1.12 Shopping

Table of Contents

Understanding Shopping Situations in German

Shopping is one of the most common real life situations where you will use German. In this chapter you will learn how a basic buying situation is structured in German speaking countries and what kind of phrases and words you will hear and need. Specific work with prices, quantities, the modal verb "möchten" and complete shopping dialogues will each be treated in their own chapters, so here we focus on the general context and core expressions that are typical for shopping.

Typical Places for Shopping

In German you use different words for different kinds of shops. Some are very similar to English, others are quite different. At A1 level it is important to recognize the most common types of shops you might need in everyday life.

You can compare them in the following table:

German	Article	English
der Supermarkt	der	supermarket
der Markt	der	market
der Bäcker	der	bakery, baker
der Metzger	der	butcher
die Bäckerei	die	bakery (the shop)
die Metzgerei	die	butcher's shop
der Laden	der	shop, store
das Geschäft	das	shop, business
das Einkaufszentrum	das	shopping center, mall
der Kiosk	der	kiosk, small stand
die Apotheke	die	pharmacy
die Drogerie	die	drugstore (no prescription)
der Bioladen	der	organic food shop
der Getränkemarkt	der	beverage store
der Obst- und Gemüseladen	der	fruit and vegetable shop

You can use the preposition "in" with these places when you talk about where you are going or where you are. How to build such sentences correctly with cases and prepositions is covered in other chapters, so here it is enough that you can recognize these common shop words when you see them.

Key People and Roles

When you go shopping you meet people with specific roles. At A1 you should know how to name them and how to address them politely.

Some important words are:

German	English
der Verkäufer	(male) shop assistant, salesperson
die Verkäuferin	(female) shop assistant, salesperson
der Kunde	(male) customer
die Kundin	(female) customer
der Kassierer	(male) cashier
die Kassiererin	(female) cashier
der Chef	boss, manager
die Chefin	(female) boss, manager

In everyday speech, customers usually address shop staff with "Entschuldigung" or "Hallo" followed by a polite request, which you will see in the sections about typical phrases and dialogues.

Basic Shopping Vocabulary for Objects and Money

In shopping situations you often need words for general objects, the place where you pay, and basic money vocabulary. Detailed work with prices and quantities has its own chapters but some basic words are needed here to understand the context.

General Objects and Packaging

These are very frequent words that appear on price tags and in simple questions:

German	English
die Ware	goods, merchandise
das Produkt	product
der Artikel	item, article
der Einkauf	purchase, shopping
die Einkäufe	purchases, shopping (plural)
der Einkaufswagen	shopping trolley, cart
der Korb	basket
die Tüte	bag (often plastic or paper)
die Einkaufstasche	shopping bag
die Kasse	checkout, cash desk
der Kassenbon	receipt
die Quittung	receipt (more formal)
das Sonderangebot	special offer
der Rabatt	discount
der Preis	price
das Etikett	label, tag
die Größe	size
das Stück	piece, single item

Some packaging words:

German	English
die Packung	pack, packet
die Flasche	bottle
die Dose	can, tin
die Schachtel	box (small)
die Tafel	bar (of chocolate)

You will learn how to combine these with quantities in a later chapter. Here you only need to recognize them.

Money and Payment

You will often hear certain words related to money and payment:

German	English
das Geld	money
der Euro	euro
der Cent	cent
bar	in cash
die Karte	card
die EC-Karte	debit card
die Kreditkarte	credit card
bezahlen	to pay
zahlen	to pay

At the checkout the cashier will ask how you want to pay. The exact phrases with prices are dealt with where prices and quantities are explained. Here it is enough to know that "bar" means cash and "mit Karte" means with card.

Typical Phases of a Shopping Situation

A simple shopping situation can be divided into three parts: starting the contact, asking for things, and paying and leaving. Each phase has typical expressions that are used again and again in German. In this chapter we introduce them in a simple, general way. More complex dialogues and the use of "möchten" come later.

Starting Contact

In German shops it is very common that you greet when entering and when approaching a person. You have already learned basic greetings in the chapter about greetings and farewells. Here you see how they appear in a shop.

