germanbasicwords.com

Die ersten
hundert
Wörter.

The 100 most common German words account for about half of every word in ordinary German — 49.1–49.6% measured across two Leipzig corpora. Learn those first.

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Guten Tag.

Die ersten hundert Wörter

The 100 most common German words

Ranked from 21,417,287 words of real German text. These 100 words account for 49.1–49.6% of every word in ordinary German — so learning this page is worth more than the next thousand words you could study.

The ranking is not an opinion. It is measured from two corpora published by the Leipzig Corpora Collection at Leipzig University, counted by lemma, and every word below carries its actual rank. The method, including what was excluded and why, is set out in full — and the scripts that produce these numbers ship with the site, so anyone can rerun them.

Every word is listed with the detail you need to use it: nouns with their article and plural, verbs in the infinitive, and each entry in an example sentence with its English translation. 36 entries carry a note where the word is a common trap — a homograph, an uncountable noun, or a false friend. The trainer at the top of this page runs the same 182 words as flashcards, multiple choice, listening practice and spaced review.

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The 100 most common words, in order

Rank 1 is the single most frequent word in the corpus, rank 100 the hundredth. The list is dominated by grammatical machinery — articles, pronouns, prepositions, auxiliaries — because that is genuinely what German is mostly made of. Each is shown inside a full sentence, since a word like zu teaches you nothing on its own.

