German A1 vocabulary: 300 most common words with examples

A1 is the first 300 words, the backbone of everyday German.

This level has 36 concepts in the skill map: 300 words in small groups and 5 lessons. Each one unlocks once you master what it builds on.

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Updated October 21, 2026

Grammar

W-questions: wer, was, wo, wann, wie, warum Wer (who), was (what), wo (where), woher (where from), wann (when), wie (how), warum (why).
Articles: der, die, das, ein, eine German has three genders: der Tisch (masculine), die Lampe (feminine), das Buch (neuter). The plural is…
Nicht and kein: saying "not" and "no" Use kein before a noun that would have ein or no article (Ich habe kein Auto). Use nicht for everything else…
Sein: to be Ich bin, du bist, er / sie / es ist, wir sind, ihr seid, sie / Sie sind.
Haben: to have Ich habe, du hast, er hat, wir haben, ihr habt, sie haben. Also: Hunger haben "to be hungry".

Word list

#	Word	English
1	ich	I
2	sie	she
3	das	the (neuter)
4	sein	to be
5	du	you, thou
6	nicht	not, non-
7	der	the (masculine)
8	es	it
9	und	and
10	wir	we
11	was	what
12	zu	to
13	er	he
14	ein	a, an
15	in	in, into
16	ja	yes
17	mit	with
18	wie	how
19	den	the (masculine accusative)
20	auf	on, onto
21	dass	that
22	aber	but
23	so	so, such, that
24	haben	to have
25	hier	here
26	für	for
27	von	from, of
28	wenn	when, whenever
29	ihr	you (plural)
30	nein	no
31	an	at, on, by
32	noch	still, yet
33	nur	only, just, merely, simply
34	da	there
35	sich	oneself, himself, herself, itself, themselves
36	können	can, to be able to
37	gut	good
38	auch	also, too
39	schon	already
40	als	as
41	mal	once
42	jetzt	now
43	ihn	him, it
44	dann	then, after that
45	aus	out of, from
46	mein	my
47	um	around, at (um 5 Uhr)
48	im	in the
49	werden	to become
50	doch	yes (contradicting)
51	alles	everything
52	wissen	to know
53	kein	no, not a, not any
54	oder	or
55	nach	after
56	nichts	nothing
57	man	one, you, people
58	müssen	must, to have to
59	wollen	to want
60	gehen	to go, to walk
61	wo	where
62	etwas	something
63	mehr	something more
64	bei	at, near
65	also	so, therefore
66	bitte	please, if you please
67	immer	always
68	warum	why
69	vor	in front of, before
70	los	go!
71	wieder	again
72	sagen	to say, to tell
73	machen	to make, to do
74	dank	thanks to, because of, courtesy of
75	sehr	very
76	all	all
77	denn	for
78	Mann	man
79	tun	to do
80	zum	to the, for the
81	sehen	to see
82	vielleicht	perhaps, maybe
83	wer	who
84	dieser	this one, this
85	einer	one
86	kommen	to come
87	über	over, above
88	geben	to give
89	okay	OK
90	dein	your
91	sollen	should, to be supposed to
92	nie	never, never at all
93	wirklich	really, actually
94	viel	much, a lot
95	weg	away
96	am	at the, on the
97	einfach	easily
98	leben	to live, to be alive
99	Zeit	time
100	weil	because, given that
101	heute	today
102	damit	therefore, as a result
103	ganz	quite, rather
104	sicher	safely
105	Frau	woman
106	nun	now, at this moment
107	bis	until
108	leid	sorry (es tut mir leid: I'm sorry)
109	zurück	back
110	lassen	to let
111	hallo	hello
112	Gott	god
113	zwei	two
114	genau	just, exactly
115	zur	to the, for the (feminine)
116	klar	clear
117	Morgen	morning
118	Leute	people
119	Vater	father
120	schön	beautiful, nice
121	glauben	to believe something
122	ab	beginning at that time or location
123	gerade	just, right now
124	Tag	day
125	reden	to talk, to speak, to orate
126	wohl	probably
127	Liebe	love
128	unser	our
129	jemand	someone, somebody
130	Geld	money
131	durch	through
132	ob	whether, if
133	Mutter	mother
134	raus	out
135	paar	a few (ein paar)
136	passieren	to happen
137	denken	to think
138	wieso	why
139	selbst	oneself
140	hören	to hear
141	mögen	to like
142	ohne	without
143	her	here, to here (toward the speaker)
144	meiner	mine
145	anderer	another, others
