Chapter 1

Topic 1-Greetings and Goodbyes

Greetings-Begrüßungen

Guten Morgen!
This greeting is used in the morning. Usually when someone walks in the office in the morning
he shouts good morning to his colleagues.
The expected response: (Guten) Morgen! oder Hallo!. Short form is- Morgen! this is more
informal
NB Irony: if in Germany you come to work late and your boss says to you good morning in a
serious tone. It is not a friendly greeting. He is showing you that you came in late and he does
not like it.

Guten Tag!
The greeting can be used for the whole day, not only in the morning, but also in the afternoon.
Only in the evening do people change to Guten Abend! Regionally other variants of this
greeting are used: eg. Grüß Gott! in South Germany or (Moin) Moin! in the northern part.
The expected response: (Guten) Tag! / Hallo! / Grüß Gott! (south.) / Moin! (north.).

Hallo! / Hi! / Hey! / Hallöchen! / Na (, du)? / Moinsen! (norddt.) / Servus! (south Germany.)
These are routine informal greetings. This means, you have to know someone well to greet
them this way. This greeting is appropriate for both day time and night time.

Grüß dich! / Grüß Sie!

This greeting is often used in the southern part of Germany.

(Guten) Abend!
Used in the evening. Possible responses are Hallo! / (Guten) Abend!.

Goodbyes-Verabschiedungen

(Auf) Wiedersehen!
In the south they say: (Auf) Wiederschaun!.
Possible responses are- Tschüss! / (Auf) Wiedersehen! / (Auf) Wiederschaun!.
NB: On the phone you say (Auf) Wiederhören.

Tschüs(s)! / Tschau!
This form works amongst Friends and also people that one knows a little more.
NB: In most parts of Bayern you hardly hear Tschüss! They use Tschau! (from the Italien Ciao!),
you also hear Servus! as a form of goodbye. From older people in that region, you will mostly
hear Ade!.

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In the North Tschüss! Is more typical.
Possible responses are: Tschüss! / Tschö! / Tschau!.

Bis gleich!(see you soon) / Bis nachher! (see you later)/ Bis dann! (see you then) / Bis später!
(see you later)/ Bis dahin! (see you then)
Bis gleich! Used if you will see the person again in a short time.
Bis nachher! and Bis später! More time would have passed by the time you meet the person
again:
> Wollen wir in zwei Stunden, so gegen 12 Uhr, zusammen in die Mittagspause gehen?
< Gern! Bis nachher! / Bis später!

Bis dahin! You are not sure when you will see the person again.
> Ich komme heute Mittag / nächste Woche wieder zum Deutschkurs.
< Alles klar, bis dahin!
Bis dann! Works the same way as Bis dahin:
> Ich fand unser Treffen sehr schön!
< Ich auch. Wir schreiben uns, ja? Bis dann!

Bis Montag! / Bis nächste Woche! (See you Monday! See you next week)

Mach’s gut! / Machen Sie es gut!

You are not sure when you will see the person again, it may be an hour or a year until you
meet someone.
Responses can be: Ja, bis bald! / Wir sehen uns!.

(Gute) Nacht!
If the other person wants to go to sleep, this is what you say to them. This is often
accompanied by a Schlaf gut! (sleep well) oder Träum schön! / Träum süß! (sweet dreams).
Response is: (Gute) Nacht!.

Source:
[Link]
abschiedsformeln

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Topic 2: Alphabet and pronunciation

German has the same 26 letter found in English and an additional 4 letters, making a total of
30 letters.

Watch the video on the following link to hear the pronunciation of the
German alphabet:
[Link]

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There are letter combinations in German whose sounds one should learn in order to
pronounce German correctly:

Letter combinations sounds

AU "ow"
ÄU "oy"
EI "ai"
EU "oy"
IE "ee"
CH "ahck" *
CK "k"
NG "nn"
PF "pff"
PH "ff"
SCH "sh"
SP "shp"
ST "sht"
TH "t"
TSCH "ch"
QU "kv"

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TOPIC 3: Getting to know each other-Introducing
oneself and others

Name-Name
In German you can ask for someone’s name in any one of these three ways. Please note, the
first two are the most common:

Formal: Wie heißen Sie? (What are you called?)

Informal: Wie heißt du?

Formal: Wie ist Ihr Name? (What is your name?)

Informal: Wie ist dein Name?

Formal: Wer sind Sie? (Who are you?)

Informal: Wer bist du?

Responses
Ich heiße Anita Kandiyero.
Ich bin Anita Kandiyero.
Mein Name ist Anita Kandiyero.

Land-Country (Where do you come from?)

NB: This question can also simply refer to ones place of origin eg. Town or city of origin.
Formal: Woher kommen Sie?
Informal: Woher kommst du?

Responses
Ich komme aus Simbabwe
Ich bin aus Simbabwe

Wohnort-Place of residence (Where do you stay?)

Formal: Wo wohnen Sie?
Informal: Wo wohnst du?

Response
Ich wohne in Waterfalls

Alter-Age (How old are you?)

Formal: Wie alt sind Sie?
Informal: Wie alt bist du?

Response
Ich bin 20 Jahre alt.

Studium-Studies (Where do you study?)

Formal: Wo studieren Sie?

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Informal: Wo studierst du?

Response
Ich studiere an der University of Zimbabwe.

Studium-Studies (Where do you study?)

Formal: Was studieren Sie?
Informal: Was studierst du?

Response
Ich studiere Journalismus.

Hobbys-Hobbies (What are your hobbies?)

There are different ways of asking this question but at this stage you are going to learn only
two of these ways.

Formal: Was machen Sie gern?

Informal: Was machst du gern?

Formal: Was sind Ihre Hobbys?

Informal: Was sind deine Hobbys?

Responses
Ich spiele gern Fußball
Meine Hobbys sind Fußball spielen und Musik hören.

NB: For more on this topic please watch the video I made on chapter one. The
grammar topic I teach on this video will help you to not only talk about
yourself but about others too.