Table of Contents
Getting Around in German Speaking Countries
In this chapter you learn how to talk about travel and transportation in simple German. You will see and use practical phrases for real situations, for example in a city, at a station, or when you ask for help on the street.
Basic Travel Situations
When you travel in a German speaking country, you often need to understand simple signs, buy tickets, ask for directions, and talk about how you move from place to place. At A2 level, you should be able to handle short, typical conversations in stations, at bus stops, in trams, or in the city center.
You also start to combine your existing grammar with travel vocabulary. You can already form main clauses and use the present tense. Now you will mainly add new travel words and ready made expressions that you can use directly.
Important Transport Words
In German, many transport words are very similar to English, which helps you remember them. Here are the core nouns you will meet again and again when you travel.
Use this small group of words actively. With them, you can already combine many useful sentences with verbs you know, for example, “Ich fahre mit dem Zug” or “Ich warte an der Bushaltestelle.”
Common Vehicles and Lines
German has different words for vehicles, for lines or services, and for stations or stops. Try to remember them in pairs, for example “der Bus” with “die Bushaltestelle.”
A few typical items:
Train: der Zug
Tram or streetcar: die Straßenbahn
Bus: der Bus
Subway or metro: die U-Bahn
Suburban train: die S-Bahn
Taxi: das Taxi
Bicycle: das Fahrrad / das Rad
Car: das Auto / der Wagen
Plane: das Flugzeug
Ship: das Schiff
For public transport, you also often see these words:
die Linie, for example “Linie 5”
die Richtung, direction
der Bahnhof, train station
der Hauptbahnhof, main station, often written as “Hbf”
die Station, station, often for subway or tram
die Haltestelle, stop, for bus or tram
Remember: “mit” + dative is used for transport.
Example:
“mit dem Bus”, “mit der U-Bahn”, “mit dem Fahrrad”
Typical Travel Phrases
You often need very similar phrases when you travel. It is useful to learn them as complete patterns. You can then only change the place or the transport type.
Some very frequent questions look like this:
“Wo ist der Bahnhof?”
“Wie komme ich zum Bahnhof?”
“Fährt dieser Bus zum Zentrum?”
“Wo ist die nächste U-Bahn-Station?”
“Wo ist die Haltestelle?”
Useful answers often use simple directions and time expressions, for example “geradeaus”, “links”, “rechts”, “in fünf Minuten”, “zu Fuß”.
You also frequently talk about starting points and destinations. For that you use “von” and “nach” with place names or “zu” with a goal, such as a station or a building.
In the City and on the Move
When you move in a city, you often say where you are, where you go, and how you go there. You already know the basic grammar for place and motion. Here, the focus is on practical expressions that you hear in real life.
Examples with verbs you usually know at A2:
“Ich fahre mit der U-Bahn zur Arbeit.”
“Wir gehen zu Fuß ins Zentrum.”
“Er kommt mit dem Zug aus Berlin.”
“Ich fliege morgen nach Wien.”
“Wir nehmen den Bus zum Flughafen.”
For local city travel you will often see these words on signs or in plans:
das Zentrum, center
die Innenstadt, inner city
der Flughafen, airport
der Hafen, harbor
der Stadtrand, city edge or suburbs
Try to combine these with the transport words. For example, “mit der S-Bahn zum Flughafen”, “mit dem Bus ins Zentrum”, “mit dem Auto an den Stadtrand”.
Tickets and Travel Information
At an A2 level, you should understand and use simple sentences for tickets and travel details, especially at ticket machines or information desks. It is helpful to know words for tickets, prices, and types of journey.
Important words:
das Ticket / die Fahrkarte, ticket
die Einzelfahrkarte, single ticket
die Tageskarte, day ticket
die Wochenkarte, weekly pass
die Monatskarte, monthly pass
die Rückfahrkarte, return ticket
einfach, single, one way
hin und zurück, return
der Fahrplan, timetable
der Automat, machine
der Schalter, counter or service desk
die Information, information desk
der Preis, price
die Ermäßigung, reduction, discount
In real situations you might say sentences like:
“Ich möchte eine Fahrkarte nach Köln.”
“Einmal Berlin, einfach, bitte.”
“Wie viel kostet eine Tageskarte?”
“Ist das eine direkte Verbindung?”
“Wo ist der Fahrkartenautomat?”
A very useful model sentence is:
“Ich möchte … nach …, bitte.”
Example:
“Ich möchte eine Fahrkarte nach München, bitte.”
Delays and Problems
Travel rarely goes completely smoothly, so at A2 level you should also recognize basic words when something goes wrong. You do not need complicated explanations, but you should understand simple announcements and ask easy questions.
