German Fruit Vocabulary
This set covers the fruit and berry words you need at the market or on a menu: der Apfel, die Erdbeere, die Traube, and das Obst itself. One trap for English speakers is die Traube, which means grape (singular), not the bunch, and der Pfirsich looks nothing like "peach" so it won't help you guess.
Learn these 23 words
Spaced-repetition flashcards, straight in your browser. No sign-up, no install — the same review ladder Anki uses, on the words above.
All 23 words
plural: die Äpfel
apple
Ein Pfund Äpfel bitte. — A pound of apples, please.
plural: die Kirschen
cherry
Die Kirschen sind heute sehr süß. — The cherries are very sweet today.
fruit
Im Sommer ist das Obst billig. — In summer the fruit is cheap.
plural: die Trauben
grape
Ich esse gern grüne Trauben. — I like eating green grapes.
plural: die Ananas
pineapple
Die Ananas schmeckt frisch und süß. — The pineapple tastes fresh and sweet.
plural: die Himbeeren
raspberry
Wir pflücken Himbeeren im eigenen Garten. — We pick raspberries in our own garden.
plural: die Kiwis
kiwi fruit
Die Kiwi ist innen grün. — The kiwi is green inside.
plural: die Mandarinen
tangerine
Im Winter esse ich viele Mandarinen. — In winter I eat many tangerines.
plural: die Melonen
melon
Im Sommer kaufen wir oft Melone. — In summer we often buy melon.
plural: die Orangen
orange
Ich esse gern Orangen. — I like to eat oranges.
plural: die Pfirsiche
peach
Der Pfirsich ist reif und weich. — The peach is ripe and soft.
plural: die Zitronen
lemon
Ich trinke den Tee mit Zitrone. — I drink tea with lemon.
plural: die Aprikosen
apricot
Aprikosen wachsen gut im warmen Klima. — Apricots grow well in a warm climate.
plural: die Bananen
banana
1 Kilo Bananen, bitte. — 1 kilo of bananas, please.
plural: die Birnen
pear
Möchten Sie Obst? Die Birnen sind heute besonders schön. — Would you like fruit? The pears are particularly nice today.
plural: die Früchte
fruit
Welche Früchte kann man essen? — Which fruits can you eat?
plural: die Pflaumen
plum
Ich esse gern Pflaumen und noch lieber Pflaumenkuchen. — I like eating plums and even better plum cake.
plural: die Äpfel
apple
Der Apfel ist süß und frisch. — The apple is sweet and fresh.
plural: die Bananen
banana
Die Banane ist gelb und reif. — The banana is yellow and ripe.
plural: die Birnen
pear
Die Birne ist süß und saftig. — The pear is sweet and juicy.
plural: die Erdbeeren
strawberry
Die Erdbeere ist rot und süß im Geschmack. — The strawberry is red and sweet in taste.
plural: die Nüsse
nut
Die Nüsse sind reich an Proteinen. — The nuts are rich in protein.
plural: die Steinpilze
porcini mushrooms
Im Herbst sammeln wir Steinpilze im Wald. — In autumn we collect porcini mushrooms in the forest.
How to learn this set
Almost all the berry and soft-fruit words here are feminine, die Kirsche, die Himbeere, die Erdbeere, die Pflaume, die Birne, so if you're unsure of a gender and the word ends in -e, guess die and you'll be right most of the time. Der Apfel is one of the few masculine outliers worth memorizing on its own, alongside der Pfirsich and der Steinpilz. Drill das Obst and die Frucht as a pair since mixing them up is the most common mistake in this list: use Obst when you mean fruit in general, Frucht when you mean one specific fruit or something figurative.
More Food & Drink word packs
Frequently asked questions
Is das Obst the same as die Frucht?
Obst is the collective, uncountable word for fruit in general, like when you talk about eating more fruit or buying fruit at the market. Frucht refers to an individual fruit or is used in botanical and figurative contexts. In everyday shopping and eating, you almost always want Obst.
Why is die Orange feminine when der Apfel is masculine?
German noun gender doesn't follow a logical rule tied to meaning, so fruit names split across all three genders with no pattern to predict them from. You just have to learn der Apfel, die Orange, and das Obst as fixed pairs rather than looking for a fruit-related reason.
Is die Nuss a fruit in German?
Botanically some nuts count as fruit, but in everyday German, die Nuss sits in its own category separate from Obst, similar to English. It's included here because it shares shelf space with fruit in most learning contexts, not because Germans call it Obst.
Other popular word packs
Free to start · no credit card
Words fade fast — spaced reviews make them stick.
Based on Dr. Hermann Ebbinghaus · memory science, proven since 1885