Customer to staff:

"Entschuldigung" is a very common way to get attention in a polite way.

Example:
"Entschuldigung, haben Sie Tomaten?"
"Excuse me, do you have tomatoes?"

Shop assistant to customer:

You will often hear questions like:

"Kann ich Ihnen helfen?"
"Kann ich dir helfen?"

"Ihnen" is formal and "dir" is informal. In shops you normally hear the formal version.

Another frequent form is:

"Bitte schön?" or "Ja bitte?"
Both roughly mean "Can I help you?" or "Yes, please?"

In shops you normally use the formal "Sie" with staff and with customers you do not know.

Asking for Products and Availability

At A1 level you should be able to recognize and use basic question patterns to ask for items. The detailed grammar for questions is handled in other chapters so here we just present useful patterns.

Common patterns are:

"Ich suche ..."
"I am looking for ..."

Example:
"Ich suche Brot."
"I am looking for bread."

"Ich hätte gern ..."
"I would like to have ..."

Example:
"Ich hätte gern ein Brot."
"I would like a bread."

"Wo ist ...?"
"Where is ...?"

Example:
"Wo ist die Milch?"
"Where is the milk?"

"Wie viel kostet ...?" and "Was kostet ...?"
Both mean "How much does ... cost?" and are treated in detail in the chapter about prices.

To ask if something is available you can say:

"Haben Sie ...?"
"Do you have ...?"

Example:
"Haben Sie Käse?"
"Do you have cheese?"

The typical short answer from staff is:

"Ja, natürlich."
"Yes, of course."

"Nein, leider nicht."
"No, unfortunately not."

Understanding Simple Questions from Staff

Shop staff will also ask you simple questions. At A1 you should recognize these typical questions and answer with very short phrases.

Some frequent questions are:

"Sonst noch etwas?"
"Anything else?"

You can answer:

"Nein, danke."
"No, thank you."

"Ja, noch ..." plus the product.

"Zusammen?"
"All together?"
This is used if you are with someone who has separate items. A simple answer is "Ja" or "Nein, getrennt" (separate).

"Brauchen Sie eine Tüte?"
"Do you need a bag?"

Answer: "Ja, bitte." or "Nein, danke."

At the Checkout

At the checkout you will hear a mixture of greetings, questions, and price information.

Typical parts are:

Greeting:
"Hallo."
"Guten Tag."

Price information:
How exact prices are expressed is part of the chapter on prices, but you should recognize that when the cashier says a number with "Euro" and "Cent" it is the amount you have to pay.

Payment question:
"Bar oder mit Karte?"
"Cash or card?"

If you pay cash, you can place the money on the little tray or give it directly to the cashier. After payment you might hear:

"Danke." or "Vielen Dank."
"Vielen Dank, schönen Tag noch."
"Thank you very much, have a nice day."

You can answer "Danke, Ihnen auch."

Receipt question:
"Brauchen Sie den Bon?"
"Do you need the receipt?"

You can say "Ja, bitte." or "Nein, danke."

Politeness in Shopping Situations

Shopping situations in German speaking countries are usually polite but not too formal. As a beginner you should concentrate on a few very safe polite words and fixed expressions.

Some of the most important are:

"danke"
"bitte"
"bitte schön"
"Entschuldigung"
"gern" or "gerne"

Use "bitte" and "danke" very often in shopping situations. It is better to say them too much than too little.

When you hand something to someone you can say "Bitte" or "Hier, bitte." When someone thanks you, the normal answer is "Bitte" or "Bitte schön."

Staff sometimes use "Gern" or "Gerne" after helping you. It is like "You are welcome."

Short Example Mini Scenes

Here you see some very short shopping scenes. The focus is on typical phrases, not on full dialogue training. More detailed dialogues follow in a later chapter.

Scene 1, in a supermarket, customer asks for help:

Customer: "Entschuldigung, wo ist die Butter?"
Staff: "Die Butter ist da vorne, links."
Customer: "Danke."
Staff: "Bitte."

