German Texting & Messaging Vocabulary
This set covers the words you actually need to talk about your phone habits: die App, das Smartphone, and the verb chatten. One trap here is die Mailbox, which in German doesn't mean your email inbox at all; it's your voicemail, the recorded greeting people hear when you don't pick up.
Learn these 12 words
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All 12 words
plural: die Apps
app
Diese App brauche ich zum Chatten. — I need this app for chatting.
plural: die Emojis
emoji
Sie schickt mir oft ein lachendes Emoji. — She often sends me a laughing emoji.
plural: die Smartphones
smartphone
Er tippt ständig auf seinem Smartphone. — He is constantly typing on his smartphone.
plural: die Smileys
smiley
Am Ende schreibt er immer ein Smiley. — He always writes a smiley at the end.
- chattenA2
chat online
Luis chattet gern mit seinen Freunden im Internet. — Luis likes to chat with his friends on the internet.
- chattetA2
chat online
Sie chattet jeden Tag mit ihrer Freundin. — She chats with her friend every day.
has chatted
Die Freunde haben gestern lange gechattet. — The friends have been chatting for a long time yesterday.
plural: die Mailboxen
mailbox
Hier ist die Mailbox von Susanne König. — This is Susanne König's mailbox.
- sendenA2
to send
Bitte sende mir das Foto sofort. — Please send me the photo immediately.
- simsenA2
to text
Wir simsen jeden Abend miteinander. — We text each other every evening.
plural: die Anhänge
attachment
Der Anhang öffnet sich nicht. — The attachment doesn't open.
plural: die Benachrichtigungen
notification
Mein Handy zeigt eine neue Benachrichtigung an. — My phone shows a new notification.
How to learn this set
Notice that most of the borrowed tech nouns here, die App, das Smartphone, das Emoji, das Smiley, keep a gender close to their German near-equivalent (die Anwendung, das Handy, das Bild), so it's worth memorizing them by that link rather than guessing. For the verb chatten, drill the three forms given, chatten, chattet, hat gechattet, side by side so the weak-verb pattern (chatten, ge+chattet) sticks before you try simsen and senden, which follow the same regular conjugation. Since chatten and simsen overlap in meaning but not in use, practice them in short example sentences (Ich chatte mit ihm, Ich simse ihr kurz) rather than as isolated translations.
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Frequently asked questions
Is texting in German simsen or chatten?
Both are used, but they're not identical. Simsen means specifically sending an SMS/text message on a phone, while chatten covers typing back and forth in any app, like WhatsApp or Instagram.
What's the difference between das Smiley and das Emoji in German?
Das Smiley usually refers to the classic yellow face (😊), while das Emoji is the broader term covering all the little pictures, including hearts, animals, and objects. Germans often use Smiley loosely for any emoji, but Emoji is the more accurate cover term.
Why is it die App and not der App?
German nouns borrowed from English usually keep a gender based on their German translation or category. App follows die Anwendung (the application), so it's feminine, and das Smartphone follows the neutral pattern of das Handy and das Telefon.
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