Greetings and Polite Expressions

First impressions matter! German has formal and informal greeting systems. Using the right one shows cultural awareness and respect.

Time-based greetings

German	English	When to use
Guten Morgen!	Good morning!	From waking up until ~10–11 am
Guten Tag!	Good day!	From ~11 am until ~6 pm (also formal "hello")
Guten Abend!	Good evening!	From ~6 pm onwards
Gute Nacht!	Good night!	When leaving for bed (NOT a hello!)
Hallo!	Hello!	Informal at any time
Hi!	Hi!	Very casual, among friends/young people

Farewells

German	English	Register
Auf Wiedersehen!	Goodbye!	Formal / neutral (lit. "until we see again")
Auf Wiederhören!	Goodbye! (on phone)	Formal, phone only
Tschüss!	Bye!	Informal
Tschau!	Ciao!	Very informal
Bis bald!	See you soon!	Informal
Bis morgen!	See you tomorrow!	Informal

Asking "How are you?" and responding

Asking	English	Register
Wie geht es dir? / Wie geht's?	How are you?	Informal singular
Wie geht es euch?	How are you (all)?	Informal plural
Wie geht es Ihnen?	How are you?	Formal

Response	English
Sehr gut, danke!	Very well, thank you!
Gut, danke. Und dir/Ihnen?	Good, thanks. And you?
Es geht.	So-so. / It's okay.
Nicht so gut.	Not so good.
Mir geht es gut.	I am doing well. (lit. "To me it goes well.")

Essential polite phrases

German	English	Note
Entschuldigung!	Excuse me! / Sorry!	Used to get attention or apologize
Entschuldigen Sie!	Excuse me! (formal)	Formal version
Es tut mir leid.	I am sorry.	Expressing regret (deeper than Entschuldigung)
Danke!	Thank you!	—
Vielen Dank!	Many thanks!	More emphatic
Bitte!	Please! / You're welcome!	Context-dependent — both meanings!
Gern! / Gerne!	Gladly! / You're welcome!	Warm reply to thanks
Kein Problem.	No problem.	Casual

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Modal Verbs (Modalverben)

Modal verbs change or modify the meaning of another (main) verb. The modal takes position 2 (conjugated), and the main verb goes to the end of the sentence as an infinitive.

The 6 core modal verbs — meaning & nuance

Modal	Core meaning	Key nuance	Example
können	can / be able to	Ability, possibility	Ich kann schwimmen. — I can swim.
müssen	must / have to	Necessity, obligation	Ich muss arbeiten. — I have to work.
dürfen	may / be allowed to	Permission	Darf ich fragen? — May I ask?
sollen	should / supposed to	Instruction, expectation	Du sollst lernen. — You are supposed to study.
wollen	want to	Strong intention	Wir wollen reisen. — We want to travel.
mögen	to like	Preference (often with nouns)	Ich mag Kaffee. — I like coffee.
möchten	would like to	Polite wish / request	Ich möchte Tee, bitte. — I would like tea, please.

Full conjugation table for modal verbs

Subject	können	müssen	dürfen	sollen	wollen	mögen	möchten
ich	kann	muss	darf	soll	will	mag	möchte
du	kannst	musst	darfst	sollst	willst	magst	möchtest
er/sie/es	kann	muss	darf	soll	will	mag	möchte
wir	können	müssen	dürfen	sollen	wollen	mögen	möchten
ihr	könnt	müsst	dürft	sollt	wollt	mögt	möchtet
sie/Sie	können	müssen	dürfen	sollen	wollen	mögen	möchten