You can count on this chapter to cover German numbers, currency, credit and debit cards, time, dates, and major holidays and celebrations.
In some dialects, the number zwei (two) is sometimes pronounced “tsvoh” to help distinguish it from the similar sound of drei (three).
Remember the nursery rhyme about the four-and-twenty blackbirds? That’s how Germans say the numbers from 21 to 99 (e.g., 59 = neunundfünfzig = nine-and-fifty).
Learning how to say your hotel room number is a good way to practice German numbers. You’ll likely be asked for the number frequently (at breakfast, or to claim your key when you return to your room).
Germany and Austria use the euro currency. One euro (€) is divided into 100 cents. Germans use the term Euro (oy-roh) and Cent (tsehnt) as both singular and plural, so €2.50 would be zwei Euro fünfzig Cent—or simply zwei fünfzig.
Switzerland has held fast to its francs (which can be abbreviated as Fr, SF, or CHF). Each franc is divided into 100 smaller units, called Rappen (abbreviated as Rp, rah-pehn) in German.
Use your common cents—Cent and Rappen are like pennies, and the euro and franc currencies each have coins like nickels, dimes, and half-dollars. There are also €1 and €2 coins.
To get cash, ATMs are the way to go. Every cash machine (called Geldautomat in Germany, Bankomat in Austria and Switzerland) has multilingual instructions. However, the keys might be marked in German: Bestätigung means confirm, Korrektur means change or correct, and Abbruch is cancel.
Credit cards are widely accepted at larger businesses, though smaller shops, restaurants, and guest houses prefer cash. Even if they accept credit cards, some hotels might cut you a discount for paying in cash.
Much of Europe is adopting a “chip-and-PIN” system for credit and debit cards, which are embedded with an electronic chip. If a shop window or machine indicates that Visa or MasterCard is accepted, your American card should work. But automated machines that take only GeldKarten and/or EC Karten can only handle these chip-embedded cards. If a payment machine won’t take your card, look for a cashier who can swipe it instead, or find a machine that takes cash.
If calling to reserve tickets or a hotel room, you may need to convey your credit-card information over the phone. Prepare in advance: To fill in the blanks, use the numbers SEE HERE, alphabet SEE HERE, and months SEE HERE and the years SEE HERE.
exchange | Wechsel vehkh-sehl |
change money | Geld wechseln gehlt vehkh-sehln |
exchange rate | Wechselkurs vehkh-sehl-koors |
dollars | Dollar dohl-ar |
traveler’s check | Reisescheck rī-zeh-shehk |
buy / sell | kaufen / verkaufen kow-fehn / fehr-kow-fehn |
commission | Kommission koh-mis-see-ohn |
Any extra fee? | Extra Gebühren? ehk-strah geh-bew-rehn |
I would like... | Ich hätte gern... ikh heh-teh gehrn |
...small bills. | ...kleine Banknoten. klī-neh bahnk-noh-tehn |
...large bills. | ...grosse Banknoten. groh-seh bahnk-noh-tehn |
...a mix of small and large bills. | ...eine Mischung von kleinen und grossen Banknoten. ī-neh mee-shoong fohn klī-nehn oont groh-sehn bahnk-noh-tehn |
...coins. | ...Münzen. mewnt-sehn |
Could you break this? (big bills into smaller bills) | Können Sie dies wechseln? kurn-ehn zee dees vehkh-sehln |
Is this a mistake? | Ist das ein Fehler? ist dahs īn fay-lehr |
This is incorrect. | Das stimmt nicht. dahs shtimt nikht |
Where is the nearest casino? | Wo ist das nächste Kasino? voh ist dahs nehkh-steh kah-see-noh |
German has three different words for “deposit.” A Pfand (pfahnt) is a token amount that you pay to use a returnable item, such as a recyclable bottle or a stein at a beer garden. A Kaution (kowt-see-ohn) is a deposit you put down and expect to get back (such as on a bike rental). An Anzahlung (ahn-tsah-loong) is a prepayment or down payment (such as at a hotel).
In Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, the 24-hour clock (which we call “military time”) is used for setting formal appointments (for instance, arrival times at a hotel), for the opening and closing hours of museums and shops, and for train, bus, and boat schedules. Informally, Europeans usually use the same 12-hour clock we do. So they might meet a friend at 3:00 am Nachmittag (in the afternoon) to catch a train 15 minutes later at 15:15.
