German Vocabulary by Topic

Studying by level is great for structure, but sometimes you just need the words for one situation — ordering food, telling the time, introducing yourself. These 20 topic pages are each self-contained, with an example sentence and audio for each word.

Every letter, umlaut, and sound rule — how to pronounce each one, with an example word.

Everything you need to order, cook, and talk about meals in German.

0 to 1,000 plus ordinals — prices, ages, phone numbers, dates.

Clock time, days, months, and the phrases Germans actually use to ask and answer 'when?'

Greetings & Basics

Hello, goodbye, how are you, and the pronouns and question words behind any conversation.

Parents, siblings, grandparents, and the rest of the family tree.

Pets, farm animals, and wildlife — Hund, Katze, Elefant, and more.

Head, hands, legs, and the rest — useful for describing symptoms too.

Shirt, shoes, jacket — everything for shopping and getting dressed.

rot, blau, grün, and the rest of the basic German color words.

Weather & Seasons

Sun, rain, snow, and the four seasons.

Airports, trains, hotels — getting around in German.

Work & Business

Office, meetings, and everyday work-life vocabulary.

Waking up, eating, working, sleeping — describe a typical day.

Sports, music, reading, and other free-time activities.

Rooms and furniture — living room, kitchen, bedroom, and more.

Doctor & Health

Symptoms, the pharmacy, and talking to a doctor.

Restaurant & Café

Ordering, paying, and chatting with the waiter.

Feelings & Emotions

Happy, sad, tired, excited — describe how you feel.

Holidays & Events

Birthdays, Christmas, weddings, and other celebrations.