📕 Lektion 1: Hallo! — Greetings and Introductions
👋 Welcome! In this lesson you'll learn how to greet people, introduce yourself, and ask how someone is — all in German! Let's get started!
🎬 Lesson Video
1. 👋 Greetings (Begrüßungen)
In German, there are different greetings depending on the time of day. Just like in English we say "Good morning" and "Good evening," Germans have greetings for different times too.
| German | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Guten Morgen! | GOO-ten MOR-gen | Good morning! (before noon) |
| Guten Tag! | GOO-ten TAHK | Good day! (afternoon) |
| Guten Abend! | GOO-ten AH-bent | Good evening! (after sunset) |
| Gute Nacht! | GOO-teh NAHKT | Good night! (before sleep) |
| Hallo! | HAH-loh | Hello! (any time) |
| Tschüss! | TCHÜSS | Bye! (informal) |
| Auf Wiedersehen! | OW-fee-der-ZAY-en | Goodbye! (formal) |
| Servus! | ZAIR-voos | Hello / Bye (in southern Germany) |
| Hi! | HIGH | Hi! (informal, for young people) |
🕐 Remember: Germans care about the time of day. Say Guten Morgen in the morning, Guten Tag in the afternoon, and Guten Abend in the evening!
2. 🙋 Introductions (Sich vorstellen)
When you meet someone for the first time, you need to introduce yourself. There are 3 easy ways:
Way 1 — Easiest 🟢
Ich heiße ... — Ich HYE-suh — My name is ...
Way 2 — Formal 🟡
Mein Name ist ... — Mine NAH-muh ist — My name is ...
Way 3 — With your country 🌍
Ich bin ... aus ... — Ich bin ... aus ... — I am ... from ...
Examples: - Ich heiße Ahmed. — My name is Ahmed. - Mein Name ist Maria. — My name is Maria. - Ich bin Anna. — I am Anna. - Ich komme aus Deutschland. — I come from Germany.
🇩🇪 Countries
| German | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| Deutschland | DOYTSH-land | Germany |
| Frankreich | FRANK-ryesh | France |
| Italien | ee-TAH-lee-en | Italy |
| Spanien | SHPAH-nee-en | Spain |
| Österreich | OOS-ter-ryesh | Austria |
| die Schweiz | dee SHVYTS | Switzerland |
| Ägypten | eh-GYP-ten | Egypt |
| Marokko | mah-ROK-oh | Morocco |
| Tunesien | too-NEE-zee-en | Tunisia |
| Japan | YAH-pahn | Japan |
| die Türkei | dee toor-KYE | Turkey |
| Russland | ROOS-lahnd | Russia |
| England | ENG-lahnd | England |
| die USA | dee oo-es-AH | the USA |
| China | CHEE-nah | China |
Useful sentence: Woher kommst du? — voh-HAIR komst doo? — Where are you from?
3. 😊 How Are You? (Wie geht's?)
Learning to ask how someone is and how to reply — super important in any conversation!
The Question:
| German | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Wie geht's? | Vee gayts | How's it going? (informal) |
| Wie geht es Ihnen? | Vee gayt es EE-nen | How are you? (formal) |
| Wie geht es dir? | Vee gayt es deer | How are you? (informal) |
The Answers:
| German | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Mir geht's gut! | Meer gayts GOOT | I'm fine! 😄 |
| Mir geht's sehr gut! | Meer gayts ZAIR GOOT | I'm very well! 🤩 |
| Mir geht's so lala. | Meer gayts ZOH lah-lah | So-so / okay. 😐 |
| Mir geht's schlecht. | Meer gayts SHLEKHT | I'm not well. 😞 |
Short Conversation:
A: Hallo! Wie geht's? B: Hallo! Mir geht's gut, und dir? A: Mir geht's auch gut, danke!
4. 👤 Personal Pronouns (Personalpronomen)
Pronouns are little words we use instead of names. In German, there's an important difference between "you" for friends and "you" (formal) for strangers.
| Pronoun | German | Pronunciation | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | ich | Ishh — ishh | Talking about myself |
| You (friend) | du | Doo — doo | With friends and family |
| You (formal) | Sie | Zee — zee | With strangers, teachers, elders |
| He | er | Air — air | About a man or boy |
| She | sie | Zee — zee | About a woman or girl |
| We | wir | Veer — veer | Me + someone else |
| You guys | ihr | Ear — ear | A group of friends |
| They | sie | Zee — zee | A group of people |
| You (formal pl.) | Sie | Zee — zee | Formal group |
⚠️ Golden Rule: Address adults, strangers, and teachers with Sie (always capital S)! Friends and family get du.
5. 📝 Verb "heißen" Conjugation (to be called)
The verb heißen means "to be called / named." The verb changes its form with each pronoun. Check the table:
| Pronoun | Conjugation | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| ich | heiße | HYE-suh | Ich heiße Ahmed. |
| du | heißt | HYST | Du heißt Maria. |
| Sie (formal) | heißen | HYE-sen | Sie heißen Herr Müller. |
| er / sie | heißt | HYST | Er heißt Peter. |
| wir | heißen | HYE-sen | Wir heißen Schmidt. |
| ihr | heißt | HYST | Ihr heißt Ali und Sara. |
| sie (they) | heißen | HYE-sen | Sie heißen Mayer. |
🎯 Notice: The verb only changes for ich (becomes heiße) and stays heißt for du/er/sie/ihr, and heißen for Sie/wir/sie (plural)!
Helpful sentences:
- Ich heiße Lena. — My name is Lena.
