59 Ready-to-use Phrases to Ace Your German Oral

Exam
fluentu.com/blog/german/german-oral-exam-phrases/

gayatritribhuvan January 16, 2019

How would you like to sound during your German oral exam?

You probably want speech that’s as smooth as peanut butter and a demeanor that’s cool as
a cucumber.

But most of us can barely seem that suave in our day-to-day lives.

The stress and pressure of an oral exam makes it even harder.

Here’s the thing, though.

You don’t need to walk into your exam nervous, jittery and uncertain.

You can be totally prepared with our bank of 59 ready-to-use German oral
exam phrases.

Study these, and you can calmly handle any topic your examiner throws at you.

You’ll walk out of that test feeling like James Bond.

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How to Prepare for a German Oral Exam

Familiarize Yourself with the Format of the Exam

This is the first step to ensuring that you’ll be calm and confident on test day. You’ll
know what to expect, how to present yourself and, most importantly, your preparation will
be focused and relevant.

If you’re taking an oral exam in an academic setting, your teacher or professor will likely
explain the scope of the test, even if it’s just the basics. When you’re studying, be sure to
adhere to that structure—time yourself, discuss certain topics in the order your professor
specified, leave your notes somewhere hard to reach—anything to imitate what you’ll
actually be experiencing on test day.

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With official German language tests, you may need to do a little bit of research to know the
test structure. However, it’ll be easy to find.

For example, there’s tons of information about the popular Goethe Zertifikat exam online.
You’ll see that the A1 (beginner) level exam has a basic question-and-answer format, and
you’ll need to speak for about 15 minutes. However, the C2 (advanced) level exam requires
you to deliver a presentation and respond to counterarguments, also within 15 minutes.

Memorize Words Smarter with Word Maps

Once you know the format of the test, you’ll know what vocabulary
topics would be best for you to study. Word maps are an incredible
tool to avoid those long, uncomfortable pauses while
speaking.

That’s because word maps make it easy to memorize a lot of related

words at once. That way, you can be fully prepared for any topic
you need to discuss in your German oral exam and handle anything
that’s thrown at you during the test.

They’ll also help you get more use out of the phrases you’ll be
preparing to use in your oral exam. If you have a wide range of nouns, verbs and adjectives
to work with, you can easily swap them in and out of your German phrases, adapting them
to specific situations.

The beauty of this technique is that you can be creative within a framework. Check out my
examples below, where you’ll see that I’ve organized words both by theme (work) and part
of speech.

Verbs:

verdienen (to earn)

ausgeben (to spend)
sparen (to save)
ausgleichen (to balance)

Nouns:

die Motivation (motivation)

das Engagement (dedication)
das Berufsleben (work life)
die Berufswelt (vocational world)
das Gehalt (salary)

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Adjectives:

wenig (little)
viel (a lot)

Particles:

nur (only)
erst (first)
noch (still)

With the above word list, I can churn out the following sentence, for example:

Ich verdiene viel, weil mein Gehalt hoch ist. Aber ich gebe auch viel aus. Manchmal denke
ich, dass ich wenig verdiene. Aber das Problem ist, dass ich nicht viel spare. (I earn a lot,
because my salary is high. But I also spend a lot. Sometimes I think that I earn less. But the
problem is that I don’t save a lot.)

Practice in the Mirror

Success in a German oral exam isn’t just about the words and phrases you use. It’s also
about your body language, eye contact and overall demeanor. These are key aspects of your
speaking skills.

That’s why it’s important to practice speaking German in front of a mirror. Here’s what to
look for:

A confident posture, sitting up straight but calm and relaxed.

Hands folded on your lap, not in your pockets.

Eye contact with the examiner. Eye contact is a big deal in general in German
culture, and more so in German oral exams. Not looking at the examiner and
speaking while looking down is considered a mark of low self-confidence.

