German - Deutsch

Standard German vocabulary, numerals and quotations for comparison with other languages


In one respect German is one of the most conservative of the Germanic languages, preserving a considerable amount of grammar which many of the others have simplified or lost. In another respect though, German has changed the most. This is because the sounds of the language underwent major modifications between the 3rd and 8th centuries. English, though it has lost much of the original Germanic grammar, has preserved most of the sounds which changed so drastically in German, as this table shows.

Sound change English German
d → t daughter Tochter
k → ch book Buch
p → pf plum Pflaume
p → ff open offen
t → z two zwei
t → s what was
th → d three drei

1. Bruder    brother        1. ja    yes        1. Was kostet das?    How much is that?
2. Schwester    sister        2. nein    no        2. Wo kann ich bezahlen?    Where do I pay?
3. Sohn    son        3. bitte    please        3. Verstehen    To understand
4. Tochter    daughter        4. danke    thank you        4. Ich verstehe    I understand
5. Vater    father                  5. Ich verstehe nicht    I don’t understand
6. Mutter    mother        1. Sonntag    Sunday        6. Ich weiß    I know
          2. Montag    Monday        7. Ich weiß nicht    I don’t know
1. Frühling    spring        3. Dienstag    Tuesday          
2. Sommer    summer        4. Mittwoch    Wednesday        1. ich bin    I am
3. Herbst    autumn        5. Donnerstag    Thursday        2. du bist    you are (informal)
4. Winter    winter        6. Freitag    Friday        Sie sind    you are (formal)
          7. Sonnabend    Saturday (nth./sth.        3. er ist    he is
          Samstag    of Frankfurt)          
1. Pferd    horse                  sie ist    she is
2. Hund    dog        1. Stadt    town        es ist    it is
3. Katze    cat        2. Dorf    village        1. wir sind    we are
4. Kuh    cow        3. Straße    street        2. ihr seid    you are (pl., inf.)
5. Bulle    bull (nth./        4. Platz    square        Sie sind    you are (pl., frm.)
Stier    sth.)                    
6. Schwein    pig        5. Brücke    bridge        3. sie sind    they are
7. Schaf    sheep        6. Haus    house          
8. Wolf    wolf        7. Garten    garden          
9. Maus    mouse        8. Kirche    church          
10. Vogel    bird        9. Schule    school        1. ein, eine, ein    one (msc., fem., ntr.)
11. Gans    goose        10. Bahnhof    station        2. zwei    two
12. Fisch    fish                  3. drei    three
                    4. vier    four
1. Brot    bread        1. schwarz    black        5. fünf    five
2. Apfel    apple        2. weiß    white        6. sechs    six
3. Nuss    nut        3. blau    blue        7. sieben    seven
4. Salz    salt        4. grün    green        8. acht    eight
5. Pfeffer    pepper        5. gelb    yellow        9. neun    nine
6. Honig    honey        6. rot    red        10. zehn    ten
7. Milch    milk                  11. elf    eleven
8. Butter    butter        1. sehen    to see        12. zwölf    twelve
9. Käse    cheese        2. hören    to hear        13. dreizehn    thirteen
10. Wasser    water        3. essen    to eat        20. zwanzig    twenty
11. Wein    wine        4. trinken    to drink        30. dreißig    thirty
12. Bier    beer        5. singen    to sing        100. hundert    a hundred
                      
1. Berg    mountain        1. Name    name        1. Hand    hand
2. Meer    sea        2. schreiben    to write        2. Fuß    foot
3. See    lake        3. Buch    book        3. Herz    heart
4. Fluss    river        4. sprechen    to speak        4. Blut    blood
5. alt    old        5. Tag    day        5. Kopf    head
6. neu    new        6. Nacht    night        6. Auge    eye
7. Schiff    ship        7. Woche    week        7. Ohr    ear
8. Zug    train        8. Monat    month        8. Zahn    tooth
9. Bus    bus        9. Jahr    year        9. Haar    hair
10. Hafen    harbour        10. und    and        10. schlafen    to sleep
                      
