The Dos And Don'ts Of Introducing Yourself In German & Basic Phrases

The Dos And Don'ts Of Introducing Yourself In German & Basic Phrases

Dos

The most common way you'll want to introduce yourself in German when meeting someone for the first time is to say "Hello!" People in Germany say hello to everyone, even complete strangers. It's considered polite. 

While saying "Hallo" or "Guten tag," you'll want to make good eye contact and shake the person's hand. Keep things simple! If asked for your name, be sure to state your first and last name, as Germans are pretty formal that way.

Don'ts

By all means, do not lean in to kiss anyone, and surprisingly, you shouldn't ask people how they are doing when you first meet them. It's considered unusual to ask about people's personal lives right away.

Another no, no when introducing yourself in German is to make small talk. This isn't common practice, and Germans may find this odd, especially in a formal setting.

Also, it is important to know that there are different pronouns to use in an informal setting, so be mindful of that when speaking with family or friends!

Other Common Ways To Greet People In German

Guten Morgen! Good morning!

Guten Tag! Good day/afternoon! (Used in Northern Germany)

Grüß Gott! Good day/afternoon! (Used in Southern Germany and Austria)

Grüezi! Good day/afternoon! (Used in Switzerland)

Guten Abend! Good evening!

These greetings are typically used in formal situations, such as when meeting elders, superiors, or new business acquaintances.

If you're greeting friends, younger people, or family members, it's not necessary to use the above greetings. Rather you can simply say the phrase, "Hi / Moin" or "Hey / Hey." This is how you say hi in Germany, but if you are in Austria or Switzerland, they prefer to say, "Servus!" or "Hoi!" instead.

 

Formal And Informal Personal Pronouns

It's important to know that there are two kinds of the pronoun "You" in German to use in a phrase or question. The first one we'll go over is the informal "You."

When To Use The Informal Pronoun 'You'

When you see or hear "Dir," this is referring to the personal pronoun "Du," which is easy to remember because it rhymes with "You!"' The pronoun "Du" is used when you speak with talking to family, friends, or people younger than you.

When To Use The Formal Pronoun 'You'

Now let's look at the formal use of "You" in the German language.

When you see or hear "Ihnen," this is referring to the pronoun "Sie." This pronoun is required when speaking in a formal way, such as when talking with older people, anyone superior to you, business clients, and best when meeting people for the first time.

There are also neutral ways to discuss others which we'll see in some examples below.

 

How To Introduce Yourself And Others In German

Introducing Yourself In German

After greeting someone for the first time, it's appropriate to introduce yourself by telling them your name:

“Ich bin (your name)” / I am _________ 

Or

“Mein Name ist (insert your name).” / My name is ___________

While small talk isn't common nor expected, Germans may recognize that you aren't from Germany and may be curious to know a bit about you. Let's look at some answers to some common questions you may be asked:

Ich komme aus (insert country or city) / I am from __________

Ich spreche Deutsch / I speak German

Ich spreche ein bisschen Deutsch / I speak a little German

If you speak English, you may notice that the grammatical sentence structure for German is quite similar. This makes it less complicated to pick up this new language. Let's look at this example:

Wie alt bist du? The literal translation is: How old are you?

The sentence structure is just like it is in English: question word, adjective, helping verb, and pronoun. Here is another example:

Ich bin student.  The literal translation is: I am a student.

The sentence structure is the same: pronoun, the verb to be, noun.