Watch Authentic German Videos

To develop a natural-sounding accent, it’s important to hear how

native speakers talk in real life. FluentU makes it easy by
transforming authentic German videos—like movie clips,
news reports, inspiring speeches and more—into personalized
language lessons.

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Since this is the content that native German speakers actually watch, you get the chance to
experience how modern German is spoken in real life.

Here’s just a brief example of the variety of content you’ll find on FluentU:

Watching a fun video, but having trouble understanding it? FluentU helps you get
comfortable with everyday German by combining all the benefits of complete
immersion and native-level conversations with interactive subtitles.

This way, you get German immersion online without ever worrying about missing a word.

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Just tap on any subtitled word to instantly see an in-context definition, usage examples and
a memorable illustration to help you understand how the word is used. If you see an
interesting word you don’t know, you can add it to your vocabulary list for later review.

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Once you’ve watched a video, you can use FluentU’s quizzes to actively practice all the
vocabulary in that video. Swipe left or right to see more examples of the word you’re on.

Access a complete interactive transcript of every video under the Dialogue tab, and
review words and phrases with convenient audio clips under Vocab.

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FluentU will even keep track of all the German words you’ve learned, then recommend
videos and ask you questions based on what you already know. Plus, it’ll tell you exactly
when it’s time for review. Now that’s a 100% personalized experience!

Start using FluentU on the website with your computer or tablet or, better yet, download
the FluentU app from the iTunes store or Google Play store.

I personally consider Steve Jobs to be one of the greatest oral speakers. His key tip was:
rehearse, rehearse and rehearse—with the phrases you want to use in your presentation.

This made me think to myself, “hey, why don’t I create a phrase bank to prepare for
German oral exams?”

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Here are some of my phrase banks for German oral exams, grouped
by category. We’ve based these categories largely on the Goethe
Zertifikat oral exam rubrics, but you can mix, match and adapt
them to any exam you’re planning to take. They’ll give you the
ready-to-use phrases you need to ace your test!

Introduction Phrases and Questions

Talking About Yourself

Ich heiße…/Ich bin… (My name is…/I am…)

Ich komme aus… (I come from…)

Ich wohne in… (I live in…)

Ich bin _____ Jahre alt. (I am _____ years old.)

Meine Hobbys sind… (My hobbies are…)

Asking About Someone Else

Was machst du/machen Sie bei der Arbeit? (What do you do at work?)

Was machen Sie/machst du beruflich? (What do you do professionally?)

Was machst du/machen Sie in der Freizeit? (What do you do in your free time?)

Wann haben Sie/hast du frei? (When do you have free time?)

Phrases and Questions for Shopping

For many beginner and lower-intermediate German oral exams, you’ll need to demonstrate
that you can get by in daily German life. You may be asked to role-play a conversation in a
store or some other German public place. These questions and phrases will help.

For the most part you should avoid using the du form in this context, as you would want to
speak respectfully and formally with strangers.

Wieviel kostet _____?/Was kostet _____? (How much does _____ cost?)

Wo kaufen/bekommen Sie…? (Where do you buy/get…?)

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Wie sind Ihre/deine Arbeitszeiten? (What are your working hours?)

Wann schließt _____? (When does _____ close?)

Wann öffnet die Bäckerei/der Supermarkt/die Apotheke _____? (When does the
bakery/supermarket/pharmacy open?)

Ich hätte gern/Ich möchte… (I would like…)

Phrases and Questions to Ask for Help

Ich hatte eine Frage. (I had a question/inquiry.)

Könnten Sie/ könntest du bitte mir helfen? (Could you please help me?)

Könnten Sie/ könntest du bitte mir eine/einen _____ geben? (Could you please give me a
_____?)

Könnten Sie mir sagen… (Could you tell me…)

Ich möchte wissen, ob… (I would like to know whether…)

Vielen Dank für die Informationen/Hilfe. (Thanks a lot for the information/help.)

Expressing and Asking for Opinions

Was denkst du/denken Sie? (What do you think?)