- Wie heißt du? — What is your name? (to a friend)
- Wie heißen Sie? — What is your name? (formal)
- Er heißt Paul. — His name is Paul.
6. 🔢 Numbers 1-20 (Zahlen 1-20)
Numbers are essential. Memorize them and repeat every day!
| Number | German | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | eins | ayns |
| 2 | zwei | tsvai |
| 3 | drei | drai |
| 4 | vier | feer |
| 5 | fünf | fünff |
| 6 | sechs | zeks |
| 7 | sieben | ZEE-ben |
| 8 | acht | akht |
| 9 | neun | noyn |
| 10 | zehn | tsayn |
| 11 | elf | elf |
| 12 | zwölf | tsvelf |
| 13 | dreizehn | DRAI-tsayn |
| 14 | vierzehn | FEER-tsayn |
| 15 | fünfzehn | FÜNFF-tsayn |
| 16 | sechzehn | ZEKH-tsayn |
| 17 | siebzehn | ZEEP-tsayn |
| 18 | achtzehn | AKHT-tsayn |
| 19 | neunzehn | NOYN-tsayn |
| 20 | zwanzig | TSVAHN-tsikh |
💡 Tip: Notice that from 13 to 19 we say the number + zehn (ten). So dreizehn = drei + zehn = 3 + 10 = 13!
7. 🔤 The Alphabet (Das Alphabet)
German uses the same letters as English, but there are extra letters and different pronunciations. Most importantly: there's the ß (Eszett) which sounds like "ss"!
Important Letters:
| Letter | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| A a | Ah | Apfel (apple) |
| B b | Beh | Brot (bread) |
| C c | Tseh | Café (coffee) |
| D d | Deh | Danke (thanks) |
| E e | Eh | Essen (food) |
| F f | Eff | Fisch (fish) |
| G g | Gheh | Gut (good) |
| H h | Hah | Hallo (hello) |
| I i | Ih | Ich (I) |
| J j | Yot | Ja (yes) |
| K k | Kah | Kind (child) |
| L l | Ell | Liebe (love) |
| M m | Emm | Mutter (mother) |
| N n | Enn | Name (name) |
| O o | Oh | Oma (grandma) |
| P p | Peh | Papa (dad) |
| Q q | Kuh | Quelle (source) |
| R r | Err | Rot (red) |
| S s | Ess | Sonne (sun) |
| T t | Teh | Tag (day) |
| U u | Uh | Uhr (clock) |
| V v | Fow | Vogel (bird) |
| W w | Veh | Wasser (water) |
| X x | Iks | Xylophon (xylophone) |
| Y y | Üp-see-lohn | Yoga (yoga) |
| Z z | Tsett | Zeit (time) |
Extra German Letters 🇩🇪
| Letter | Pronunciation | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Ä ä | Eh-UM-lowt | Like the "e" in "bed" |
| Ö ö | Oh-UM-lowt | Purse your lips and say "eh" — between o and e |
| Ü ü | Uh-UM-lowt | Purse your lips and say "ee" — between u and i |
| ß | Ess-tsehtt | Sounds like a strong "ss". Like in heißen (HYE-sen) |
🤔 Remember: ß is a special German letter. You write it after long vowel sounds. Example: Straße (street) vs Masse (mass).
Buchstabieren — Spelling Out Loud
When you say your name in German, you have to spell it letter by letter.
Example — Beispiel:
A: Wie heißen Sie?
B: Ich heiße Müller.
A: Wie bitte? Buchstabieren Sie bitte!
B: M — Ü — L — L — E — R
8. 💬 Conversation (Gespräch)
Here is a conversation between two people getting to know each other. Read it and try to understand every sentence:
Person A: Hallo! Ich heiße Anna. Wie heißt du?
(Hello! My name is Anna. What's your name?)Person B: Hallo Anna! Ich heiße Tom.
(Hello Anna! My name is Tom.)Person A: Freut mich, Tom! Wie geht's dir?
(Nice to meet you, Tom! How are you?)Person B: Mir geht's gut, danke! Und dir?
(I'm fine, thanks! And you?)Person A: Mir geht's sehr gut! Woher kommst du?
(I'm doing great! Where are you from?)Person B: Ich komme aus Deutschland. Und du?
(I come from Germany. And you?)Person A: Ich komme aus Ägypten.
(I come from Egypt.)Person B: Toll! Tschüss, Anna!
(Great! Bye, Anna!)Person A: Tschüss, Tom!
(Bye, Tom!)
9. 🗣️ Key Vocabulary (Wichtige Wörter)
| German | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| der Name | deer NAH-muh | the name |
| das Land | dahs LAHND | the country |
| ja | yah | yes |
| nein | nine | no |
| danke | DAHN-kuh | thank you |
| bitte | BIT-tuh | please / you're welcome |
| und | oont | and |
| auch | owkh | also / too |
| hallo | HAH-loh | hello |
| tschüss | tchüss | bye |
| freut mich | froyt mish | pleased to meet you |
| wie | vee | how |
| wer | vair | who |
| woher | voh-HAIR | where from |
| kommen | KOH-men | to come |
| aus | ows | from (country) |
| der Mann | deer mahn | the man |
| die Frau | dee frow | the woman / Mrs. |
| das Kind | dahs kind | the child |
| gut | goot | good |
| schlecht | shlekht | bad |
| sehr | zair | very |
🎉 Excellent! You've completed Lektion 1! Now you can greet people, introduce yourself, ask how they are, and count from 1 to 20.
👉 Next step: Go to the 📝 Übungsbuch exercises Lektion 01 and practice to make it stick!