This is the last guide in the series, and it collects the words that appear again and again in the situations the earlier posts described one by one. If you have followed the series, this is the summary; if you are starting here, it is the map.
German daily life is written down in a small number of documents: the registration certificate, the contract, the payslip and the insurance card. The language of those documents is what this guide gathers in one place.
Arriving and Registering
| German term | English meaning |
|---|---|
| die Anmeldung | the registration of your address |
| die Meldebescheinigung | the registration certificate |
| die Steueridentifikationsnummer | the tax identification number |
| das Buergeramt | the citizens' office |
| der Termin | the appointment |
| die Frist | the deadline |
| der Ausweis | the identity document |
| die Bescheinigung | the certificate |
Everything in Germany begins with the address. Register within two weeks of moving in, and keep the certificate, because the bank, the insurer and the employer all ask for the same piece of paper.
Work and the Workplace
| German term | English meaning |
|---|---|
| der Arbeitgeber | the employer |
| der Arbeitsvertrag | the employment contract |
| die Schicht | the shift |
| die Unterweisung | the safety instruction |
| die Probezeit | the probation period |
| die Kuendigungsfrist | the notice period |
| der Betriebsrat | the works council |
| die Arbeitszeit | the working time |
The employment contract is the source of every right that follows, from the probation period to the notice you must give. Read the clauses on working time and notice before you sign, not after.
Pay, Leave and Rights
| German term | English meaning |
|---|---|
| das Gehalt | the salary |
| die Abrechnung | the payslip |
| die Lohnsteuer | the wage tax |
| die Sozialabgaben | the social contributions |
| der Urlaub | the holiday |
| die Arbeitsunfaehigkeit | the incapacity for work |
| die Ueberstunde | the overtime hour |
| das Arbeitszeugnis | the reference |
Your payslip explains where the money goes, and the words on it are the same for every employer. Learn them once and you can check any month of your working life in a few minutes.
Housing and Money
| German term | English meaning |
|---|---|
| die Miete | the rent |
| die Nebenkosten | the additional costs |
| die Kaution | the deposit |
| die Hausordnung | the house rules |
| der Mietvertrag | the tenancy agreement |
| das Konto | the bank account |
| die Ueberweisung | the transfer |
| die Lastschrift | the direct debit |
Rent, deposit and the annual utility statement are the three numbers a household has to watch. The bank account in the middle of them is what makes a German working life administratively possible.
Health and Insurance
| German term | English meaning |
|---|---|
| die Krankenversicherung | the health insurance |
| die Versichertenkarte | the insurance card |
| der Hausarzt | the family doctor |
| die Ueberweisung | the referral |
| das Rezept | the prescription |
| die Apotheke | the pharmacy |
| die Krankmeldung | the reporting of sickness |
| der Notruf | the emergency call |
Health cover is not optional in Germany, and the family doctor is the door to everything else. Report sickness to your employer on the first day, and keep the certificate until the treatment is finished.
Family, School and Neighbourhood
| German term | English meaning |
|---|---|
| die Kita | the day-care centre |
| die Schule | the school |
| der Elternabend | the parents' evening |
| das Formular | the form |
| die Unterschrift | the signature |
| der Kinderarzt | the paediatrician |
| der Nachbar | the neighbour |
| die Ruhezeit | the quiet hours |
Family life and neighbourhood life share one thing in German: they run on forms, appointments and consideration for the people next door. A signed form and a quiet evening solve almost everything.
Travel and Emergencies
| German term | English meaning |
|---|---|
| der Fahrplan | the timetable |
| die Fahrkarte | the ticket |
| das Gleis | the platform track |
| der Anschluss | the connection |
| die Verspaetung | the delay |
| der Arbeitsweg | the journey to work |
| die Polizei | the police |
| die Feuerwehr | the fire service |
Commuting is part of the working day, and the transport vocabulary is short and used every morning. The emergency numbers are two of the few things worth memorising exactly: 112 for the fire service and the ambulance, 110 for the police.
The Phrases That Carry the Day
| German phrase | What it means |
|---|---|
| Guten Tag, ich habe einen Termin. | Hello, I have an appointment. |
| Koennen Sie mir bitte helfen? | Could you help me, please? |
| Ich verstehe das nicht ganz. | I do not quite understand that. |
| Koennen Sie das bitte wiederholen? | Could you repeat that, please? |
| Ich spreche nur ein wenig Deutsch. | I speak only a little German. |
| Wo muss ich unterschreiben? | Where do I have to sign? |
| Bis wann muss ich das abgeben? | By when must I hand that in? |
| Vielen Dank fuer Ihre Zeit. | Thank you for your time. |
These eight sentences open almost every door in Germany, because they do the two things that matter most: they ask for help and they check that a deadline has been understood.
How to Use This Series
The guides in this series are built to be read one situation at a time rather than from beginning to end, so begin with the problem that is in front of you this week.
Each guide follows the same shape: the words, the phrases, one chart and the practical rules that surround them, which makes the material easy to revisit later.
Work through one topic a week, use the new words in the same week at work or at an appointment, and the vocabulary stops being a list and becomes a habit.
Grammar matters, but in daily life the deadline, the form and the short sentence come first, and fluency grows from using them rather than from studying them.
If you are working in Germany, the words of the payslip, the contract and the doctor's practice repay you fastest; if you are in the Netherlands, start with the huisarts, the gemeente and the OV-chipkaart.
Ten new words used once are worth more than a hundred words read once, so keep these guides close and come back to them whenever a letter arrives. To build the German of daily life situation by situation, learn German with a course that follows real life in Germany.
The bars follow the order of this guide; each value is a sequence number rather than a duration.
Everyday German Is a Skill You Build
No single guide teaches a language, and this one does not pretend to. What it does is show that the German of daily life is a limited, repeated and learnable set of situations, each with its own small vocabulary.
The recurring words are the ones worth practising: Termin, Frist, Bescheinigung, Anmeldung. If you want to learn German for daily life, work through them situation by situation, and the paperwork that once looked like a wall becomes a routine you can handle in your own language and in German.
Everyday German is a handful of situations, each with its own words. Learn German with a course built around real daily life in Germany and the Netherlands.
Put your German to work. The LanguageSkills German course is self-paced and built around real situations like these — you speak, and your AI tutor corrects you on the spot, from A1 to B2.