Start with the 500 phrases for a first month, the page on the mistakes English speakers keep making, and frequency lists for the parts of speech that carry a sentence. The statistics page counts the German half of the corpus by level and by theme.
Read the 500 first if you are moving, and the noun list first if you are studying, because the gender has to be learned with the word and cannot be reconstructed from it later. German is thin here next to Spanish, and the gap is the same one French has. The situation pages, from the restaurant to a first week in an office, exist in Spanish only so far. Read the mistakes page early.Es ist halb drei is 2:30, and an English ear reads it as half past three.
Where to start
- 500 most useful German phrasesthe list for a first month, in the order a day happens.
- German mistakes English speakers keep makingunderstand expressions such as halb drei and other common sources of confusion.
- Most common German nouns, ranked by frequencythe gender has to be learned with the word, so learn them together.
- German vocabulary, by the numberscompare vocabulary coverage by level and topic.
Start here
Choose German phrases to practise, check common mistakes, or explore vocabulary by level.
500 most useful German phrases
500 most useful German phrases for everyday life, travel and work. English translations, audio and notes on when to use Sie or du, grouped by situation.
The Vocabcord 200 for NursesGerman for nurses: 200 ward phrases
200 German phrases for a nursing shift: the Übergabe, the ward's own verbs, the medication round, pain words patients use, the call bell, the rota.
The Vocabcord 500 · GermanGerman mistakes English speakers keep making
Halb drei means 2:30 and Ich bin kalt says you are a cold person. The register, timing, regional and false-friend traps in the German 500.
Corpus statisticsGerman vocabulary, by the numbers
Every German entry in the app's language packs, counted by CEFR level and theme.
Words and frequency
Which words to spend your time on, ranked from our own corpus.
Most common German nouns, ranked by frequency
The most common German nouns split three ways: der, die, and das. See the frequency list with audio and how compound nouns inherit their gender.
German · A1 to C2Most common German verbs: A1 to C2 frequency ladder
The most common German verbs are sein, haben, werden, and machen. See the full frequency ladder, 110 verbs at A1 down to 12 at C2, with audio.
Situations and themes
Explore a full vocabulary list for a particular situation or topic.
Reference
Look up dates, times and numbers, or review a particular type of word.
German Animals A to Z: Names, Articles & Plurals
Find German animal names from A to Z with English meanings, articles, plurals, umlaut sections, and useful answers for difficult letters C, Q, X, and Y.
German · Grammar guideGerman compound nouns: everyday examples, gender and word parts
Read German compound nouns from the right. Learn 12 everyday examples with word parts, articles and plurals, plus linking letters and a short practice exercise.
Keep learning
Explore 500 everyday phrases in other languages, with collection details and citation guidance if you want to use them in your own work. For more practice ideas, browse the blog. Teaching a class? Use the lesson plan and downloadable phrase lists to organise your lessons.
You can compare vocabulary coverage by level and topic across languages, and check how the level and topic labels are assignedwhen choosing what to practise next.
If you spot an incorrect translation, level or note, send us a correction. Feedback from people who use the language helps us improve these resources.