The Most Frequent German Words

The Most Frequent German Words

The sooner you can learn these, the better.  1/3 to 1/2 of almost any  German text consists of these simple and useful words!

Note: This list was originally based on an older source, but has been updated and is still reasonably accurate. Click here to see a more recent, more rigorously researched list of the 500 Most Frequent German Words!

Pronouns and Possessive Articles
Der- and ein-words
Modal and Auxiliary Verbs
Numbers and Ordinal Numbers
Prepositions
Common Contractions
Question Words
Coordinating Conjunctions (Verb in position 2)
Subordinating Conjunctions (Verb in final position)
Verbs
Miscellaneous Frequent Words

Pronouns and Possessive Articles

Nominative	Accusative	Dative	Possessive Article
ich [=I]	mich [=me]	mir [=(for) me]	mein [=my]
du [=you, singular, informal]	dich	dir	dein
er [=he; it (for masculine nouns)]	ihn	ihm	sein
sie [=she; it (for feminine nouns)]	sie	ihr	ihr
es [=it]	es	ihm	sein
wir [=we]	uns	uns	unser
ihr [=”you all,” i.e. you, plural, informal]	euch	euch	euer
sie/Sie [sie = they; Sie = you, singular or plural, formal]	sie/Sie	ihnen/Ihnen	ihr/Ihr

Der- and ein-words

der/die/das…	the, which, that
ein/eine/ein…	a
dieser	this
jeder	every
jener	that one (fairly formal)
alle (Pl.)	all, every
solche (Pl.); solch ein	such; such a
manche (Pl.)	some

Modal and Auxiliary Verbs

können	to be able to
dürfen	to be allowed to
mögen (==>ich möchte etc.)	to like (==> I would like etc.)
müssen	to have to
sollen	to be supposed to
wollen	to want to
haben	to have
sein	to be
werden	to become

Numbers and Ordinal Numbers

eins	erster	1
zwei	zweiter	2
drei	dritter	3
vier	vierter	4
fünf	fünfter	5
sechs	sechster	6
sieben	siebter	7
acht	achter	8
neun	neunter	9
zehn	zehnter	10
elf	…	11
zwölf		12
dreizehn		13
vierzehn		14
fünfzehn		15
sechzehn		16
siebzehn		17
achtzehn		18
neunzehn		19
zwanzig		20
dreißig		30
vierzig		40
fünfzig		50
sechzig		60
siebzig		70
achtzig		80
neunzig		90
hundert		100

Prepositions

These can have a range of meanings; only the most common are given here:

bis	Akkusativ	until, up to
durch	Akkusativ	through; by
für	Akkusativ	for
gegen	Akkusativ	against
ohne	Akkusativ	without
um (…herum)	Akkusativ	at (time); around (especially with “…herum”); roughly
wider	Akkusativ	against, contrary to
aus	Dativ	out of
außer	Dativ	except for
bei	Dativ	at
entgegen	Dativ	contrary to (expectations etc.)
entlang	Dativ	along (a street, shoreline etc.)
gegenüber	Dativ	across from
gemäß	Dativ	according to
mit	Dativ	with
nach	Dativ	after (time); to (city, country); according to
seit	Dativ	since
von	Dativ	of; by (author)
zu	Dativ	to
an	Akkusativ (Motion) oder Dativ (Location)	at, to (vertical or horizontal boundaries; specific points)
auf	Akkusativ (Motion) oder Dativ (Location)	on (occasionally means “at” or “to”)
hinter	Akkusativ (Motion) oder Dativ (Location)	behind
in	Akkusativ (Motion) oder Dativ (Location)	in
neben	Akkusativ (Motion) oder Dativ (Location)	beside; besides
über	Akkusativ (Motion) oder Dativ (Location)	above; about (a topic); via
unter	Akkusativ (Motion) oder Dativ (Location)	under; among
vor	Akkusativ (Motion) oder Dativ (Location)	in front of; ago
zwischen	Akkusativ (Motion) oder Dativ (Location)	between
außerhalb	Genitive	outside of
bezüglich	Genitive	concerning, as to, with reference to
entsprechend	Genitive	corresponding
infolge	Genitive	as a result of
innerhalb	Genitive	within, inside of
längs	Genitive	along (a river, streetfront etc.)
mittels	Genitive	by means of
seitens	Genitive	on the part of
statt, anstatt	Genitive	instead of
trotz	Genitive	despite
während	Genitive	during
wegen	Genitive	because of

Common Contractions

am	an dem
beim	bei dem
im	in dem
ins	in das
vom	von dem
zum	zu dem
zur	zu der

Fragewörter [only the most common question words appear here]

wann	when
warum	why
was	what
welcher [a der-word]	which
wer	who
wie	how
wo	where

Coordinating Conjunctions (Verb in position 2)

aber	but, however
denn	since (in the sense of “because”) (also used as a “flavoring particle” in questions, e.g. to indicate that one is curious about the answer)
entweder … oder	either … or
nicht nur … sondern auch	not only … but also
oder	or
sondern	but rather
sowohl … als auch	both … and
und	and
weder … noch	neither … nor

Subordinating Conjunctions (Verb in final position)

als	when (also means “than” in comparatives, and can mean “as” e.g. in “Sie arbeitet als Lehrerin”)
bevor	before
bis	until
da	as (in the sense of “because”) (also means “there” as in: “Da ist mein Haus!”)
damit	so that (also means “with that,” “with it”)
daß	that
ehe	before (more formal than “bevor”)
falls	in case
indem	by (+verb; e.g. by learning these words, you become a better person)
nachdem	after
ob	whether
obgleich	although
obwohl	although
seit	since
sobald	as soon as
so daß	so that
während	while
weil	because
wenn	if; when
wie	how

