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German Phrases You'll Never Need to Know




As a student of German (Deutsch, as we German-speaking people call it), I can safely say, "Gehen wir ins Kino!" and know exactly what the hell I just said. You, the avid reader, may not have that luxury. To that end, I've put together this small phrase book of phrases I can guarantee you'll never need. Please enjoy!

  • "Ich bin ein Tisch." - "I am a table."
  • Pronounciation: The "ch" sound is like the hissing sound a cat makes, only with a harder rasp. The "i" is as in "sin". When "e" and "i" are together, the latter makes a hard sound ("ein" is pronounced "eye+n"). The "sch" is just like the English "sh".
  • "Backen wir meinen Vater!" - "Let's bake my father!"
  • Pronounciation: The "a" in "Backen" and "Vater" is pronounced like "ah" as in "Say 'ah'...". The "w" is pronouced like an English "v" and the "i" in "wir" is just like the "e" in "we". "Meinen" = "M+eye+nen". The "v" is just like the English "f".
  • "Ich habe nie gegessen." - "I have never eaten."
  • Pronounciation: "a" as in "Say ah...", the "e" in "habe" is "uh", "nie" as in "knee", "gegessen" is "guh-guess-en".
  • "Mein T-Shirt macht Kalte Platte zum Abendbrot." - "My T-Shirt is making cold cuts for dinner."
  • Pronounciation: "Mein" = "Mine", "T-Shirt" = "T-Shirt", "Kalte" = "Call+tuh", "Platte" = "Plahtuh", "zum" = "tsoom", "brot" = "broht"

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