Ways to use this list
- Der, die or das: read out only the noun and let the class vote on its article before you check the list.
- Compound word puzzle: press Long compound words, spin, and guess the English word from its literal parts, like "glow pear" for light bulb.
- Daily five: spin five words on the way to school and test yourself on the same five again at bedtime.
- Three languages at once: spin a word here, then find it in Spanish and French too. The sun is die Sonne, el sol and le soleil.
- Exchange or holiday prep: practise greetings like Guten Morgen and Entschuldigung until they come out without thinking.
Press Spin the wheel, tap the game or press the Space bar. Change the list in the box as you
like: add your own, delete what doesn't suit you, or write *2 after an entry to give it double the
chance. The game buttons switch the same list to a duck race, hat, claw machine and more.
The full list (100 entries)
- Hallo – hello
- Tschüss – bye
- Auf Wiedersehen – goodbye
- bitte – please, you're welcome
- danke – thank you
- ja – yes
- nein – no
- Guten Morgen – good morning
- Gute Nacht – good night
- Entschuldigung – sorry, excuse me
- die Mutter – the mother
- der Vater – the father
- der Bruder – the brother
- die Schwester – the sister
- die Oma – the grandma
- der Opa – the grandpa
- der Freund – the friend (male)
- die Freundin – the friend (female)
- das Kind – the child
- das Mädchen – the girl
- der Hund – the dog
- die Katze – the cat
- der Vogel – the bird
- der Fisch – the fish
- das Pferd – the horse
- die Kuh – the cow
- die Maus – the mouse
- das Kaninchen – the rabbit
- der Bär – the bear
- das Schwein – the pig
- die Ente – the duck
- der Schmetterling – the butterfly
- das Wasser – the water
- die Milch – the milk
- das Brot – the bread
- der Käse – the cheese
- der Apfel – the apple
- die Banane – the banana
- die Erdbeere – the strawberry
- das Ei – the egg
- die Suppe – the soup
- der Kuchen – the cake
- das Eis – the ice cream, the ice
- der Saft – the juice
- das Haus – the house
- die Schule – the school
- das Buch – the book
- der Tisch – the table
- der Stuhl – the chair
- die Tür – the door
- das Fenster – the window
- das Bett – the bed
- der Bleistift – the pencil
- die Küche – the kitchen
- das Auto – the car
- die Tasche – the bag
- die Sonne – the sun
- der Mond – the moon
- der Stern – the star
- der Baum – the tree
- die Blume – the flower
- das Meer – the sea
- der Strand – the beach
- der Regen – the rain
- der Schnee – the snow
- der Berg – the mountain
- der Kopf – the head
- die Hand – the hand
- der Fuß – the foot
- das Auge – the eye
- der Mund – the mouth
- die Nase – the nose
- rot – red
- blau – blue
- grün – green
- gelb – yellow
- schwarz – black
- weiß – white
- rosa – pink
- grau – grey
- groß – big, tall
- klein – small
- glücklich – happy
- traurig – sad
- schön – beautiful
- neu – new
- heiß – hot
- kalt – cold
- sprechen – to speak
- essen – to eat
- trinken – to drink
- spielen – to play
- lesen – to read
- schreiben – to write
- schlafen – to sleep
- machen – to do, to make
- heute – today
- morgen – tomorrow
- gestern – yesterday
- jetzt – now
Questions people ask
Why are all German nouns written with a capital letter?
German spelling capitalises every noun, not just names: der Hund, das Buch, die Sonne. It is a handy clue when you read, because the capital letter tells you straight away that a word is a noun.
How do I know if a German word is der, die or das?
Mostly by learning each noun with its article. A few patterns help: words ending in -chen are always das (das Mädchen, das Kaninchen), words ending in -ung are die, and many words ending in -e are die too (die Katze, die Blume).
What is the longest German word?
German joins words together freely, so there is no fixed longest word. A famous example is Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz, 63 letters long: the name of a regional law about checking beef labels, repealed in 2013.
Why is das Mädchen neuter when it means girl?
Here grammar decides, not meaning. Every noun ending in -chen is neuter, because -chen makes a word small, and Mädchen began as an old word for a young woman with -chen added on the end.