Introduction: 

1001 Easy German Phrases contains basic words and phrases that are useful for communication when traveling in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, where German is most commonly spoken. In addition, German is still widely understood and spoken in eastern France (Lorraine and Alsace) and northern Italy (South Tyrol).

This book will also assist you with understanding German's structural qualities, such as grammar and syntax, as well as enabling you to express your needs and handle situations when traveling in any of the countries and regions mentioned above. While this book is tailored to your needs as a traveler, it is not intended as a comprehensive guide to the German language. However, since the material presented is not cumulative, you may pick and choose the chapter or section that is most useful to you in any given situation.

Hochdeutsch vs. Dialekt

People new to the German language may be in for a big surprise after arriving in Austria, Germany, or Switzerland for the first time, because the German they hear may not exactly match the German they expected to hear. Although standard German, or Hochdeutsch [HOCH-doytsh], is taught in schools and used in business, social, and tourist-related situations, there always comes a time when you suddenly experience the "Bahnhof" sensation of words coming at you like the noise at a train station! You have come face to face with one of the many dozens of dialects of German.

Hochdeutsch is the result of efforts to synchronize the many different regional variants that have existed since the early Middle Ages in the German-speaking parts of Europe. Faced with the multitude of different German dialects that obstructed communication among inhabitants from different German-speaking regions, people realized the need to come up with a standardized version that would be understood by all. So, thanks to Hochdeutsch, newspapers, books, and other publications from Hamburg to Vienna all display the same language, despite minor regional variations.

The regional dialects have not ceased to exist, however, and when residents of the Austrian state of Tyrol, for example, speak among themselves, they are not using Hochdeutsch, but their regional dialect. Similarly, if you visit a local pub in a small coastal town in Northern Germany, you will hear people speak in "Plattdeutsch," or you will hear "Bairisch" spoken in the southern and southeastern parts of Germany, including the city of Munich. And anyone who has spent more than a day in German Switzerland knows that the spoken language, "Schwyzerdutsch" [SHVY-tseh-dootsh], is quite different from the Hochdeutsch used in Swiss newspapers or heard on Swiss TV and radio stations.

Pronunciation

Note that the phonetic transcription provided for each word and phrase is modeled closely after the sound and pronunciation patterns of English. In the tables that follow, you will find a description of German sounds that differ from English sounds. Together with the information provided in the section "Phonetic Transcription," this information will help you with the pronunciation of German words, phrases, and sentences.

A Brief Guide to German Sounds

Below you will find a brief description of German sounds that are markedly different from English. Sounds that are similar to ones found in English are not listed.