In this lesson, we go over the things you’ve learned in the previous lessons and see how the sentences from previous lessons look when applied in conversations. In the end, you can check out how Alan’s visit to Mareike went!

First conversation: Informal conversation

As you already know, German has different rules depending on who you are talking to. In such a conversation we can use informal forms of greetings and address one another.  We use informal conversation forms when talking to our friends and family.

Younger people also use informal forms of conversation to communicate with one another, even though they perhaps (like in our example) don’t know each other that well.  Let’s observe the sentences you’ve learned in this example of a conversation between two students!

🇩🇪 - Hallo! Wie geht’s?

🇬🇧 - Hello, how are you?

🇩🇪 - Hallo! Mir geht es gut, danke! Ich heiße Lukas! Und du? Wie heißt du?

🇬🇧 - Hello! I’m doing well, thanks! My name is Lukas! And you? What is your name?

🇩🇪 - Ich heiße Michael! Du bist der neue Schüler, richtig? Woher kommst du?

🇬🇧 - My name is Michael! You’re the new student, right? Where do you come from?

🇩🇪 - Ja, ich bin neu hier. Ich komme aus Düsseldorf.  

🇬🇧 - Yes, I’m new here. I am from Düsseldorf.

🇩🇪 - Düsseldorf! Eine wunderschöne Stadt!

🇬🇧 - Düsseldorf! A beautiful city!

🇩🇪 - Ja, eine sehr schöne Stadt! Michael, wer ist der Mann da drüben?

🇬🇧 - Yes, a very nice town! Michael, who is that man over there?

🇩🇪 - Aha, das ist unser Lehrer, Herr Müller.

🇬🇧 - Aha, that is our teacher, Mr. Müller.

🇩🇪 - Danke! Du bist sehr nett! Tschüss!

🇬🇧 - Thanks! You are very kind! Bye!

🇩🇪 - Bitte! Tschüss!

🇬🇧 - You’re welcome! Bye!

Second conversation: Formal conversation

Let’s now see how these sentences look when applied in a formal conversation.  We use formal conversation forms in a professional setting or with people we do not know very well. In this example, we see a conversation between a restaurant owner and a local baker.

🇩🇪 - Guten Morgen! Ich heiße Thomas Schiller. Sind Sie Frau Heinz?

🇬🇧 - Good morning! My name is Thomas Schiller. Are you Miss Heinz?

🇩🇪 - Ja, ich bin Monika Heinz. Wie kann ich Ihnen helfen?

🇬🇧 - Yes, I am Monika Heinz. How can I help you?

🇩🇪 - Oh, ich bin der Bäcker aus der Bäckerei „Thomas“. Und  hier sind Ihre Torten! ( Er gibt ihr die Torten.)

🇬🇧 - Oh, I am the baker from the bakery “Thomas”.  And here are your cakes! (He gives her the cakes.)

🇩🇪 - Vielen Dank, Herr Schiller! Ich finde die Torten einfach wunderschön! Sie kosten insgesamt vierzig Euro, richtig?

🇬🇧 - Thank you a lot, Mr. Schiller! I find the cakes simply wonderful! They cost altogether forty euro, right?

🇩🇪 - Bitte! Und ja, die Torten kosten insgesamt vierzig Euro.

🇬🇧 - You’re welcome! And yes, the cakes altogehter cost forty euro.

🇩🇪 - Hier, bitte! (Sie gibt ihm das Geld.)

🇬🇧 - Here! (She gives him the money.)

🇩🇪 - Dankeschön! Auf Wiedersehen!

🇬🇧 -Thank you very much! Goodbye!

🇩🇪 - Auf Wiedersehen!

🇬🇧 - Goodbye!

What we’ve learned today?

The way you talk in German depends on the setting. If you’re talking to friends or family, you use informal conversational forms. If you’re talking to someone you have a strictly professional relationship with or you don’t know them that well, it is considered polite to use formal conversational forms.  

In the table below you can see the list of words which appeared in this lesson and the appropriate translation (some words have multiple meaning, which you can find in the dictionary, but for starters, you can learn them from the table below). Some irregular verbs don’t appear in the table below, as they might be too complicated for beginners.

• 🇩🇪 Guten Morgen! → Good morning!

• 🇩🇪 Hallo! → Hello!

• 🇩🇪 Wie geht’s? → How are you? (informal)

• 🇩🇪 gut → good, well

• 🇩🇪 Danke! → Thank you!

• 🇩🇪 heißen → to be called (to be named)

• 🇩🇪 wie → how

• 🇩🇪 neu → new

• 🇩🇪 Schüler, der → male student

• 🇩🇪 richtig → correct, right

• 🇩🇪 woher → where from

• 🇩🇪 kommen → to come

• 🇩🇪 wunderschön → wonderful, beautiful

• 🇩🇪 Stadt, die → city, town

• 🇩🇪 sehr → very

• 🇩🇪 schön → pretty, nice

• 🇩🇪 wer → who

• 🇩🇪 Mann, der → man

• 🇩🇪 da drüben → over there

• 🇩🇪 Lehrer, der → male teacher

• 🇩🇪 Herr, der → mister (Mr.)

• 🇩🇪 nett → nice

• 🇩🇪 Bitte! → You’re welcome!

• 🇩🇪 Tschüss! → Bye! (informal)

• 🇩🇪 Guten Morgen! → Good morning!

• 🇩🇪 Frau, die → Miss

• 🇩🇪 helfen → help

• 🇩🇪 Bäcker, der → male baker

• 🇩🇪 Bäckerei, die → bakery

• 🇩🇪 hier → here

• 🇩🇪 Torte, die → cake

• 🇩🇪 Vielen Dank! → Thank you very much!

• 🇩🇪 finden → find

• 🇩🇪 einfach → simply

• 🇩🇪 insgesamt → altogether

• 🇩🇪 kosten → to cost

• 🇩🇪 vierzig → forty

• 🇩🇪 Geld, das → money

• 🇩🇪 Aufwiedersehen! → Goodbye!

Test your knowledge

Test your knowledge from previous lessons and see what you’ve learned in this one!