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Alex is lost on the way to the station and stops a passer-by.
German street names are written as one word with the street type stuck on the end: Goethestraße, Bahnhofstraße, Hauptstraße. It looks alarming and is completely regular — find the name at the front and the -straße, -platz, -weg or -gasse at the back. In addresses the number goes after the name, not before: Goethestraße 14. genau is one of the most useful small words in the language. It means "exactly" as in this lesson, but on its own it is also how Germans agree with you — a conversation can run on genau for a surprisingly long time, and it is the natural equivalent of "right", "exactly" or "that's it". Watch what happens to zu before an article. zu dem Bahnhof is never said; it contracts to zum Bahnhof. zu der Post becomes zur Post. These contractions are not optional or informal — writing them out in full sounds wrong — and you will meet the same habit in im (in dem), am (an dem) and vom (von dem). The gender of the noun is what decides between zum and zur, which is one more reason to learn der, die, das with the word.
How do I read these pronunciations? See the pronunciation guide.
1. Regular verbs in the present
Almost every German verb takes the same set of endings on its stem. Take gehen, remove -en to get geh-, then add: ich gehe, du gehst, er/sie/es geht, wir gehen, ihr geht, sie/Sie gehen. kommen, wohnen, lernen and trinken all behave identically. Notice that wir, sie and Sie share the infinitive form — three of the six are already free. This is the single most valuable pattern in the language, and the irregular verbs you have met so far, sein and haben, are irregular precisely because they are so common.
2. wo or wohin?
English uses "where" for both standing still and moving. German splits them: wo asks about a position, wohin asks about a destination. Wo ist der Bahnhof? is asking where it is; Wohin gehen Sie? is asking where you are heading. There is a third, woher, for where something comes from, which you met in Lesson 1. Getting wo and wohin the wrong way round is understandable but immediately marks you out, and the distinction comes back with force in Lesson 14.
3. Telling someone politely what to do
To give an instruction to someone you address as Sie, use the infinitive followed by Sie: Gehen Sie, Nehmen Sie, Warten Sie. The word order is the only thing that distinguishes it from a statement, so it is unusually easy. This is what you will hear in every set of directions, every announcement and every official instruction in Germany. Adding bitte softens it considerably, and without bitte it can sound brusque.
4. zum and zur
zu means "to" when you are going to a place, and it merges with the article that follows: zu + dem becomes zum for masculine and neuter nouns, zu + der becomes zur for feminine ones. So it is zum Bahnhof, zum Hotel, but zur Post, zur Schule. The choice depends entirely on the gender of the noun. You do not yet need to know why dem and der appear here rather than der and die — that is the dative case, and it arrives in Lesson 15.
5. Opening with Entschuldigung
Entschuldigung is how you interrupt a stranger, and it is expected — walking up and launching straight into a question reads as rude. The fuller Entschuldigen Sie, bitte is more formal and always safe. The same word doubles as an apology for something small. For a real apology, Germans say Es tut mir leid, which is a different register entirely; keep Entschuldigung for bumping into someone or asking the time.
A. Fill in the Blank · Ergänzen Sie
Fill in the blank with a word or phrase from this lesson.
- 1.! Wo ist der Bahnhof?excuse me
- 2.Wie komme ich Bahnhof?to the (masculine)
- 3. Sie hier geradeaus.go (polite instruction)
- 4.Nur fünf Minuten .on foot
B. Multiple Choice · Wählen Sie
Choose the correct German.
- 1.How do you ask the way to the station?
- 2.Which question asks about a position, not a destination?
- 3.Which is the correct du form of gehen?
- 4.How do you ask the way to the post office? (die Post)
C. Word Order · Bilden Sie Sätze
Put the words in the right order.
- 1.Tap tiles below…
- 2.Tap tiles below…
- 3.Tap tiles below…
- 4.Tap tiles below…
D. True or False · Richtig oder falsch
Decide whether each statement about the dialogue is true.
- 1.Alex should go straight ahead first.
- 2.The station is a long way away.
- 3.The station is next to the post office.
- 4.Alex should turn right into Goethestraße.
E. Matching · Ordnen Sie zu
Match each line to the reply that fits it.
F. Translation · Übersetzen Sie
Translate between German and English.
- 1.How do I get to the station?
- 2.Is it far?
- 3.Gehen Sie hier geradeaus.
- 4.Sie sind sehr nett.
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Waiting at a red man
Germans wait at pedestrian crossings. Not mostly, not when there is traffic — they wait at an empty street at midnight for a signal to change, and if you cross against the red Ampelmännchen you can expect a look, a tut, or occasionally a stranger telling you off. The usual reason given is the children: crossing on red in front of a child who is watching is considered genuinely antisocial, and someone may well say so out loud. As a visitor you will get away with it, but you will feel it. The red-and-green figures themselves are worth noticing in the east of the country, where the old East German Ampelmännchen survived reunification — a stout little man in a hat, striding out rather than walking. He became an unexpected symbol of eastern identity, was saved from replacement by a public campaign, and now has souvenir shops of his own in Berlin.