What time is it? | Wie spät ist es? vee shpayt ist ehs |
____ o’clock | ____ Uhr ____ oor |
(in the) morning | (am) Morgen (ahm) mor-gehn |
(in the) afternoon | (am) Nachmittag (ahm) nahkh-mit-tahg |
(in the) evening | (am) Abend (ahm) ah-behnt |
(at) night | (in der) Nacht (in dehr) nahkht |
half | Halb hahlb |
quarter | Viertel feer-tehl |
minute | Minute mee-noo-teh |
hour | Stunde shtoon-deh |
It’s... / At... | Es ist... / Um... ehs ist / oom |
...8:00 in the morning. | ...acht Uhr morgens. ahkht oor mor-gehns |
...16:00. | ...sechzehn Uhr. zehkh-tsayn oor |
...4:00 in the afternoon. | ...vier Uhr nachmittags. feer oor nahkh-mit-tahgs |
...10:30 in the evening (“half-eleven”). | ...halb elf abends. hahlb ehlf ah-behnts |
...a quarter past nine. | ...viertel nach neun. feer-tehl nahkh noyn |
...a quarter to eleven. | ...viertel vor elf. feer-tehl for ehlf |
at 6:00 sharp | um Punkt sechs Uhr oom poonkt zehkhs oor |
from 8:00 to 10:00 | von acht bis zehn fohn ahkht bis tsayn |
noon | Mittag mit-tahg |
midnight | Mitternacht mit-tehr-nahkht |
It’s my bedtime. | Es ist meine Bettzeit. ehs ist mī-neh beht-sīt |
I will be / We will be... | Ich bin / Wir sind... ikh bin / veer zint |
...back at 11:20. | ...um elf Uhr zwanzig zurück. oom ehlf oor tsvahn-tsig tsoo-rewk |
...there by 18:00. | ...um achtzehn Uhr dort. oom ahkht-tsayn oor dort |
When? | Wann? vahn |
At what time? | Um wie viel Uhr? oom vee feel oor |
Opening times? | Öffnungszeiten? urf-noongs-tsī-tehn |
When does this open / close? | Wann ist hier geöffnet / geschlossen? vahn ist heer geh-urf-neht / geh-shloh-sehn |
Is the train / bus...? | Ist der Zug / Bus...? ist dehr tsoog / boos |
...early / late | ...früh / verspätet frew / fehr-shpay-teht |
...on time | ...pünktlich pewnkt-likh |
When is check-out time? | Um wie viel Uhr ist Check-out? oom vee feel oor ist “check-out” |
day | Tag tahg |
today | heute hoy-teh |
sunrise | Sonnenaufgang zoh-nehn-owf-gahng |
this morning | heute Morgen hoy-teh mor-gehn |
sunset | Sonnenuntergang zoh-nehn-oon-tehr-gahng |
tonight | heute Abend hoy-teh ah-behnt |
yesterday | gestern geh-stehrn |
tomorrow | morgen mor-gehn |
tomorrow morning | morgen früh mor-gehn frew |
day after tomorrow | übermorgen ew-behr-mor-gehn |
Sunday | Sonntag zohn-tahg |
Monday | Montag mohn-tahg |
Tuesday | Dienstag deens-tahg |
Wednesday | Mittwoch mit-vohkh |
Thursday | Donnerstag doh-nehrs-tahg |
Friday | Freitag frī-tahg |
Saturday | Samstag / Sonnabend (Aus.) zahms-tahg / zohn-ah-behnt |
week | Woche vohkh-eh |
last week | letzte Woche lehts-teh vohkh-eh |
this week | diese Woche dee-zeh vohkh-eh |
next week | nächste Woche nehkh-steh vohkh-eh |
weekend | Wochenende vohkh-ehn-ehn-deh |
this weekend | dieses Wochenende dee-zehs vohkh-ehn-ehn-deh |
For dates, you can usually take any number, add ten to the end, then say the month. So June 19 is neunzehnten Juni.
year | Jahr yar |
season | Jahreszeit yar-ehs-tsīt |
spring | Frühling frew-ling |
summer | Sommer zohm-ehr |
fall | Herbst hehrpst |
winter | Winter vin-tehr |
For a list of years, see the “Numbers” section, earlier.
German speakers sing “Happy Birthday” to the tune we use, sometimes even in English. The German version means “On your birthday, best wishes”: Zum Geburtstag, viel Glück, Zum Geburtstag, viel Glück, Zum Geburtstag, liebe ____, Zum Geburtstag, viel Glück.