These are the 100 most useful German words from our 1000-word beginner course - the vocabulary you will hear and use most often. Learn them first and you will understand a surprising amount of everyday German.
| # | Word | German |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | the food | das Essen |
| 2 | the drink | das Getränk |
| 3 | the cup | die Tasse |
| 4 | the bottle | die Flasche |
| 5 | the plate | der Teller |
| 6 | the spoon | der Löffel |
| 7 | the fork | die Gabel |
| 8 | the knife | das Messer |
| 9 | the breakfast | das Frühstück |
| 10 | the lunch | das Mittagessen |
| 11 | the dinner | das Abendessen |
| 12 | the bread | das Brot |
| 13 | the butter | die Butter |
| 14 | the cheese | der Käse |
| 15 | the milk | die Milch |
| 16 | the coffee | der Kaffee |
| 17 | the tea | der Tee |
| 18 | the juice | der Saft |
| 19 | the soda | die Limonade |
| 20 | the rice | der Reis |
| 21 | the pasta | die Pasta |
| 22 | the fish | der Fisch |
| 23 | the chicken | das Huhn |
| 24 | the beef | das Rindfleisch |
| 25 | the egg | das Ei |
| 26 | the soup | die Suppe |
| 27 | the salad | der Salat |
| 28 | the sandwich | das Sandwich |
| 29 | the pizza | die Pizza |
| 30 | the cereal | das Müsli |
| 31 | the sugar | der Zucker |
| 32 | the salt | das Salz |
| 33 | the pepper | der Pfeffer |
| 34 | the snack | der Snack |
| 35 | the meal | die Mahlzeit |
| 36 | the restaurant | das Restaurant |
| 37 | the cafe | das Café |
| 38 | the bakery | die Bäckerei |
| 39 | the cafeteria | die Cafeteria |
| 40 | the dough | der Teig |
| 41 | the pan | die Pfanne |
| 42 | the pot | der Topf |
| 43 | the bowl | die Schüssel |
| 44 | the meat | das Fleisch |
| 45 | the flavor | der Geschmack |
| 46 | the toast | Das Toast |
| 47 | the yogurt | der Joghurt |
| 48 | the spice | das Gewürz |
| 49 | the teacup | die Teetasse |
| 50 | the lemonade | die Limonade |
| 51 | the jar | das Glas |
| 52 | the milkshake | der Milchshake |
| 53 | the vinegar | der Essig |
| 54 | the waiter | der Kellner |
| 55 | the beer | das Bier |
| 56 | the noodle | die Nudel |
| 57 | the cork | der Korken |
| 58 | the wine | der Wein |
| 59 | the sausage | die Wurst |
| 60 | the pitcher | der Krug |
| 61 | the glass | das Glas |
| 62 | the grapefruit juice | der Grapefruitsaft |
| 63 | the bill | die Rechnung |
| 64 | the menu | das Menü |
| 65 | the bagel | das Bagel |
| 66 | the pancake | der Pfannkuchen |
| 67 | the chocolate | die Schokolade |
| 68 | the candy | die Süßigkeit |
| 69 | the cookie | der Keks |
| 70 | the cake | der Kuchen |
| 71 | the ice cream | das Eis |
| 72 | the honey | der Honig |
| 73 | the bubblegum | der Kaugummi |
| 74 | the gummy | der Gummibär |
| 75 | the marshmallow | der Marshmallow |
| 76 | the syrup | der Sirup |
| 77 | the cocoa | der Kakao |
| 78 | the popcorn | das Popcorn |
| 79 | the sundae | das Eisbecher |
| 80 | the cotton candy | die Zuckerwatte |
| 81 | the custard | der Pudding |
| 82 | the dessert | der Nachtisch |
| 83 | the jellybean | die Gummibärchen |
| 84 | the lollipop | der Lutscher |
| 85 | the jelly | das Gelee |
| 86 | the gingerbread | der Lebkuchen |
| 87 | the waffle | der Waffel |
| 88 | the pastry | das Gebäck |
| 89 | the pie | der Kuchen |
| 90 | the cupcake | der Cupcake |
| 91 | the muffin | der Muffin |
| 92 | the donut | der Donut |
| 93 | the biscuit | das Plätzchen |
| 94 | the apple pie | der Apfelkuchen |
| 95 | the carrot cake | der Karottenkuchen |
| 96 | the chocolate cake | der Schokoladenkuchen |
| 97 | the pumpkin pie | der Kürbiskuchen |
| 98 | the apricot jam | die Aprikosenmarmelade |
| 99 | the jam | die Marmelade |
| 100 | the apple | der Apfel |
The 100 most frequent words cover about half of everyday spoken language. With the full 1000-word core vocabulary you understand around 85% of typical conversations in German - enough to follow along and make yourself understood.
They are the most frequently used words of the language, selected by word frequency. Every one of them will appear again and again in real sentences, so each learned word immediately pays off.
Listen and repeat: every word in the 1000 Words course comes with audio and an example sentence. Combined with spaced repetition in the free vocabulary trainer, most learners master the first 100 words within one to two weeks.