The 100 most common words, in order
Rank	German	English	Type	In a sentence
1	der, die, das	the	article	Der Mann, die Frau, das Kind.The man, the woman, the child. German's three genders share one word for 'the': der (masculine), die (feminine and all plurals), das (neuter). Always learn a noun together with its article — the gender changes the words around it.
2	ein	a, an	article	Ich habe ein Buch.I have a book.
3	sein	to be	verb	Das kann nicht sein.That can't be. Also means 'his' as a possessive: sein Auto = his car. Same spelling, different job.
4	in	in	preposition	Ich wohne in Berlin.I live in Berlin.
5	werden	to become, will	verb	Es wird kalt.It is getting cold.
6	und	and	conjunction	Brot und Wasser.Bread and water.
7	zu	to	preposition	Ich gehe zu meinem Freund.I am going to my friend's.
8	haben	to have	verb	Wir haben Zeit.We have time.
9	sie	she, they	pronoun	Sie wohnt in Berlin.She lives in Berlin. Three words in one: sie = she, sie = they, and Sie (capitalised) = formal you.
10	an	at, on	preposition	Wir sitzen am Tisch.We are sitting at the table.
11	mit	with	preposition	Kommst du mit mir?Are you coming with me?
12	auf	on, onto	preposition	Das Buch liegt auf dem Tisch.The book is on the table.
13	von	from, of	preposition	Ich komme von der Arbeit.I'm coming from work.
14	es	it	pronoun	Es ist spät.It is late.
15	für	for	preposition	Das ist für dich.This is for you.
16	sich	himself, herself, itself	pronoun	Er wäscht sich.He is washing himself. Reflexive pronoun: himself, herself, itself, themselves — and part of many verbs that are reflexive in German but not in English (sich freuen = to be glad).
17	auch	also, too	adverb	Ich komme auch mit.I'm coming too.
18	nicht	not	adverb	Ich weiß es nicht.I don't know.
19	er	he	pronoun	Er kommt morgen.He is coming tomorrow.
20	bei	at, near, with	preposition	Ich bin bei meiner Familie.I am with my family.
21	dieser	this	determiner	Dieser Tag war schön.This day was lovely. Changes with gender and case: dieser Mann, diese Frau, dieses Kind.
22	können	can, to be able to	verb	Kannst du helfen?Can you help?
23	wir	we	pronoun	Wir lernen Deutsch.We are learning German.
24	aus	from, out of	preposition	Ich komme aus Italien.I come from Italy.
25	nach	after, to	preposition	Nach dem Essen gehen wir.After the meal we'll go.
26	ich	I	pronoun	Ich bin müde.I am tired.
27	um	at, around	preposition	Wir treffen uns um acht.We're meeting at eight.
28	geben	to give	verb	Gib mir bitte das Buch.Please give me the book.
29	noch	still, yet	adverb	Hast du noch Zeit?Do you still have time?
30	als	than, as, when	conjunction	Er ist größer als ich.He is taller than me. Three jobs: 'than' in comparisons, 'as' for a role, and 'when' for a single past event.
31	aber	but	conjunction	Es ist klein, aber schön.It's small, but beautiful.
32	sollen	should, ought to	verb	Was soll ich machen?What should I do?
33	vor	before, in front of	preposition	Wir warten vor dem Haus.We are waiting in front of the house.
34	über	over, about	preposition	Wir sprechen über die Arbeit.We are talking about work.
35	das Jahrdie Jahre	year	noun	Das Jahr war gut.The year was good.
36	ihr	her, their	determiner	Das ist ihr Auto.That is her car. Possessive 'her' or 'their'. Capitalised Ihr is the formal 'your'. Not the same as the pronoun ihr (you, plural).
37	wie	how, like	adverb	Wie geht es dir?How are you?
38	sein	his, its	determiner	Sein Bruder wohnt hier.His brother lives here. Possessive 'his' or 'its' — spelled exactly like the verb sein (to be). The position in the sentence tells you which one it is.
39	müssen	must, to have to	verb	Ich muss gehen.I have to go.
40	kein	no, not a	determiner	Ich habe keine Zeit.I have no time. Used to negate a noun. Nicht negates verbs and adjectives; kein negates things.
41	alle	all, everyone	determiner	Alle Kinder spielen draußen.All the children are playing outside.
42	so	so, like this	adverb	Warum bist du so müde?Why are you so tired?
43	nur	only	adverb	Ich habe nur zehn Minuten.I only have ten minutes.
44	neu	new	adjective	Das Auto ist neu.The car is new.
45	kommen	to come	verb	Kommst du mit?Are you coming along?
46	dass	that	conjunction	Ich weiß, dass du hier bist.I know that you are here.
47	gut	good	adjective	Das Essen ist gut.The food is good.
48	gehen	to go	verb	Wir gehen nach Hause.We are going home.
49	durch	through	preposition	Wir gehen durch den Park.We walk through the park.
50	weiter	further, onward	adverb	Bitte gehen Sie weiter.Please move along.
51	viel	much, a lot	adverb	Du arbeitest zu viel.You work too much.
52	stehen	to stand	verb	Wir stehen vor der Tür.We are standing in front of the door. Stehen = to be standing (position). Stellen = to put something upright (action).
