German for your first 48 hours in Germany

Two days in Germany turn on two facts you cannot see from outside: what is shut, and what needs a document. A prepaid SIM needs an identity check before activation. Most ordinary shops close on Sunday, with local exceptions. If you are moving in, address registration generally needs confirmation from the housing provider. The requirements for a bank account or phone contract are separate; they do not all hinge on the same visit. This page runs the 48 hours in order, from the platform announcement to that office on day two, and gives you the German for each stop. Every row is quoted from the survive lane of our German collection, 207 phrases we wrote and reviewed, with the train, the room and the restaurant rows taken from the travel lane beside it. There are 39 of them.

The first sentence, and the word that changes what comes back

One small word does more work in your first hour than any other on this page. Mein Deutsch ist noch nicht so gut. contains noch, which makes noch nicht mean not yet, and our note on that row spells out what it signals: you are learning. Without noch it simply says your German is not very good. Neither version guarantees slower speech, so ask for that if you need it.

Around it sit three plain moves. Ich bin neu hier. does at a counter what a paragraph of explanation would. Entschuldigen Sie, darf ich Sie kurz etwas fragen? is long for a first day, and it is long on purpose: kurz promises the person their afternoon back. Sprechen Sie Englisch? is a reasonable option whenever switching to English would help.

Into the city: the platform, the ticket, the stamp

Ask for the Gleis. Von welchem Gleis? gets you the track number on the departure board, which is the number an announcement will use. Bahnsteig is the physical platform you stand on, though asking about the Bahnsteig can also be understood in context.

Muss ich das Ticket entwerten? is the row that keeps a fine out of your first afternoon. Some paper tickets need a stamp in the validator, while others are already valid. Digital tickets can have activation steps too. Check the ticket and local operator's instructions before travelling. If you already hold the monthly flat-rate ticket, Ich habe das Deutschlandticket. names your ticket, but you still need to show it and, when asked, photo ID. Its coverage is participating local and regional transport, generally not ICE, IC or EC services.

The last two are for standing up. Fährt dieser Bus ins Zentrum? you say from the pavement, before boarding. Entschuldigung, ich muss hier raus. you say from inside a packed tram, one stop early, and the crowd rearranges itself.

The SIM and the identity check

This is the stop that surprises people. Ich brauche eine Prepaid-SIM-Karte. is easy enough to say, and the card in your hand does nothing until it is registered against an identity document. The available checks depend on the provider: these can include a shop visit or an approved remote procedure. Bring an accepted ID or passport and confirm the process; possession of a document does not guarantee instant activation.

Then the two questions that decide the price. Wie viel Datenvolumen ist dabei? asks what data comes with the pack. Wie lade ich Guthaben auf? asks how you top it up, which in practice means a supermarket till, a machine or an app, and it is worth asking while somebody who knows is still in front of you.

Cash, the card that does not work, and Sunday

Germany still runs on cash more than a visitor expects, so Wo ist der nächste Geldautomat? belongs in the first hour. Geht kontaktlos? is the question at the till, and the note on that row carries the trap: plenty of machines take only the domestic Girocard, a foreign credit card can be refused with no warning, so check that your particular card is accepted and have another way to pay.

Wo ist der Pfandautomat? is about the deposit on bottles and cans. You feed the empties into the machine near the supermarket entrance, it prints a voucher, and the voucher comes off your shopping at the till. Nobody explains this to you. The empties are worth real money and they are easy to throw away by mistake.

Then the one that catches everybody in the first week. Haben Sie sonntags geöffnet? often gets a no from ordinary shops. Bakeries, station shops and petrol stations may open, and special shopping Sundays or local exceptions exist. Do the first big shop on Saturday.

The first meal, and how the paying works

Die Karte, bitte. asks for the list of dishes. Menü in German means a set meal, so the English word points at the wrong object and the swap is worth making before you sit down.

Order Ein großes Wasser, bitte. and expect a bottle. Tap water is rarely offered in a German restaurant, but asking for Leitungswasser is a normal request for tap water. Check whether it is available and whether there is a charge.

When you are ready to pay, there are two useful expressions. Zahlen, bitte. starts it, said across the room with eye contact. Stimmt so. finishes it as you hand over the money, and it means keep the change. One way to tip is to round up while paying. The phrase makes clear that you do not want the difference back.

The room, the wifi and the heating

Ich habe eine Reservierung auf den Namen Kowalski. opens check-in; the desk may also need identification and booking details. Wie ist das WLAN-Passwort? is next, and say it vee-lahn: the German word for wifi is WLAN, so WLAN is useful to recognise on signs and forms.

If the heating is not working, Die Heizung funktioniert nicht. is the sentence. When the problem is the room itself, use the frame that runs through the whole collection: Ich hätte gern ein ruhigeres Zimmer. Ich hätte gern is a polite request, from a quieter room to a second coffee. Ich will is ordinary adult German for wanting or intending something, though it can sound demanding at a service counter.

The doorbell, the neighbour and the parcel

German doorbell panels often identify flats by surnames rather than numbers alone. A courier holding a box for you reads the names on the doorbell panel and looks for yours, which makes Der Klingelname ist Kowalski. a sentence you type into an order form as often as you say it. A bell still carrying the previous tenant's name is worth fixing on day one.

Können Sie das beim Nachbarn abgeben? fits the same world. Some couriers offer neighbour delivery and leave a card or digital notification. Check the delivery record and arrange this with the neighbour instead of assuming where a missing parcel went.

For the flat itself, Können Sie jemanden vorbeischicken? is what you say to a landlord or an agency once you have named the problem. It asks for a person and a visit, which is harder to leave unanswered than a complaint.

