Picking Up a Package in Germany — Paket and Nachbarn
After this lesson you can collect a parcel from a neighbour or a Paketshop.
Do this first: Perfekt
Übungen
Eight exercises on what you just watched. Get 80% and the lesson is marked done and added to your A1 progress.
1 / 8 · Type the missing word
2 / 8 · Type the missing word
3 / 8 · Word order
Put the words in the right order.
Did a parcel come for me?
4 / 8 · Word order
Put the words in the right order.
I got the notification card.
5 / 8 · Choose
What is das Paket?
6 / 8 · Choose
What is die Benachrichtigungskarte?
7 / 8 · Choose
What does annehmen mean?
8 / 8 · Choose
What is the participle of annehmen?
In short
If you were out, your parcel is with a neighbour or at a Paketshop, and a Benachrichtigungskarte in your letterbox says which. Ask Haben Sie ein Paket für mich angenommen? and bring your Ausweis to collect it.
How it works
German parcel delivery assumes someone will take your parcel in. If you are out, the courier leaves it with a Nachbar or at a nearby Paketshop and drops a Benachrichtigungskarte — a notification card — through your door telling you where it went.
This is a Perfekt conversation from start to finish, which is why it closes the course. Ist ein Paket für mich gekommen? Haben Sie es angenommen? Ich habe die Karte bekommen. Every sentence uses a helper verb plus a participle, and annehmen and abgeben are separable, so their participles wrap the prefix around the ge-: angenommen, abgegeben.
To collect, you need the card and photo ID — and if someone is fetching it for you, a Vollmacht (written authorisation). The card will name either a neighbour and flat number, or a Paketshop with its opening hours. If a parcel has gone back, the word is zurückgeschickt.
| German | English |
|---|---|
| Ist ein Paket für mich gekommen? | Did a parcel come for me? |
| Haben Sie ein Paket für mich angenommen? | Did you take in a parcel for me? |
| Ich wohne im dritten Stock. | I live on the third floor. |
| Entschuldigen Sie die Störung. | Sorry to disturb you. |
| Vielen Dank, das ist nett von Ihnen. | Thank you, that's kind of you. |
| German | English |
|---|---|
| Ich möchte ein Paket abholen. | I'd like to collect a parcel. |
| Hier ist meine Benachrichtigungskarte. | Here is my notification card. |
| Hier ist mein Ausweis. | Here is my ID. |
| Ich habe eine Vollmacht. | I have written authorisation. |
| Bis wann kann ich es abholen? | By when can I collect it? |
| German | English |
|---|---|
| das Paket | parcel |
| die Post | post, post office |
| der Paketshop | parcel pick-up point |
| die Benachrichtigungskarte | notification card |
| der Nachbar / die Nachbarin | neighbour |
| annehmen | to accept, take in (separable) |
| abholen | to collect (separable) |
| die Sendungsnummer | tracking number |
| die Vollmacht | written authorisation |
| der Stock | floor, storey |
Examples
- Ist ein Paket für mich gekommen?Did a parcel come for me?
- Haben Sie ein Paket für mich angenommen?Did you take in a parcel for me?
- Ich habe die Benachrichtigungskarte bekommen.I got the notification card.
- Der Nachbar hat es angenommen.The neighbour took it in.
- Ich möchte ein Paket abholen.I would like to collect a parcel.
- Hier ist mein Ausweis.Here is my ID.
- Ich wohne im dritten Stock.I live on the third floor.
- Vielen Dank, das ist nett von Ihnen.Thank you, that's kind of you.
- Das Paket wurde zurückgeschickt.The parcel was sent back.
- Wie ist die Sendungsnummer?What is the tracking number?
Mistakes to avoid
✗ Ich habe ein Paket angenehmen.
✓ Ich habe ein Paket angenommen.
The participle of annehmen is angenommen — the separable prefix wraps around the ge-. Angenehm is a different word entirely (pleasant).
✗ Going without ID
✓ Bringing your Ausweis
A Paketshop will not release a parcel without photo ID, and a neighbour may reasonably ask too.
✗ Ignoring the collection deadline
✓ Checking the card
Parcels are held for about a week, then zurückgeschickt — returned to sender. The date is printed on the card.
✗ im dritten Stock = third floor as in the UK
✓ Counting from the Erdgeschoss
German ground floor is Erdgeschoss (EG); the first floor above it is der erste Stock. So dritter Stock is the fourth level — the same system as the rest of continental Europe.
Wortschatz
The words from this lesson.
| das Paket | parcel | |
| der Nachbar | neighbour | die Nachbarin for a woman |
| annehmen | to take in, accept | separable |
| abholen | to collect | separable |
| die Post | post, post office | |
| der Stock | floor, storey | |
| das Erdgeschoss | ground floor | |
| die Sendungsnummer | tracking number | |
| die Vollmacht | written authorisation | |
| zurückschicken | to send back | separable |
Kulturnotiz
Taking in a neighbour's parcel is a small but real German social contract — couriers will ring several doorbells until someone accepts, and refusing is legal but noticed. It also means you will end up holding parcels for people you have never spoken to. The flip side is the Klingelschild: German doorbells are labelled with surnames, so the courier knows exactly whose bell to ring, and a missing name on the bell can genuinely cost you deliveries.
Common questions
+Where is my parcel if I was out?
With a neighbour or at a nearby Paketshop. The Benachrichtigungskarte in your letterbox names which, along with the address and opening hours.
+What do I need to collect it?
The notification card and photo ID. If someone else is collecting on your behalf, they also need a Vollmacht — a short written authorisation from you.
+How long is a parcel held?
Usually about a week. After that it is zurückgeschickt — returned to the sender. The deadline is printed on the card.
+What floor is der dritte Stock?
The fourth level up. German counts the ground floor as Erdgeschoss and starts numbering above it, so erster Stock is one flight up — the continental system, not the American one.