eye”, ie sounds like “ee”.
w is always said like English “v”. ß is simply a sharp “ss”. For ü, say “ee” and round your lips as if to whistle.
| Letters | Sounds like | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ei | “eye” | (HIGH-seh) |
| ie | “ee” in “see” | (veen) |
| w | “v” in “van” | (vee) |
| ß | “ss” in “kiss” | |
| ü | “ee” with rounded lips |
More in the grammar: Personal pronouns: ich, du, Sie … · Sein and haben: to be and to have · The German alphabet and pronunciation · The present tense
New words
- Guten Morgen!Good morning. · = the morning
- Ich bin …I am …
- Hallo!Hi. / Hello.
- Ich heiße …My name is … (literally: I am called …)
- Freut mich.Nice to meet you.
- Woher kommst du?Where are you from?
- Ich komme aus …I'm from …
- Und du?And you?
- Wie geht's?How are you? · short for
- Gut, danke.Fine, thanks. · = thank you, thanks
- Und dir?And you? · the reply to — use for other questions
- auchtoo, also
- Tschüss!Bye.
- Bis morgen!See you tomorrow. · with a small m = tomorrow
Practise
1.It's 8 in the morning and you meet a neighbour. What do you say?
2.Complete the question with the right form of .
What's your name?
3.Complete with the right form of (to be).
I'm Paul.
4.Put the words in order.
Tap the words below in the right order.I'm from Berlin.
5.Match the German with the English.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
0 of 5 exercises done.
Say it out loud
Hallo, ich heiße Lena. Freut mich.
Hi, my name is Lena. Nice to meet you.
Listen, then say it out loud, as close to the recording as you can.
Check
Five questions on this chapter. Then mark it as finished to add its words to your review deck.
0 of 5 answered.