53	dann	then	adverb	Erst essen, dann arbeiten.First eat, then work.
54	mehr	more	adverb	Ich brauche mehr Zeit.I need more time.
55	das Prozentdie Prozent	percent	noun	Zehn Prozent sind genug.Ten percent is enough. Stays singular after a number: zehn Prozent, not zehn Prozente.
56	oder	or	conjunction	Tee oder Kaffee?Tea or coffee?
57	hier	here	adverb	Ich bin hier.I am here.
58	man	one, you (in general)	pronoun	Hier darf man nicht rauchen.You may not smoke here. Impersonal pronoun meaning 'one' or 'people in general'. Do not confuse with der Mann (the man).
59	wollen	to want	verb	Ich will schlafen.I want to sleep.
60	machen	to do, to make	verb	Was machst du?What are you doing?
61	bis	until, up to	preposition	Ich bleibe bis Montag.I am staying until Monday.
62	der Eurodie Euro	euro	noun	Das kostet zwanzig Euro.That costs twenty euros. Stays singular after a number: zwanzig Euro, not zwanzig Euros.
63	gegen	against, around	preposition	Wir spielen gegen die anderen.We are playing against the others.
64	was	what	pronoun	Was ist das?What is that?
65	wieder	again	adverb	Wir sehen uns wieder.We'll see each other again.
66	groß	big, tall	adjective	Die Stadt ist groß.The city is big.
67	doch	but, yet, after all	adverb	Komm doch mit!Oh, do come along! A flavouring particle with no direct English equivalent. It contradicts ('yes I did!') or softens a request. Doch also answers 'no' questions positively.
68	erste	first	adjective	Das ist mein erstes Mal.This is my first time.
69	nun	now, well	adverb	Nun sind wir fertig.Now we are finished. Close to jetzt (now), but often marks a turn in the conversation, like English 'well…' or 'now then'.
70	schon	already	adverb	Bist du schon da?Are you there already?
71	unter	under, among	preposition	Die Katze schläft unter dem Tisch.The cat is sleeping under the table.
72	sagen	to say	verb	Was sagst du?What are you saying?
73	jetzt	now	adverb	Wir gehen jetzt.We are going now.
74	finden	to find	verb	Ich finde meinen Schlüssel nicht.I can't find my key.
75	liegen	to lie, to be situated	verb	Das Buch liegt auf dem Tisch.The book is lying on the table. Liegen = to be lying somewhere (position). Legen = to lay something down (action).
76	immer	always	adverb	Er kommt immer zu spät.He is always late.
77	andere	other, different	determiner	Ich nehme das andere Buch.I'll take the other book.
78	ab	from, as of	preposition	Ab morgen habe ich Zeit.From tomorrow I have time.
79	dabei	with it, at the same time	adverb	Hast du dein Handy dabei?Do you have your phone with you?
80	zwei	two	numeral	Ich habe zwei Kinder.I have two children.
81	sehr	very	adverb	Das ist sehr gut.That is very good.
82	sehen	to see	verb	Ich sehe dich.I see you.
83	unser	our	determiner	Das ist unser Haus.That is our house.
84	da	there, here	adverb	Ist jemand da?Is anybody there? Means 'there' or 'here' depending on context, and also 'since/because' at the start of a clause.
85	bleiben	to stay	verb	Bleib bitte hier.Please stay here.
86	seit	since, for	preposition	Ich warte seit einer Stunde.I have been waiting for an hour. Used with the present tense for something still going on: Ich wohne seit drei Jahren hier — I have lived here for three years.
87	mal	time(s), just	adverb	Sag mal, wie spät ist es?Say, what time is it? Counts occasions (zweimal = twice) and also softens a request, like English 'just': Sag mal…
88	bereits	already	adverb	Er ist bereits gegangen.He has already left. A more formal way of saying schon (already); common in writing and news.
89	damit	with it, so that	conjunction	Ich lerne, damit ich es verstehe.I study so that I understand it.
90	der Menschdie Menschen	person, human being	noun	Viele Menschen warten hier.Many people are waiting here.
91	die Uhrdie Uhren	clock, o'clock	noun	Es ist acht Uhr.It is eight o'clock. Both the clock itself and the way you give the time: Es ist drei Uhr — it is three o'clock.
92	jeder	every, each	determiner	Jeder Tag ist anders.Every day is different.
93	dort	there	adverb	Dort ist der Bahnhof.The station is over there.
94	die Zeitdie Zeiten	time	noun	Ich habe keine Zeit.I have no time.
95	der Tagdie Tage	day	noun	Der Tag ist lang.The day is long.
96	allerdings	however, admittedly	adverb	Das ist allerdings teuer.That is expensive, though.
97	zeigen	to show	verb	Zeig mir bitte den Weg.Please show me the way.
98	stellen	to put, to place	verb	Stell die Flasche auf den Tisch.Put the bottle on the table. Stellen = to put something upright (action). Stehen = to be standing (position).
99	wenn	if, when	conjunction	Wenn du willst, komme ich.If you want, I'll come.
100	rund	around, roughly	adverb	Rund hundert Menschen kamen.Around a hundred people came. Literally 'round', but very common before a number meaning 'roughly'.