Scene 2, at the bakery:

Verkäuferin: "Guten Morgen. Was hätten Sie gern?"
Kunde: "Guten Morgen. Ich hätte gern zwei Brötchen."
Verkäuferin: "Sonst noch etwas?"
Kunde: "Nein, danke."
Verkäuferin: "Das macht zwei Euro."
Kunde: "Hier, bitte."
Verkäuferin: "Danke. Schönen Tag noch."
Kunde: "Danke, ebenfalls."

Scene 3, at the checkout with a bag:

Kassierer: "Hallo."
Kundin: "Hallo."
Kassierer: "Brauchen Sie eine Tüte?"
Kundin: "Ja, bitte."
Kassierer: "Das macht fünf Euro fünfzig."
Kundin: "Mit Karte, bitte."
Kassierer: "Gern. Bitte hier."
Kundin: "Danke. Auf Wiedersehen."
Kassierer: "Tschüss."

These patterns repeat in many different shops. Once you understand them, it becomes much easier to handle new words for products or more complex structures like quantities and prices later.

New Vocabulary from this Chapter

German	Part of Speech	English
der Supermarkt	noun	supermarket
der Markt	noun	market
der Bäcker	noun	bakery, baker
der Metzger	noun	butcher
die Bäckerei	noun	bakery (shop)
die Metzgerei	noun	butcher's shop
der Laden	noun	shop, store
das Geschäft	noun	shop, business
das Einkaufszentrum	noun	shopping center, mall
der Kiosk	noun	kiosk, small stand
die Apotheke	noun	pharmacy
die Drogerie	noun	drugstore
der Bioladen	noun	organic food shop
der Getränkemarkt	noun	beverage store
der Obst- und Gemüseladen	noun	fruit and vegetable shop
der Verkäufer	noun	(male) shop assistant
die Verkäuferin	noun	(female) shop assistant
der Kunde	noun	(male) customer
die Kundin	noun	(female) customer
der Kassierer	noun	(male) cashier
die Kassiererin	noun	(female) cashier
der Chef	noun	boss, manager
die Chefin	noun	(female) boss, manager
die Ware	noun	goods, merchandise
das Produkt	noun	product
der Artikel	noun	item, article
der Einkauf	noun	purchase, shopping
die Einkäufe	noun	purchases, shopping (plural)
der Einkaufswagen	noun	shopping trolley, cart
der Korb	noun	basket
die Tüte	noun	bag (plastic or paper)
die Einkaufstasche	noun	shopping bag
die Kasse	noun	checkout, cash desk
der Kassenbon	noun	receipt
die Quittung	noun	receipt (formal)
das Sonderangebot	noun	special offer
der Rabatt	noun	discount
der Preis	noun	price
das Etikett	noun	label, tag
die Größe	noun	size
das Stück	noun	piece, single item
die Packung	noun	pack, packet
die Flasche	noun	bottle
die Dose	noun	can, tin
die Schachtel	noun	box (small)
die Tafel	noun	bar (of chocolate)
das Geld	noun	money
der Euro	noun	euro
der Cent	noun	cent
bar	adverb/adjective	in cash
die Karte	noun	card
die EC-Karte	noun	debit card
die Kreditkarte	noun	credit card
bezahlen	verb	to pay
zahlen	verb	to pay
suchen	verb	to look for
helfen	verb	to help
der Bon	noun	receipt (short for Kassenbon)
Entschuldigung	expression	excuse me, sorry
Kann ich Ihnen helfen?	expression	Can I help you? (formal)
Bitte schön?	expression	Yes, please? / Here you are
Ja bitte	expression	yes please
Ich suche ...	expression	I am looking for ...
Ich hätte gern ...	expression	I would like ...
Wo ist ...?	expression	Where is ...?
Haben Sie ...?	expression	Do you have ...?
Sonst noch etwas?	expression	Anything else?
Zusammen?	expression	Together?
Getrennt	adjective	separate
Brauchen Sie eine Tüte?	expression	Do you need a bag?
Bar oder mit Karte?	expression	Cash or card?
Schönen Tag noch	expression	Have a nice day
Ebenfalls	adverb	same to you, likewise
gerne / gern	adverb	with pleasure, gladly