The pharmacy after hours

The distinction between an Apotheke and a Drogerie matters when you need medicine. An Apotheke sells medicine and a Drogerie sells shampoo and vitamins, and even ibuprofen sits behind the Apotheke counter, so Wo ist die nächste Apotheke? is the question and the drugstore two doors down cannot help you.

Ich brauche etwas gegen Schmerzen. asks for something for pain. Explain where it hurts and any other symptoms; the phrase itself does not specify a treatment. Ist das rezeptfrei? asks whether a medicine is available without a prescription. That answer does not determine whether your symptoms need urgent attention.

At nine in the evening the row you want is Welche Apotheke hat heute Notdienst? Pharmacies take turns providing out-of-hours cover. Consult the current rota or the notice at a pharmacy and check how to access the service; a duty pharmacy may serve through a night window rather than keep its shop doors open. ABDA explains the night and emergency service.

112, 110, and the first thing you say

Ich rufe die 112. is said eins eins zwei. That number reaches the ambulance and the fire service; 110 reaches the police. Emergency calls are free; the phone still has to be able to connect.

The order of what you say is the part worth rehearsing. Die Adresse ist Hauptstraße zwölf. goes near the front of a 112 call, street and number and town, because a dispatcher can send a vehicle while still asking you the rest. Es ist ein Notfall. and Jemand ist verletzt. explain that there is an emergency and someone is injured. Answer the operator's questions rather than treating these examples as a fixed script.

Practise with your own street name, but give your actual current location when calling. This is the one row on the page that is useless as written and useful the moment you edit it, which is also the honest limit of any phrase list in an emergency.

Day two: the Bürgeramt

The errand is registering your address, and it is the one people underestimate. Ich möchte mich anmelden. is the sentence at the counter. The general federal deadline is two weeks after moving in, with exceptions including certain temporary stays. The Bundesmeldegesetz sets the rules; the local registration service explains appointments and documents. Bank-account and phone-contract requirements are separate, so do not treat registration as the universal prerequisite for every errand.

The document people forget belongs to the landlord. Hier ist meine Wohnungsgeberbestätigung. is the housing provider's confirmation of your move-in, which can also be supplied electronically. Ask for it when you get the keys. If it is refused or late, notify the registration authority promptly; do not just wait for the landlord.

Two rows make the rest of the morning shorter. Welche Unterlagen brauche ich? asked on the phone beforehand saves the trip you would otherwise repeat. Wer ist dafür zuständig? is the sentence German offices are built around: zuständig means responsible for this, and asking who is zuständig moves you to the right desk faster than describing your problem again at the wrong one.

Where this page runs out

Start with what we are unsure about in our own file. Every survive row here is Sie, because a stranger in a uniform is Sie and that is the safe default at a counter. A hostel desk, a bike shop and a co-working reception will very often open in du, and the collection does not mark that, so you will hear a first sentence this page did not prepare you for. Answer in Sie and follow whatever comes back.

The second gap is speed. German compounds run long and spoken German runs them together, so a word you know on paper can pass you as a syllable in the middle of something else. No phrase fixes that. The repair kit in the German collection runs to 26 rows, all of them ways of asking again, and that is the honest tool.

The third gap is the counter that asks for a paper nobody mentioned. No sentence rescues that appointment. Asking which documents are wanted before you cross a city is the most the collection can do for you, and it cannot sign a landlord's confirmation on your behalf.

Making it stick

Choose one section, the one that matches tomorrow morning, and read its rows aloud twice before you go to sleep. Silent reading helps you recognise the words; reading aloud also practises producing them when somebody asks.

The app takes over from there, one phrase per charge. Plug in and you hear the German, a pause, the English, a pause, the German again. Set up the Shortcuts automation on iOS; on Android, check the background and battery settings for direct charger detection. Playback remains subject to platform restrictions. A weighted sampler decides which entry that is, favouring what you have not heard for a while, and it does not measure recall. The thinking behind the trigger is written up in One word per charge: why a lesson would fail.

The collections are web pages now and become app packs with text-to-speech audio later, with no date attached. The six lists and the method sit on The Vocabcord 500, and the German list in full, travel and work lanes included, is The 500 German phrases you actually need.

Common questions

What German do you need when you first arrive?

Four useful sentences for the first hour: Ich bin neu hier. explains you at any counter. Entschuldigen Sie, darf ich Sie kurz etwas fragen? opens a question politely. Mein Deutsch ist noch nicht so gut. uses noch to say you are learning, and Sprechen Sie Englisch? is what you reach for after those, once your German has run out.

Do you need to validate a train or bus ticket in Germany?

It depends on the operator and ticket, not just whether it is paper. Ask Muss ich das Ticket entwerten? and follow the validation instructions. Some tickets need a stamp; others are already valid. If you hold the monthly flat-rate ticket instead, Ich habe das Deutschlandticket. identifies the ticket, but you must show the valid ticket and photo ID when requested.

What is the emergency number in Germany?

112 for an ambulance or the fire service, 110 for the police, with emergency calls free of charge. Say Ich rufe die 112. as eins eins zwei. On the call, give the address early, in the shape of Die Adresse ist Hauptstraße zwölf. with your own street and number in it, then Es ist ein Notfall.

Are shops open on Sunday in Germany?

Most ordinary shops close. Bakeries, station shops, petrol stations and special local openings are possible exceptions, so the question Haben Sie sonntags geöffnet? is worth asking on Saturday about anywhere you are relying on. Buy what you need on Saturday.