1. Januar    January        7. Juli    July        1. Sonne    sun
2. Februar    February        8. August    August        2. Mond    moon
3. März    March        9. September    September        3. Stern    star
4. April    April        10. Oktober    October        4. Wind    wind
5. Mai    May        11. November    November        5. Regen    rain
6. Juni    June        12. Dezember    December        6. Schnee    snow
                    7. Eis    ice
1. kalt    cold        1. heiß    hot        8. Feuer    fire
2. klein    small        2. groß    large        9. Stein    stone
3. dünn    thin        3. dick    thick        10. Silber    silver
4. sauer    sour        4. süß    sweet          
                      
1. Mund    mouth        1. geben    to give        1. taub    deaf
2. Zunge    tongue        2. kaufen    to buy        2. tief    deep
3. Wort    word        3. sitzen    to sit        3. voll    full
4. Sprache    language        4. lesen    to read        4. jung    young
5. Blume    flower        5. Markt    market        5. gut    good
6. Seife    soap        6. Tür    door        6. König    king



* * * * * * * *

Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt, daß er seinen eingeborenen Sohn gab, auf daß alle, die an ihn glauben, nicht verloren werden, sondern das ewige Leben haben.

For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3,16

* * * * * * * *

1 Richtet nicht, auf daß ihr nicht gerichtet werdet. 2 Denn mit welcherlei Gericht ihr richtet, werdet ihr gerichtet werden; und mit welcherlei Maß ihr messet, wird euch gemessen werden.

1 Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. 2 For you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others, and you will be measured by the same measure you use. Matthew 7

* * * * * * * *

Alles nun, was ihr wollt, daß euch die Leute tun sollen, das tut ihr ihnen auch.

In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you Matthew 7,12

* * * * * * * *

Du sollst deinen Nächsten lieben wie dich selbst.

Love others as much as you love yourself. Matthew 22,39

* * * * * * * *

9 Unser Vater in dem Himmel! Dein Name werde geheiligt. 10 Dein Reich komme. Dein Wille geschehe auf Erden wie im Himmel. 11 Unser täglich Brot gib uns heute. 12 Und vergib uns unsere Schuld, wie wir unseren Schuldigern vergeben. 13 Und führe uns nicht in Versuchung, sondern erlöse uns von dem Übel.

9 Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Matthew 6

* * * * * * * *

German is spoken in:

Berlin
Hamburg
München
Wien
Hannover
Frankfurt
Straßburg - Strasbourg
Zürich


Some Approximate Pronunciations


German as in is pronounced as in UK English
au Haus ou house
ä Männer e men
äu Häuser oi noise
ch Nacht ch Scots loch
-d Hand -t rant
ee Schnee ay day
ei Wein i wine
eu neu oy boy
g gut g good
-ig zwanzig -i-ch -i-Scots loch
ie Stier ee steer
j Jahr y year
oo Boot oa boat
ö schön u turn
pf Pferd pf cupful
r rot, Mutter r as in south-eastern
UK English		 red, mother
s- suchen z- zoo
-s- lesen z maze
-s altes -ss less
sp- spät -sh p- cash payment
st- Sturm -sh t- wash tub
ß groß ss gross
sch Schiff sh ship
th Neanderthal t target
ü Tür u in French lune
between doom and deem
v- von f- fond
w- west v- vest
z Zunge ts cats


Closely related languages:
Yiddish
Wymysorys

An important German dialect:
Austro-Bavarian



My other websites:
Languages of the World
New Nutshell
Christianity in a Nutshell

My wife's websites:
Meaning of Life
Bits



I wanted to share with you why I think Christianity is such a great religion. A person who lives to 70 has a life of 613,200 hours. Christianity promises that the next life will be in ideal surroundings with friendly, happy people. There will be perfect health and no crime. Of course you’re free to reject it.

Isn’t it worth, though, spending at least part of one of your 613,200 hours just checking it out. Then if you reject it, at least you’ll have made an informed decision. Is it just possible that your world view could be wrong and Christianity might actually be true? Where would that leave you if you choose to turn down the offer of eternal life?


These are some of my wife's thoughts and ideas:

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