82 everyday words the frequency list misses

A pure frequency ranking contains no word for hallo, danke, Wasser or Brot — they are common in life but not common in text, and the top 100 has none of them. That is a real limitation of frequency lists, so these 82 concrete everyday words are kept as a separate set rather than quietly mixed into the ranked one.

82 everyday words the frequency list misses
#	German	English	Type	In a sentence
1	du	you	pronoun	Du bist mein Freund.You are my friend.
2	mein	my	determiner	Das ist mein Haus.That is my house.
3	weil	because	conjunction	Ich bleibe, weil es regnet.I'm staying because it's raining.
4	wo	where	adverb	Wo ist der Bahnhof?Where is the station?
5	wer	who	pronoun	Wer ist das?Who is that? Means 'who', not 'where'. A classic false friend for English speakers.
6	warum	why	adverb	Warum lernst du Deutsch?Why are you learning German?
7	denken	to think	verb	Ich denke oft an dich.I often think of you.
8	wissen	to know (a fact)	verb	Ich weiß es.I know it. Wissen = to know a fact. Kennen = to know a person or place.
9	nehmen	to take	verb	Ich nehme den Bus.I take the bus.
10	sprechen	to speak	verb	Ich spreche Deutsch.I speak German.
11	verstehen	to understand	verb	Ich verstehe nicht.I don't understand.
12	essen	to eat	verb	Wir essen um acht.We eat at eight.
13	trinken	to drink	verb	Was trinkst du?What are you drinking?
14	dürfen	may, to be allowed to	verb	Darf ich hier sitzen?May I sit here?
15	der Manndie Männer	man	noun	Der Mann liest.The man is reading.
16	die Fraudie Frauen	woman	noun	Die Frau arbeitet hier.The woman works here.
17	das Kinddie Kinder	child	noun	Das Kind spielt.The child is playing.
18	die Leute	people	noun	Die Leute sind freundlich.The people are friendly. Plural only — there is no singular form. For one person use der Mensch or die Person.
19	das Hausdie Häuser	house	noun	Das Haus ist alt.The house is old.
20	das Wasser	water	noun	Ich trinke Wasser.I drink water. Normally uncountable, like English 'water'. The plural Wässer exists but is rare and technical.
21	der Freunddie Freunde	friend	noun	Er ist mein bester Freund.He is my best friend. Mein Freund can mean 'my friend' or 'my boyfriend' — context decides. Ein Freund von mir is unambiguous.
22	das Geld	money	noun	Ich habe kein Geld.I have no money. Uncountable, like English 'money'.
23	klein	small	adjective	Das Kind ist klein.The child is small.
24	alt	old	adjective	Wie alt bist du?How old are you?
25	lang	long	adjective	Der Weg ist lang.The way is long.
26	heute	today	adverb	Heute ist Montag.Today is Monday.
27	morgen	tomorrow	adverb	Bis morgen!See you tomorrow! Lower-case morgen = tomorrow. Capitalised der Morgen = the morning. Morgen früh means 'tomorrow morning'.
28	ja	yes	interjection	Ja, gerne.Yes, gladly.
29	nein	no	interjection	Nein, danke.No, thank you.
30	bitte	please	interjection	Bitte langsam!Slowly, please! Also means 'you're welcome' in reply to danke, and 'pardon?' when said with a rising tone.
31	danke	thank you	interjection	Danke schön!Thank you very much!
32	hallo	hello	interjection	Hallo, wie geht's?Hello, how are you?
33	die Stundedie Stunden	hour	noun	Ich warte seit einer Stunde.I have been waiting for an hour.
34	die Wochedie Wochen	week	noun	Nächste Woche fahre ich weg.Next week I'm going away.
35	der Monatdie Monate	month	noun	Der Monat war kurz.The month was short.
36	der Namedie Namen	name	noun	Wie ist dein Name?What is your name?
37	das Landdie Länder	country	noun	Aus welchem Land kommst du?Which country are you from?
38	die Weltdie Welten	world	noun	Die Welt ist groß.The world is big.
39	der Wegdie Wege	way, path	noun	Kennst du den Weg?Do you know the way?
40	die Stadtdie Städte	city, town	noun	Die Stadt ist schön.The city is beautiful.
41	die Straßedie Straßen	street	noun	Die Straße ist lang.The street is long.
42	der Bahnhofdie Bahnhöfe	train station	noun	Wo ist der Bahnhof, bitte?Where is the station, please?
43	das Autodie Autos	car	noun	Das Auto fährt schnell.The car drives fast.
44	das Zimmerdie Zimmer	room	noun	Das Zimmer ist klein.The room is small. Plural is identical to the singular — only the article changes: das Zimmer, die Zimmer.
45	die Türdie Türen	door	noun	Mach bitte die Tür zu.Please close the door.
46	das Fensterdie Fenster	window	noun	Das Fenster ist offen.The window is open.
47	der Tischdie Tische	table	noun	Der Tisch ist aus Holz.The table is made of wood.
48	das Buchdie Bücher	book	noun	Das Buch ist interessant.The book is interesting.
49	die Schuledie Schulen	school	noun	Die Kinder gehen zur Schule.The children go to school.
50	die Arbeitdie Arbeiten	work, job	noun	Die Arbeit macht Spaß.The work is fun.
51	die Familiedie Familien	family	noun	Meine Familie wohnt hier.My family lives here.
52	die Handdie Hände	hand	noun	Gib mir deine Hand.Give me your hand.
53	der Kopfdie Köpfe	head	noun	Mein Kopf tut weh.My head hurts.
54	das Augedie Augen	eye	noun	Sie hat blaue Augen.She has blue eyes.
55	das Brotdie Brote	bread	noun	Das Brot ist frisch.The bread is fresh.
56	die Milch	milk	noun	Ich trinke Milch mit Kaffee.I drink milk with coffee. Uncountable, like English 'milk'.
57	der Kaffee	coffee	noun	Einen Kaffee, bitte.A coffee, please. Usually uncountable. Zwei Kaffee, bitte means 'two coffees, please' — the noun stays singular.
58	die Nachtdie Nächte	night	noun	Gute Nacht!Good night!
59	lernen	to learn	verb	Ich lerne jeden Tag zehn Wörter.I learn ten words every day.
60	arbeiten	to work	verb	Wo arbeitest du?Where do you work?
61	lesen	to read	verb	Ich lese ein Buch.I am reading a book.
62	schreiben	to write	verb	Schreib mir bitte.Please write to me.
63	fahren	to drive, to travel	verb	Wir fahren nach Berlin.We are travelling to Berlin. Used for travelling by vehicle. For going on foot use gehen.
64	schlafen	to sleep	verb	Das Kind schläft schon.The child is already asleep.
65	kaufen	to buy	verb	Ich kaufe Brot und Milch.I am buying bread and milk.
66	helfen	to help	verb	Kannst du mir helfen?Can you help me?
67	lieben	to love	verb	Ich liebe dich.I love you.
68	heißen	to be called	verb	Ich heiße Anna.My name is Anna.
69	fragen	to ask	verb	Darf ich etwas fragen?May I ask something?
70	brauchen	to need	verb	Ich brauche deine Hilfe.I need your help.
71	schön	beautiful, nice	adjective	Das Wetter ist schön.The weather is nice.
72	schlecht	bad	adjective	Das Wetter ist schlecht.The weather is bad.
73	richtig	right, correct	adjective	Deine Antwort ist richtig.Your answer is correct.
74	falsch	wrong	adjective	Das ist leider falsch.Unfortunately that is wrong.
75	schwer	heavy, difficult	adjective	Deutsch ist nicht schwer.German is not difficult. Means both 'heavy' and 'difficult' — context decides.
76	einfach	easy, simple	adjective	Die Aufgabe ist einfach.The task is easy.
77	warm	warm	adjective	Das Wasser ist warm.The water is warm.
78	kalt	cold	adjective	Draußen ist es kalt.It is cold outside.
79	wenig	little, few	adverb	Ich habe wenig Zeit.I have little time.
80	oft	often	adverb	Wir gehen oft ins Kino.We often go to the cinema.
81	gestern	yesterday	adverb	Gestern war ich zu Hause.Yesterday I was at home.
82	tschüss	bye	interjection	Tschüss, bis morgen!Bye, see you tomorrow!

