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First 50 German Words Every Beginner Should Learn

Lalo Team·Updated April 17, 2026·3 min read

Start your German journey with the 50 most essential high-frequency words. These cover roughly 40% of everyday conversation.

These 50 words cover ~40% of everyday German

Pronouns(8)

es

it

/ɛs/

sich

oneself (reflexive pronoun)

/zɪç/

ich

I

/ɪç/

er

he

/eːɐ̯/

sie

she, they, you (formal)

/ziː/

was

what

/vas/

man

one, you (impersonal)

/man/

wir

we

/viːɐ̯/

Articles(8)

die

the (feminine/plural)

/diː/

der

the (masculine)

/deːɐ̯/

den

the (masculine accusative/dative plural)

/deːn/

das

the (neuter); that

/das/

ein

a, an (masculine/neuter)

/aɪ̯n/

eine

a, an (feminine)

/ˈaɪ̯nə/

dem

the (masculine/neuter dative)

/deːm/

einem

a, an (masculine/neuter dative)

/ˈaɪ̯nəm/

Core Verbs(7)

ist

is

/ɪst/

werden

to become; will (auxiliary)

/ˈveːɐ̯dən/

hat

has

/hat/

haben

to have

/ˈhaːbən/

war

was

/vaːɐ̯/

sein

to be; his

/zaɪ̯n/

kann

can, is able to

/kan/

Adverbs(9)

nicht

not

/nɪçt/

auch

also, too

/aʊ̯x/

noch

still, yet

/nɔx/

wie

how, like, as

/viː/

so

so, such, like this

/zoː/

nur

only, just

/nuːɐ̯/

da

there, since, because

/daː/

schon

already

/ʃoːn/

mehr

more

/meːɐ̯/

Prepositions(13)

in

in, into

/ɪn/

von

from, of

/fɔn/

zu

to, too

/tsuː/

mit

with

/mɪt/

auf

on, upon, onto

/aʊ̯f/

für

for

/fyːɐ̯/

an

at, on, to

/an/

nach

after, to, according to

/naːx/

bei

at, near, with

/baɪ̯/

aus

from, out of

/aʊ̯s/

um

around, at (time), in order to

/ʊm/

über

over, above, about

/ˈyːbɐ/

am

at the (contraction of an + dem)

/am/

Connectors(5)

und

and

/ʊnt/

dass

that (conjunction)

/das/

oder

or

/ˈoːdɐ/

aber

but, however

/ˈaːbɐ/

wenn

if, when

/vɛn/

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