Meiner Meinung nach… (In my opinion…)

Ich finde, dass… (I find that…)

Ich denke, dass… (I think that…)

Hast du/Haben Sie etwas dazu zu sagen? (Do you have something to say about that?)

Wie meinst du/meinen Sie? (What do you feel?)

Giving a Mini-presentation
At the intermediate stages and up, you’ll need to prove that you can discuss a topic
coherently, support your opinions and address counterarguments. The Goethe Zertifikat B1
exam, for example, requires a brief presentation about an everyday topic.

Opening Phrases

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Guten Tag, meine Damen und Herren. (Hello, ladies and gentlemen.)

Mein heutiges Thema ist… (Today my topic is…)

Ich spreche über dieses Thema, weil… (I am speaking about this topic because…)

Main Points
Ich möchte über die folgenden Punkte sprechen… (I would like to speak about the
following points…)

Erstens/zweitens/drittens werde ich über _____ sprechen. (First/second/third I will be

talking about _____.)

Concluding Phrases
Ich möchte kurz zusammenfassen. (I would like to shortly conclude.)

Abschließend möchte ich sagen, dass… (In conclusion I would like to say that…)

Vielen Dank für die Aufmerksamkeit. (Thank you for the attention.)

Haben Sie Fragen? (Do you have any questions?)

Important Grammatical Structures for a Smooth German Oral Exam

Partizip 2 (Present Perfect Tense)

This tense is particularly useful for question-framing. Of course to use this tense, just be
sure you’re familiar with your German participles.

Haben Sie schon etwas gegessen? (Have you eaten something already?)

Wie sind Sie/bist du nach London gefahren? (How did you travel to London?)

Wann hast du Deutsch gelernt? (When did you learn German?)

Modalverben (Modal Verbs)

German modal verbs are quite handy to use in question-framing or expressing wants,
abilities, permissions, etc.:

Könn(t)en Sie Bitte…. (Could/Can you please…)

Ich wollte eigentlich… (I actually wanted to…)

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Darf ich…? (May I…?)

Trennbare Verben (Separable Verbs)

Many German oral exams will ask you to make plans or negotiate with another German
speaker, to demonstrate flexible conversation skills. Separable verbs are very useful here.

Kommst du am Freitag um 7 Uhr mit? (Are you coming along on Friday at 7 o’clock?)

Was bringst du zur Party mit? (What are you bringing along to the party?)

Um wie viel Uhr muss ich dich abholen? (At what time must I pick you up?)

Was ziehst du heute an? (What are you wearing today?)

Das sieht gut aus. (That looks good.)

Konnektoren (Connectors)
These work well in expressing opinions, thoughts, conditions and situations.

weil (because):

Remember to place the verb in the second clause at the end.

Das ist so, weil… (That is so, because…)

Ich denke so, weil… (I think so, because…)

Ich habe keine Zeit, weil… (I have no time because…)

Ich brauche es, weil… (I need it because….)

Ich habe es so gemacht, weil… (I did it that way because…)

dass (that):

This connector is used to reinforce facts and express direct speech as indirect. Very handy
when you want to express your personal opinion. This again displaces the verb in the
second clause to the end.

Ich finde, dass… (I find that…)

Mir ist es klar, dass… (It is clear that…)

Ich meine, dass…. (I mean to say that…)

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Das zeigt uns, dass… (It shows us that…)

obwohl (although):

This could either be placed in the first clause or the second.

Obwohl ich es gesagt habe, glaube ich… (Although I have said so, I think…)

Sie bliebt im Bett, obwohl sie nicht krank ist. (She stayed in Bett, although she isn’t sick.)

With these German oral exam phrases, you can walk into your test feeling cool and
confident!

Gayatri Tribhuvan is a passionate linguist from Bangalore, India and teaches

German, French and other languages. She enthusiastically contributes her knowledge in
the linguistics field. Get to know more about her language school that she runs in
Bangalore, India here.

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