Common questions

How many German words do you need for a basic conversation?

Far fewer than most people expect. Measured across 21,417,287 words of German text, the 100 lemmas on this page account for 49.1–49.6% of every word used — and the top 10 alone account for around 26%. That is why this hundred is worth more than the next thousand. Roughly 500 well-chosen words lets you follow and join simple everyday exchanges; 1,000 to 2,000 makes most day-to-day situations comfortable.

Why learn the most common words first?

Because word frequency is extremely lopsided, and this page measures exactly how lopsided. The first 100 lemmas cover 49.1–49.6% of running text; going from 100 to 200 adds only about 5.0 percentage points. The return on the first hundred is far higher than on any hundred that follow, so learning und, nicht and haben unlocks more sentences than a hundred specialised nouns ever will.

Do I really need to learn der, die and das with every noun?

Yes — and it is much easier to learn the article at the same time as the word than to bolt it on later. German has three genders, and the article changes across four cases, so the gender is not a decorative detail: it determines the form of nearly everything around the noun. All 41 nouns on this page are listed with their article and plural for exactly that reason.

What level is this vocabulary?

The everyday set maps to CEFR A1 — the vocabulary of introducing yourself, ordering something and asking where things are. The ranked 100 is a different kind of list: it is what German is statistically made of, so it is heavy on grammar words that A1 courses spread across the whole level. Most learners get the most out of working through both.

How long does it take to learn 100 German words?

At ten new words a day with honest review, most people recognise all 100 within two weeks and recall them reliably within four to six. Spacing matters far more than volume: three short sessions across three days beat one long session, because each recall at the edge of forgetting is what makes the memory durable. That is what the spaced review mode on this page schedules for you.

Is this site free? Do I need an account?

It is free and there is no account. Your progress is stored in your own browser using localStorage and never leaves your device — which also means clearing your browser data will reset it, and progress does not follow you to another device.

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How this list was built

The full method — corpora, lemma grouping, exclusions and limitations — is set out on its own page.

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Learning English rather than German? basicenglishwords.com is the sister project to this one — the same idea applied to the first hundred words of English, with translations, audio and the same kind of short practice sessions.

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germanbasicwords.com — 182 German words with articles, plurals, example sentences and translations into English, French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.

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