Thank you and hello in GermanWith pronunciation, and the replies you'll hear back
Nearly everyone under 40 in a German city can help you in English, so the point of speaking German is not survival, it is tone. Opening in German and then switching reads as courtesy. Opening in English reads as an assumption. Here are 18 phrases people actually use in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, in the order worth learning them. The replies you will hear back are included too.
"Thank you" in German
Danke
DAHN-kuh
Danke schön ("DAHN-kuh shern") is the warmer version for when someone went out of their way.
Thank you
Danke
DAHN-kuh
Hello (formal)
Guten Tag
GOO-ten TAHK
Hallo is fine with anyone under 30. In Bavaria and Austria you'll get Grüß Gott instead.
Excuse me / sorry
Entschuldigung
ent-SHOOL-dee-goong
Works for squeezing past someone and for getting a stranger's attention.
Yes / No
Ja / Nein
yah / nine
Please / you're welcome / here you go
Bitte
BIT-uh
Attach it to any request and the request stops sounding like an order.
The respelling is an approximation. German respells into English better than most languages, with two real gaps. The ch sound has no English equivalent and changes depending on the vowel before it, so ich is roughly "ish" in most of Germany while Bach is a throat-clearing "kh", and the umlauts ü and ö need a rounded lip position English never asks for. None of this will stop you: Germans hear accented German constantly and will simply answer you, so say it at normal speed instead of trying to perfect it.
Five phrases is genuinely enough for German
You do not need to work through a phrasebook before you go. Almost everything a traveller says falls into these five shapes, and they are listed under "Start with these five" above.
- Thank you … The one you will use most. If you learn a single word, make it this one.
- Hello … Said the moment you walk into a shop. Whether you say it changes how you are treated.
- Excuse me … Some languages split calling someone over and apologising into different words. Check the list above.
- How much is it? … Needed for every purchase and every meal. If you miss the number, ask them to show it.
- I don't understand … Without this you end up nodding along and walking off in the wrong direction.
Getting these five automatic beats memorising twenty. Twenty phrases you have to search your memory for are worth nothing at the moment you need them.
Bitte does four jobs, and Danke can mean no
Bitte is the single hardest-working word in German. It means please in a request, you're welcome after a thank you, "here you go" when someone hands you something, and "sorry, what?" when said alone with a rising tone. The trap runs the other way: if a waiter offers you another drink and you answer with a polite "Danke", that is commonly understood as a refusal, the same way an English speaker might say "I'm fine, thanks". If you actually want it, say "Ja, bitte". And when the bill comes, expect "Zusammen oder getrennt?", because splitting the bill item by item at the table is the default here, not a favour.
The hard part is not speaking, it is understanding the reply
Almost every phrasebook only covers what you say. What actually stops people is the second after they finish talking, when the other person answers. How many of you. For here or to go. Card or cash. Go quiet and the exchange dies. Nod along and you get the wrong thing.
The good news is that the replies are a small, predictable set. Choose "You hear" in the list above and you will see only the ones that actually come back at you in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Reading them once before you go is most of the work.
If you still cannot catch it, ask them to write it down. Numbers and place names are far easier to read than to hear.
Say it clearly rather than say it perfectly
German respells into English better than most languages, with two real gaps. The ch sound has no English equivalent and changes depending on the vowel before it, so ich is roughly "ish" in most of Germany while Bach is a throat-clearing "kh", and the umlauts ü and ö need a rounded lip position English never asks for. None of this will stop you: Germans hear accented German constantly and will simply answer you, so say it at normal speed instead of trying to perfect it.
The usual failure is not a wrong vowel, it is going quiet because you are unsure. Keep it short, say it at normal volume, and finish the phrase in one breath. Everyone can tell you are a visitor attempting German, and if it does not land they will simply ask again. Copy the written form to your phone so you have something to show when speaking does not work.
Other languages
FAQ
Q.How do you say thank you in German?
Danke, pronounced roughly DAHN-kuh. Danke schön ("DAHN-kuh shern") is the warmer version for when someone went out of their way. If you learn one word before you travel, make it this one. It works at the till, when someone gives you directions, and when someone gives up a seat.
Q.Will the pronunciation guide alone get me understood?
German respells into English better than most languages, with two real gaps. The ch sound has no English equivalent and changes depending on the vowel before it, so ich is roughly "ish" in most of Germany while Bach is a throat-clearing "kh", and the umlauts ü and ö need a rounded lip position English never asks for. None of this will stop you: Germans hear accented German constantly and will simply answer you, so say it at normal speed instead of trying to perfect it.
Q.How much should I learn before I go?
Five phrases. Thank you, hello, excuse me, how much is it, and I don't understand. That covers nearly every situation a traveller hits. Getting those five automatic matters far more than adding a sixth, because at the moment you need them there is no time to think.
Q.Why bother when I have a translation app?
For getting something done, the app wins. People still learn a few words because it changes how they are treated. In a 2025 Preply survey of 1,526 US adults, 47 percent of those who used the local language said locals treated them better, 80 percent said learning phrases before a trip is important, and 58 percent actually did it. A greeting is less about transferring information and more about signalling that you made an effort.
Q.I can ask the question, but I cannot understand the answer.
That is the most common way this goes wrong, and it is why this page includes the other side. Choose "You hear" in the list above to see only what gets said back to you in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. There are not many variations: how many of you, eat in or take away, card or cash. Reading them once removes most of the surprise.
Q.Does this work offline?
Yes. Everything runs in the browser, with no account and nothing sent to a server. Open it once before you fly and it will usually still be there on the plane or in a dead zone. You can copy any phrase and show the screen when speaking does not work.
Reading a phrase is not the same as saying it
You can recognise every phrase on this page and still freeze at the counter, because there is no time to think. Inko lets you say German out loud to an AI for 60 seconds a day, and afterwards it shows you what you could have said instead. A week before you fly is enough to make a difference.