Talk about where you are from, which languages you speak, and ask simple yes/no questions at an international welcome evening.
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| German | Meaning |
|---|---|
| das Land, Länder | country |
| die Sprache, -n | language |
| die Nationalität, -en | nationality |
| sprechen | to speak |
| lernen | to learn |
| arbeiten | to work |
| verstehen | to understand |
| Deutschland | Germany |
| Indien | India |
| Englisch | English |
| Deutsch | German |
| Hindi | Hindi |
| die Abteilung, -en | department |
| die Kollegin, -nen | colleague (female) |
| der Kollege, -n | colleague (male) |
| gut | good / well |
| schlecht | bad |
| ein bisschen | a bit |
| auch | also / too |
| beide | both |
| wunderbar | wonderful |
| die Frage, -n | question |
| die Antwort, -en | answer |
| der Mitarbeiter, - | employee |
| der Inder, - / die Inderin, -nen | Indian (man / woman) |
| der Deutsche, -n / die Deutsche, -n | German (man / woman) |
| indisch / deutsch | Indian / German (adjective, small letter) |
In German, regular verbs drop their infinitive ending (-en) to find the stem, and then take standard endings for each person: -e, -st, -t, -en, -t, -en. For example, the verb lernen (to learn) becomes ich lerne, du lernst, er/sie lernt, wir lernen, ihr lernt, sie/Sie lernen.
Some verbs with the vowel e in the stem change that vowel to i or ie for the du and er/sie forms. A very important verb for daily life is sprechen (to speak), which changes e to i. Notice that the first-person (ich) and plural forms keep the original 'e', while only the singular second and third persons shift.
| Person | lernen (regular) | sprechen (vowel change e→i) | arbeiten (stem ending in t) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ich (I) | lerne | spreche | arbeite |
| du (you, informal) | lernst | sprichst | arbeitest |
| er / sie (he / she) | lernt | spricht | arbeitet |
| wir (we) | lernen | sprechen | arbeiten |
| ihr (you all, informal) | lernt | sprecht | arbeitet |
| sie / Sie (they / polite) | lernen | sprechen | arbeiten |
Verbs whose stems end in -t or -d (like arbeiten) insert an extra e before the endings -st and -t to make pronunciation easier. Always check the stem ending to keep your German natural and effortless.
To ask a question that can be answered with a simple 'yes' or 'no' (Ja/Nein-Frage), you do not need a question word like wie or woher. Instead, you put the conjugated verb right at the beginning of the sentence in first position. The subject follows immediately in second position.
For example, take the statement Sie sprechen Englisch. (You speak English.) To turn this into a polite question, simply invert the subject and verb: Sprechen Sie Englisch? (Do you speak English?) Similarly, from the informal statement Du lernst Deutsch, you get the question Lernst du Deutsch? (Are you learning German?). When answering affirmatively, start with Ja, followed by the conjugated verb and subject, or simply a polite confirmation.
Tap the words in the right order.
Write a short message (4 to 5 sentences) to introduce yourself to your new German language tandem partner: state your name, where you are from, which languages you speak, and mention that you are learning German in Munich.
Hallo! Ich heiße Arjun und komme aus Indien. Ich spreche Hindi und Englisch. Jetzt lerne ich Deutsch in München. Freut mich!
In Germany, multilingualism is very common in modern offices, especially in tech hubs like Munich, Berlin, and Frankfurt. While corporate environments often use English as their primary working language, learning even basic German is deeply appreciated by colleagues and helps immensely with everyday administrative life outside the office.
Related: Learning German from India · German learning roadmap · German work culture
