German Apologies & Thanks Vocabulary
This set covers how German handles apologizing and thanking, from the basic sorry and danke up to nouns like die Dankbarkeit and die Vergebung. One trap for English speakers: Entschuldigung does double duty as both excuse me and I'm sorry, so the same word covers situations English splits into two different phrases.
Learn these 18 words
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All 18 words
plural: die Dänke
thanks
Vielen Dank! — Thank you very much!
- dankeA1
thank you
Soll ich Ihnen helfen? - Nein, danke! — Shall I help you? - No, thank you!
- dankenA1
to thank
Ich danke Ihnen für die Einladung. — I thank you for the invitation.
to excuse; apologize
Entschuldigen Sie bitte! — Excuse me, please!
plural: die Entschuldigungen
excuse
Entschuldigung! – Bitte. — Excuse me! – You're welcome.
- sorryA1
sorry
Sorry, ich habe mich verspätet. — Sorry, I was late.
- bedankenA2
thank
Ich möchte mich noch einmal sehr herzlich für Ihre Hilfe bedanken. — I would like to thank you once more very sincerely for your help.
excuse, apologize
Entschuldigt! Ich bin zu spät gekommen. — Excuse me! I arrived too late.
has excused
Sie hat sich für ihre Verspätung entschuldigt. — She has excused herself for her lateness.
has thanked
Ich habe ihm herzlich für seine Hilfe gedankt. — I have thanked him sincerely for his help.
gratitude
Sie zeigte große Dankbarkeit für die Hilfe. — She showed great gratitude for the help.
plural: die Danksagungen
thank-you speech
Sie hielt eine kurze Danksagung bei der Feier. — She gave a short thank-you speech at the party.
apologetic
Er lächelte entschuldigend nach dem Vorfall. — He smiled apologetically after the incident.
plural: die Räte
advice
Was soll ich machen? Können Sie mir einen Rat geben? — What should I do? Can you give me some advice?
advice
Meine Tochter nimmt meine Ratschläge nicht an. — My daughter doesn't accept my advice.
pardon, forgiveness
Verzeihung! Ich habe die falsche Nummer gewählt. — Pardon! I dialed the wrong number.
plural: die Geständnisse
confession
Der Verdächtige legte ein vollständiges Geständnis ab. — The suspect made a full confession.
plural: die Vergebungen
forgiveness
Nach dem Streit bat er um Vergebung. — After the argument he asked for forgiveness.
How to learn this set
Notice that danken, entschuldigen, and bedanken share the same root idea of thanks and excuse but shift meaning with prefixes: bedanken adds sich to become a reflexive verb, sich bedanken, meaning to express thanks yourself. Drill the verb forms together as a chain: entschuldigen, entschuldigt, hat entschuldigt, and danken, hat gedankt, so you see the participle pattern instead of memorizing each in isolation. For the nouns, group them by der/die/das first, since die Entschuldigung, die Dankbarkeit, die Danksagung, and die Vergebung are all feminine, which is a useful shortcut for guessing gender on similar abstract nouns ending in -ung or -heit/-keit.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Entschuldigung and Verzeihung?
Entschuldigung is the everyday word for sorry or excuse me, used for bumping into someone or interrupting. Verzeihung is a notch more formal and closer to pardon, often used with strangers or in slightly more serious situations. In practice Germans use Entschuldigung far more often.
Is entschuldigen a reflexive verb?
Yes, when you apologize for yourself you say sich entschuldigen, as in Ich entschuldige mich. Without sich, entschuldigen means to excuse someone else, like Entschuldigen Sie mich.
What is the difference between Rat and Ratschlag?
Both mean advice, but Ratschlag is the more concrete, countable version, a specific piece of advice you can give or receive. Rat is more general and often appears in fixed phrases like Ich brauche deinen Rat, I need your advice.
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