200+ Basic German Words for Beginners

If you’ve just started learning German, you might be struggling

to get past the beginner stage.

Maybe you feel overwhelmed by the Germanic umlauts on

vowels (ä, ö, ü), or maybe that eszett letter (ß). Perhaps it’s
the pace of spoken German that’s made you question your
decision to start learning.

While there’s definitely truth to those concerns, worry not.

There are several short and easy-to-learn words in German
that can serve as a springboard while you become familiar
with the language.

Memorizing even a few basic German words for beginners will

be enough of a stepping stone to help you eventually learn
more. This is because many German words are composed of
several shorter words that, when combined, have a unique
meaning.

Take Kühlschrank, for example. This word is composed

of Kühl- which means “cool,” and -schrank which translates
to “cupboard.”
Combine the two and you get “cool cupboard,” which is a funny
way to describe a refrigerator—the actual meaning of the
word Kühlschrank.

Pretty relieving to know this, right?

German isn’t that hard after all. The most difficult part is to
summon up the courage to begin.

That’s why we took the time to put together a categorized

masterlist of the most essential words in German for
beginners.

Without further ado, let’s get right into it…

Table of Contents

1. Pronouns
2. Numbers
3. Nouns
4. Verbs
5. Adjectives
6. Conjunctions
7. Others
8. Conclusion

1. Pronouns
The first set of words you should add to your German
vocabulary are pronouns. These are the words we use to refer
to people, places, or things without actually using their names:

 Susan ate the chocolate bar. = She ate the chocolate

bar.

Here, we’ll be covering three types of pronouns in German:

personal, demonstrative, and interrogative.

Personal Pronouns

We’ll start with personal pronouns, given their importance in

sentences. These are crucial for almost any sentence, and we
recommend you memorize them by heart before you start with
any other words.

English German
I ich
you du
he er
she sie
it es
we wir
you (plural) ihr
they sie
me mich / mir
you dich / dir
him ihm / ihn
her ihr
us uns
them ihnen

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are especially critical for indicating

which objects or people you’re referring to in your dialogue.
These four basic German words are important to master at the
beginner stage.

English German
this dieses
that das
these diese
those jene

Interrogative Pronouns / Question Words

Interrogative pronouns, or the “Five Ws,” are the words we use

to ask questions.

English German
who wer
whom wen / wem
whose wessen
what was
which welche

In a similar vein, there are a few interrogative adverbs you

should learn at this stage as well:
English German
when wann
where wo
why warum
how wie

Citation: https://www.germanpod101.com/blog/2021/09/23/german-beginner-words/