Some typical words:
die Verspätung, delay
pünktlich, on time
der Ausfall, cancellation
fällt aus, is canceled
die Störung, disruption
verpasst, missed
You might hear or say:
“Der Zug hat 10 Minuten Verspätung.”
“Der Bus kommt pünktlich.”
“Die S-Bahn fällt heute aus.”
“Ich habe meinen Anschluss verpasst.”
You can react with simple questions such as:
“Wann fährt der nächste Zug?”
“Gibt es eine andere Verbindung?”
“Wo kann ich warten?”
Travel Conversations in Daily Life
When you talk about your travel plans or daily journeys with other people, you often describe what you usually do, how you go to work or school, or how you plan a trip. You can already use the present tense and time expressions, so the main new element here is vocabulary.
You can combine adverbs of frequency and time with transport verbs:
“Ich fahre jeden Tag mit dem Bus zur Arbeit.”
“Am Wochenende fahre ich oft mit dem Fahrrad.”
“Manchmal gehe ich zu Fuß.”
“Im Urlaub fliegen wir meistens.”
You also talk about preferences and opinions, which you already practice in other parts of the course. For travel, this might sound like:
“Ich fahre lieber mit der Bahn als mit dem Auto.”
“Mit dem Fahrrad ist es billiger und gesünder.”
“Das Flugzeug ist schnell, aber teuer.”
Recognizing Travel Signs and Announcements
In stations and airports, many words appear again and again. When you recognize them, you understand more without long sentences.
Typical sign words:
Eingang, entrance
Ausgang, exit
Ankunft, arrival
Abfahrt, departure
Gleis, platform, track
Terminal, terminal
Check-in, check in
Gepäck, luggage
Kasse, cash desk or cashier
For train stations, the combination of “Gleis” with a number is very important. For example “Gleis 3” means platform 3. For airports, “Abflug” is often used for departure and “Ankunft” for arrival.
Announcements are often in fast German, but many travel words are repeated. If you know them, you can catch the important part, for example:
“Der Zug nach Hamburg fährt heute von Gleis 5.”
“Wegen einer Störung kommt es zu Verspätungen.”
Here, understanding “nach Hamburg”, “Gleis 5”, and “Verspätungen” is already very helpful.
Vocabulary List for This Chapter
| German | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| der Zug | train | |
| die Straßenbahn | tram, streetcar | often abbreviated “Straba” in speech |
| der Bus | bus | |
| die U-Bahn | subway, metro | “Untergrundbahn” |
| die S-Bahn | suburban train | city and region trains |
| das Taxi | taxi | |
| das Fahrrad / das Rad | bicycle, bike | “Rad” is shorter and very common |
| das Auto | car | |
| der Wagen | car | more general word |
| das Flugzeug | airplane | |
| das Schiff | ship | |
| die Linie | line, service | e.g. “Linie 10” |
| die Richtung | direction | |
| der Bahnhof | train station | |
| der Hauptbahnhof | main station | often “Hbf” |
| die Station | station | often for U-Bahn / S-Bahn |
| die Haltestelle | stop | bus or tram stop |
| das Zentrum | center | city center |
| die Innenstadt | inner city, downtown | |
| der Flughafen | airport | |
| der Hafen | harbor, port | |
| der Stadtrand | city edge, suburbs | |
| das Ticket | ticket | everyday word |
| die Fahrkarte | ticket | more formal / traditional |
| die Einzelfahrkarte | single ticket | one trip |
| die Tageskarte | day ticket | whole day |
| die Wochenkarte | weekly pass | |
| die Monatskarte | monthly pass | |
| die Rückfahrkarte | return ticket | |
| einfach | one way, single | also “simple” in other contexts |
| hin und zurück | there and back, return | |
| der Fahrplan | timetable | |
| der Automat | machine | ticket machine, etc. |
| der Schalter | counter, service desk | |
| die Information | information desk | |
| der Preis | price | |
| die Ermäßigung | reduction, discount | |
| die Verspätung | delay | |
| pünktlich | on time, punctual | adjective/adverb |
| der Ausfall | cancellation, failure | |
| fällt aus | is canceled | 3rd person of “ausfallen” |
| die Störung | disruption, fault | |
| verpasst | missed | Participle of “verpassen” |
| der Eingang | entrance | |
| der Ausgang | exit | |
| die Ankunft | arrival | |
| die Abfahrt | departure | often for trains, buses |
| der Abflug | departure (by plane) | |
| das Gleis | platform, track | at train stations |
| das Terminal | terminal | at airports |
| der Check-in | check in | |
| das Gepäck | luggage, baggage | |
| die Kasse | cash desk, checkout | |
| die Verbindung | connection, service | travel connection |
| der Anschluss | connection (transfer) | e.g. next train or bus |