Verbs

arbeiten	to work
bleiben, blieb, ist geblieben	to stay
bringen, brachte, hat gebracht	to bring
denken, dachte, hat gedacht	to think
fahren, er/sie/es fährt, fuhr, ist gefahren	to drive; to go (somewhere, but not on foot or by plane)
finden, fand, hat gefunden	to find
fragen	to ask
führen	to lead
geben, er/sie/es gibt, gab, hat gegeben	to give
gehen, ging, ist gegangen	to go
gelten, er/sie/es gilt, galt, hat gegolten	to be valid (click here for more information on how to use this verb)
glauben	to believe
halten, er/sie/es hält, hielt, hat gehalten	to stop [for vehicles stopping]; to hold
heißen, hieß, hat gehießen	to be called
kennen, kannte, hat gekannt	to know (as in: to be familiar/acquainted with)
kommen, kam, ist gekommen	to come
lassen	to let (someone do something); to leave (something somewhere); to have something done
sich lassen + verb	can be “verb-ed” (e.g. “This can be done”)
leben	to live
liegen, lag, hat gelegen	to lie (as in a person or object’s physical position)
machen	to do; to make
meinen	to think (as in: have an opinion) (often used as a synonym for “sagen”: “Er meinte, dass…” = “He said/expressed the opinion that…”)
nehmen, er/sie/es nimmt, nahm, hat genommen	to take
nennen, nannte, hat genannt	to call (for naming someone or something)
sagen	to say
sehen, er/sie/es sieht, sah, hat gesehen	to see
spielen	to play (games/music/roles)
sprechen, er/sie/es spricht, sprach, hat gesprochen	to speak
stehen, stand, hat gestanden	to stand
stellen	to put (for “standing” something with a firm base somewhere, e.g. “Stell die Gläser auf den Tisch!”)
tun, tat, hat getan	to do
wissen, er/sie/es weiß, wusste, hat gewusst	to know (a fact)
zeigen	to show

Miscellaneous Frequent Words

ab	as of; departing at; used when something is being removed
allein	alone; however
also	thus, so
alt	old
(ein) ander__	other (another)
anders	differently
auch	also
beide	both
(zum) Beispiel	(for) example
bereits	already
besonder__	particular, unusual
besonders	especially
in/mit Bezug auf	regarding
bisher	until now, as yet
dabei	and yet; while doing that; near that/it
dann	then
doch	however, yet (also used to contradict a negative statement, e.g. “Sprechen Sie kein Deutsch?”–“Doch!” and as a flavoring particle to convey meanings such as “go ahead and” or “surely”)
dort	over there, there
drittens	thirdly
eigentlich	real(ly), actual(ly) (click here for more information on this basic but easily misused word, which is also frequently used as a “flavoring particle”)
einige	some, a few
einmal	once, once upon a time
erst	(at) first; only (in the sense of “not until”)
erstens	firstly
es gibt	there is, there are
etwa	roughly
etwas	something
fast	almost, nearly
ganz	whole, entire, all (as in “all day”, “all my money,” but not e.g. “all the people”)
gerade	straight; just (as in “I just did this”)
gestern	yesterday
groß	big, tall, large
gut	good, well
heute	today
hier	here
immer	always
ja	yes (can also be used as a “flavoring particle”–click here for more info!)
das Jahr, -e	year
je	ever; per
je…je/desto/umso	the (more)…the (more)
jedoch	however, nonetheless
jetzt	now, at the moment
kaum	hardly, scarcely
kein(__)	none, no, no one…
klein	little, small
lang	long
letzte(__)	last
mal; das Mal	time(s) [as in “zum ersten Mal,” “drei mal” etc.]
man	one
mehr	more
morgen	tomorrow
nein	no
neu	new
nicht	not
nichts	nothing
noch	still (as in “It’s still alive”); even (as in “even more”); “noch ein” = “another”
nun	now; can be used to mean “Well,…”
nur	only
oben	above, up there
ohne…zu	without (doing X)
ein paar	a few
plötzlich	sudden(ly)
quer durch	right (straight) across
schlecht	bad
schließlich	finally; after all
schon	already (can also be used as a “flavoring particle,” e.g. when conceding something: “Das stimmt schon, aber…”
schön	nice, pretty
schnell	quick(ly), fast
sehr	very
sei es…sei es	be it…be it, whether…or
selbst, selber	myself, yourself etc. (e.g. “Ich mache das selbst.”) “selbst” can also mean “even” as in “Selbst SPAM schmeckt gut [=tastes good], wenn man Hunger hat.”
sich	oneself, himself, herself, itself, themselves etc. (reflexive pronoun)
so	so, in this manner
sonst	otherwise, or else
später	later
(an)statt…zu	instead of (doing X)
trotzdem	nevertheless, despite that
um…zu	in order to (do X)
viel	a lot, many
vielleicht	perhaps
was	what; which
wenig(__)	few, little (in the sense of “few”)
wie	how; like (as in “similar(ly)”), as (in comparisons)
wieder	again
worauf, womit etc.	on which, with which etc.
würde	would
die Zeit	time
zurück	back (as in “come back”)
zusammen	together