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Study in the app →German · CEFR Band 1 (A1) · Chapter 2
Danke Thank you
The little words of politeness — danke, bitte, Entschuldigung — and two sound traps English speakers nearly always misread. First: w in German sounds like English "v" — willkommen is "VIL-kommen", not an English w. Second: z is always "ts" — ganz, zehn begin with the ts sound. (And v mostly sounds like "f".) One key note: bitte means both "please" and "you're welcome" — the all-purpose politeness word. Standard German.
Dialogue
Danke! — Thank you!
- Lukas Hallo, Lena. Danke! Hello, Lena. Thank you!
- Lena Bitte! Gern. You're welcome! Gladly.
- Lukas Bitte, Lena — guten Abend? Please, Lena — good evening? (asking)
- Lena Ja, guten Abend! Tschüss. Yes, good evening! Bye.
Dialogue
Entschuldigung! — Excuse me!
- Lena Entschuldigung, Lukas! Excuse me, Lukas!
- Lukas Bitte, bitte. Okay! Please, please. It's okay!
- Lena Tut mir leid. Auf Wiedersehen! I'm sorry. Goodbye!
- Lukas Willkommen, Lena! Auf Wiedersehen. Welcome, Lena! Goodbye.
Vocabulary
| 汉字 | Pinyin | POS | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| danke | interj. | thank you | |
| bitte | interj. | please; you're welcome | |
| Entschuldigung | n. | sorry, excuse me | |
| auf Wiedersehen | phrase | goodbye (formal) | |
| gern | adv. | gladly, with pleasure | |
| tut mir leid | phrase | I'm sorry | |
| willkommen | adj. | welcome | |
| gut | adj./adv. | good, well |
pronunciation
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