German On the Plane Vocabulary
This set covers the vocabulary of flight from boarding to touchdown, including das Flugzeug itself, die Landung, and the crew terms der Steward and die Stewardess. One trap for English speakers: der Insasse looks like it should mean something dramatic but just means "occupant" or "passenger," and it's also the standard word for a prison inmate, so don't be thrown when you see it in unrelated contexts.
Learn these 27 words
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All 27 words
plural: die Flugzeuge
airplane
Das Flugzeug aus Berlin kommt heute später an. — The airplane from Berlin is arriving late today.
fly (off)
ist (ab)geflogen — The plane took off on time.
plural: die Flüge
flight
Ich möchte einen Flug nach Kanada buchen. — I'd like to book a flight to Canada.
- landenB1
land
Wir sind erst um 20 Uhr in München gelandet. — We did not land in Munich until 8 p.m.
plural: die Landungen
landing
Bei der Landung müssen Sie sich anschnallen. — You must fasten your seatbelt during landing.
plural: die Passagiere
passenger
Die Passagiere Schulz und Kaufmann sollen bitte zur Information kommen. — Passengers Schulz and Kaufmann should please come to the information desk.
plural: die Passagierinnen
female passenger
Die Passagierin hat ihre Tasche verloren. — The female passenger lost her bag.
plural: die Stewards
flight attendant
Die Stewardess bringt das Mittagessen. — The flight attendant brings the lunch.
plural: die Stewardessen
flight attendant
Die Stewardess bringt das Mittagessen. — The flight attendant brings the lunch.
plural: die Ausgucker
a lookout (e.g., he's our look-out)
Der Ausguck warnt vor einem Riff voraus. — The lookout warns of a reef ahead.
plural: die Besatzungen
a crew / occupation / personnel
Die Besatzung des Flugzeugs ist sehr freundlich. — The crew of the airplane is very friendly.
plural: die Düsenjäger
a fighter jet
Der Düsenjäger startete vom Flugplatz. — The fighter jet took off from the airfield.
plural: die Insassen
occupant / inmate / passenger
Alle Insassen des Flugzeugs sind sicher. — All passengers of the airplane are safe.
plural: die Lotsen
pilot / guide / navigator
Der Lotse führt das Flugzeug sicher zur Landung. — The pilot guides the aircraft safely to landing.
plural: die Sinkflüge
descent
Der Pilot begann den Sinkflug zum Flughafen. — The pilot began the descent to the airport.
plural: die Sturzflüge
nosedive / dive / swoop
Das Flugzeug geriet in einen gefährlichen Sturzflug. — The aircraft entered a dangerous nosedive.
plural: die Vorbeiflüge
a flyby
Der Vorbeiflug des Hubschraubers war beeindruckend. — The helicopter's flyby was impressive.
plural: die Bruchlandungen
a crash landing
Die Bruchlandung beschädigte das Flugzeug schwer. — The crash landing severely damaged the aircraft.
plural: die Flugbahnen
trajectory / flight path
Die Flugbahn des Flugzeugs war gut geplant. — The aircraft's flight path was well planned.
plural: die Höhenmesser
an altimeter
Der Pilot kontrollierte die Höhe mit dem Höhenmesser. — The pilot checked the altitude with the altimeter.
plural: die Leitwerke
tail / empennage control surfaces at back of plane
Das Leitwerk stabilisiert das Flugzeug im Flug. — The tail control surfaces stabilize the plane in flight.
payload
Das Flugzeug konnte eine Nutzlast von fünf Tonnen tragen. — The plane could carry a payload of five tons.
plural: die Querruder
aileron
Das Querruder steuert die Rollbewegung des Flugzeugs. — The aileron controls the rolling motion of the plane.
plural: die Reisehöhen
cruising altitude
Das Flugzeug erreichte die Reisehöhe von 10.000 Metern. — The aircraft reached a cruising altitude of 10,000 metres.
plural: die Tragflächen
wing / surface / plane / hydrofoil
Die Tragfläche ist das Flügelsystem des Flugzeugs. — The wing is the lifting surface of the plane.
- trudelnC1
to spin / spiral
Das Flugzeug begann zu trudeln und stürzte ab. — The plane began to spin and crashed.
plural: die Überschallflüge
supersonic flight
Der Überschallflug dauert nur wenige Stunden. — The supersonic flight takes only a few hours.
How to learn this set
Several words here are built on Flug- (Flugbahn, Vorbeiflug) or end in -flug (Sinkflug, Sturzflug), so once you know der Flug means flight, you can guess the gender and rough meaning of its compounds without memorizing each one from scratch. The technical terms, der Höhenmesser, das Leitwerk, das Querruder, die Nutzlast, cluster at C1 for a reason: they're aviation-specific and worth drilling separately from the everyday words like landen and abfliegen. Pay attention to der Lotse and der Insasse specifically, since both look like they might mean something other than what they do, and that mismatch is exactly what trips people up on tests.
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Frequently asked questions
What is der Lotse in German?
Der Lotse literally means 'pilot' in the navigational sense, like a harbor pilot or air traffic guide, not the person flying the plane. The person flying the plane is der Pilot, a separate word not in this deck's core focus but worth knowing so you don't mix them up.
What's the difference between der Sinkflug and der Sturzflug?
Der Sinkflug is a controlled descent, the normal gradual drop before landing. Der Sturzflug is a nosedive or sharp plunge, the kind a fighter jet or stunt plane does, so the two are not interchangeable.
Is der Steward the same as die Stewardess?
Yes, they're the male and female forms of flight attendant, following the standard German -in-style pairing even though Stewardess doesn't take the usual -in suffix. Modern German increasingly uses die Flugbegleiterin/der Flugbegleiter instead, but Steward/Stewardess still shows up often.
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