146	helfen	to help
147	Nacht	night
148	finden	to find
149	lange	long, for a long time
150	natürlich	naturally
151	ach	oh, alas
152	gar	at all
153	ins	into the
154	dort	there, yonder
155	weiter	further, farther, more
156	seit	since
157	gleich	alike
158	recht	very, quite, rather, pretty, fairly
159	richtig	really
160	Ordnung	arrangement, regulation
161	vom	from the, of the
162	davon	from it, from that, therefrom, off it, off that
163	dafür	for that, for it
164	wegen	for, because of
165	Haus	house, building
166	Mädchen	girl
167	hin	there, thither
168	Abend	evening
169	drei	three numerical value represented by the Arabic numeral 3
170	Freund	friend
171	warten	to wait
172	Mensch	man! rah!
173	essen	to eat
174	Angst	fear
175	bleiben	to remain
176	zusammen	together, jointly
177	Welt	world
178	unter	under
179	schnell	quickly
180	Andere	nominalization of andere: the other / different one
181	tot	dead, deceased
182	dürfen	to be allowed
183	erst	first, at first
184	rein	purely
185	stimmen	to be right, to be correct, to be proper, to be true
186	nehmen	to take
187	Kind	kid
188	Glaube	belief, faith
189	bringen	to bring, to fetch, to take, to convey, to bear
190	genug	enough, sufficient, an adequate number or amount of
191	brauchen	to need, to be in need of, to require
192	gegen	against
193	Moment	moment
194	Junge	boy
195	stehen	to stand
196	sonst	otherwise
197	Musik	music
198	Arbeit	work
199	Ihrer	yours polite/formal
200	Frage	question
201	Herr	Mr
202	dabei	with one, on one
203	heißen	to have a name
204	Familie	family
205	Warte	lookout, guarding post
206	niemand	nobody, no one
207	sofort	immediately, at once
208	bevor	before
209	Jahr	year
210	einmal	once, one time
211	Problem	problem
212	Sohn	son
213	wann	when
214	fertig	ready for use
215	halt	stop!, wait!
216	allein	alone
217	beim	at the, by the
218	sprechen	to speak
219	beide	both
220	Sache	matter, affair, case, question, issue
221	Hilfe	the act of helping, assistance
222	verdammt	damn
223	ne	right?
224	jeder	each
225	gern	willingly
226	darüber	above, above it/this/that
227	halten	to hold
228	verstehen	to hear and interpret
229	wahr	true, real
230	dazu	in addition to it, in addition, besides
231	Bruder	brother
232	daran	on it, on that
233	Fall	fall, drop
234	deiner	yours
235	egal	no matter
236	kennen	to know
237	vergessen	to forget
238	fragen	to ask
239	echt	really
240	eigentlich	really, actually, in truth
241	Dad	dad
242	Uhr	hours, o'clock
243	Stadt	city
244	Baby	baby
245	fahren	to go at speed
246	Name	name
247	bekommen	to receive
248	Kopf	head
249	hi	hi
250	Kleiner	boy, young man
251	später	later
252	Glück	happiness, joy, bliss
253	Letzter	the last one
254	darauf	after behind
255	Ende	end, finish
256	bald	soon
257	töten	to kill
258	Ding	thing
259	meinen	to opine, to think
260	toll	great, nice, wonderful
261	eins	one numerical value represented by the Arabic numeral 1
262	Minute	minute unit of time
263	bereit	ready
264	weit	far
265	Ahnung	anticipation, inkling
266	seiner	his
267	bisschen	bit
268	Tür	door
269	Auto	car
270	euer	your
271	Auge	eye
272	Polizei	police
273	sterben	to die
274	draußen	outside
275	fast	almost
276	runter	down, down here, downstairs
277	vorbei	over, past, up
278	treffen	to meet
279	gerne	don't mention it, not at all, you're welcome
280	dran	to be in a particular situation
281	mom	gimme a sec, hold on
282	verrückt	crazy, mad
283	neu	new
284	hinter	behind, after
285	Sorge	concern, care, responsibility, aid
286	einzig	only, sole
287	darum	around it, around that
288	Tochter	daughter
289	Idee	idea
290	Schwester	sister
291	drin	inside
292	ruhig	quiet
293	spät	late
294	ziemlich	pretty, quite, rather, fairly, kind of
295	sogar	even, actually, in fact
296	kurz	short, quick, brief
297	Kerl	fellow, guy, chap, bloke
298	liegen	to lie
299	suchen	to search, to look for
300	je	ever