German A1 Vocabulary List
Beginner German words
The first survival words: greetings, numbers, family, food, everyday basics. · 578 words.
Study them as German flashcards & Anki decks by topic, see how to learn German vocabulary fast, or pick words up on YouTube with the dual-subtitle Chrome extension.
The free A1 course teaches 173 of the 578 words on this list in 45 short lessons — the numbers in Numbers 0–20, the articles in der, die, das, and the rest in the situation that uses them.
578 A1 words
Which of these A1 words do Germans actually say?
We analysed the subtitles of 192 real German videos — 4,575 lines of spontaneous speech — and cross-referenced every word on this list against them. Out of the 578 A1 words, 383 (66%) were genuinely spoken. The most frequent is und, appearing in 172 out of the 192 videos. The list below arranges words by that count, so the ones you will meet first sit at the top. Click any word to view a line of real German speech and watch the moment it was spoken.
Corpus recorded on 2026-09-20. The “Heard in” column tallies how many videos feature the word, not how often it occurs inside them. A dash means that word never came up once.
| German word | English meaning | Heard in |
|---|---|---|
| und | and | 172 of 192 |
| in | in | 162 of 192 |
| der | the (definite article) | 145 of 192 |
| für | for | 144 of 192 |
| ich | I | 140 of 192 |
| ein | a; an (indefinite) | 132 of 192 |
| nur | only, just | 126 of 192 |
| schnell | fast, quick | 117 of 192 |
| sie | she, they | 113 of 192 |
| es | it | 103 of 192 |
| auf | on, upon, up | 100 of 192 |
| lernen | learn, study | 95 of 192 |
| heute | today | 93 of 192 |
| zu | to, too | 88 of 192 |
| mit | with | 86 of 192 |
| kurz | short, brief | 84 of 192 |
| nicht | not | 82 of 192 |
| aus | out/from | 76 of 192 |
| noch | still, yet | 71 of 192 |
| er | he | 65 of 192 |
| haben | have | 65 of 192 |
| sich | himself/herself/itself | 64 of 192 |
| vor | before, in front of | 63 of 192 |
| nach | after, to | 61 of 192 |
| an | at, on, to | 60 of 192 |
| ja | yes | 59 of 192 |
| was | what | 58 of 192 |
| hier | here | 53 of 192 |
| bei | at/near/by | 50 of 192 |
| die Polizei | police | 48 of 192 |
| so | so, thus | 48 of 192 |
| bitte | request, favor | 47 of 192 |
| gut | good | 47 of 192 |
| sehr | very | 46 of 192 |
| aber | but, however | 45 of 192 |
| von | from, of | 45 of 192 |
| oder | or | 43 of 192 |
| wir | we | 43 of 192 |
| auch | also, too | 42 of 192 |
| wie | how, as | 41 of 192 |
| um | at, around | 39 of 192 |
| morgen | tomorrow | 38 of 192 |
| gegen | against, towards | 35 of 192 |
| ihr | you/him/him | 34 of 192 |
| jetzt | now | 34 of 192 |
| werden | become, will | 34 of 192 |
| sein | to be | 29 of 192 |
| das Wiedersehen | goodbye (in person) | 28 of 192 |
| bis | until, to | 27 of 192 |
| dann | then | 26 of 192 |
| Grad | degree | 26 of 192 |
| danke | thank you | 25 of 192 |
| nein | no | 25 of 192 |
| das Wort | word | 24 of 192 |
| dein | your (informal) | 23 of 192 |
| schon | already | 23 of 192 |
| also | so, therefore | 22 of 192 |
| mehr | more | 22 of 192 |
| sehen | to see | 22 of 192 |
| einfach | simple; simply | 21 of 192 |
| laufen | run, walk | 21 of 192 |
| der Mann | man | 21 of 192 |
| mein | my | 21 of 192 |
| schwer | heavy, difficult | 21 of 192 |
| vielleicht | perhaps, maybe | 21 of 192 |
| die Uhr | clock, watch | 20 of 192 |
| ab | from, off | 19 of 192 |
| die Entschuldigung | excuse | 19 of 192 |
| die Frau | woman; Mrs. | 19 of 192 |
| immer | always | 18 of 192 |
| seit | since, for | 18 of 192 |
| der See | lake | 16 of 192 |
| sollen | shall, should | 16 of 192 |
| brauchen | to need | 15 of 192 |
| hallo | hello | 15 of 192 |
| der Moment | moment | 15 of 192 |
| wo | where | 15 of 192 |
| der Ort | place, location | 14 of 192 |
| das Problem | problem | 14 of 192 |
| da | there, here | 13 of 192 |
| der Dank | thanks | 13 of 192 |
| gehen | go, walk | 13 of 192 |
| langsam | slow, slowly | 13 of 192 |
| die Stadt | city, town | 13 of 192 |
| die Zeit | time | 13 of 192 |
| zurück | back | 13 of 192 |
| bald | soon | 12 of 192 |
| durch | through | 12 of 192 |
| das Feuer | fire | 12 of 192 |
| kommen | come, arrive | 12 of 192 |
| können | can, be able to | 12 of 192 |
| lange | for a long time | 12 of 192 |
| nehmen | take | 12 of 192 |
| nichts | nothing | 12 of 192 |
| das Wasser | water | 12 of 192 |
| zusammen | together | 12 of 192 |
| baden | bathe/swim | 11 of 192 |
| fertig | finished, ready | 11 of 192 |
| müssen | must, have to | 11 of 192 |
| warum | why | 11 of 192 |
Quiz yourself on A1 words
Turn this list into a spaced-repetition quiz — multiple choice or flashcards, with the same tap-to-translate meanings, synonyms and etymology you see here. Free to start; sign up to save your progress and pick up where you left off.
Frequently asked questions
How many words are in the German A1 vocabulary list?
578 words, each with its English translation, the article (der/die/das) and an example sentence.
Is the German A1 word list free to download?
Yes — download the whole list free as a CSV spreadsheet or an Anki flashcard deck for spaced repetition.
What topics does German A1 vocabulary cover?
Communication & Media, Everyday Actions, Society & Abstract, Time & Dates, Travel & Transport, Family & People, Feelings & Character, Work & Education and more — browse them above, or open a topic for its own list.
Learn A1 by watching real German videos
Watch popular German videos with dual subtitles — German on top, English beneath — and tap any word for the same meaning, synonyms and etymology you see in the list above.
Vocabulary quiz
generated from this clip
„Wie heißt du?" — what is being asked?
Question 1 of 5 · after every video you watch
Free to start · no credit card
Words fade fast — spaced reviews make them stick.
Based on Dr. Hermann Ebbinghaus · memory science, proven since 1885