Useful German sentences in Vienna


Vienna is a city of music, art and majestic architecture. To enjoy Austrian culture, you don't have to learn German on your own or take German courses, you just need to learn a couple of useful phrases in German. In this article, we'll look at some German phrases that may come in handy when travelling to Vienna.

vienna

Just like in any German textbook for beginners, we will start with greetings. For example, to greet a shop assistant or a teacher in Vienna you might say "Servus!", but this is not the only form of greeting in German and you might also hear a simple "Hallo".

customer and seller greeting each other

If you greet someone you know, you can also add "Wie geht's dir?" to find out how they are doing. If you didn't hear the other person properly, you can ask them to repeat themselves, with the phrase:

friend asking something

"- Könnten Sie das bitte noch mal wiederholen?" (politely)
"Ja, sicher" - "Yes, of course."

If you ask a friend or a peer to repeat what they have said, you can say:

"- Kannst du das wiederholen?" - "Can you repeat it?"
"Ja, fix." "Yes, of course."

Let's talk about how Viennese express admiration in a more Austrian (rather than German) way of speaking. If you are surprised or impressed by something, you can say "Oida!", for example:
"- Oida, dein Auto ist so groß!"

two people talking in front of an auto

If something is going very well or you are excited about something, you can say - "Leiwand!", which means "excellent" or "super". For example:
" - Ich habe einen Kaffe gratis bekommen!" - "I got free coffee!"
" - Leiwand!" - "Super!"
If you fully understand and/or agree with what the other person is saying you can express it in short phrases - "Voll" or "Ja, voll". These phrases will help you improve your spoken German.

people with a cup of coffee on a table

Let's look at how to order food in German. Say you are in a restaurant and you want to order Wiener Schnitzel. To order something you need to say to the waiter - "Ich hätte gerne...", which means "I would like...". Add “schnitzel” to the sentence, and you get:

"- Ich hätte gerne ein Wiener Schnitzel."
"- Sehr gerne! Noch was dazu?" - "With pleasure! Anything else?" – is how a waiter might answer.

waiter is taking order in a restaurant

After the meal, you might drink a glass of water for example. To order you should say - "Ich hätte gerne ein Glas Wasser". You may be asked if you want your water sparkling or still: "Mit oder ohne Kohlensäure?", if that is not very important to you could answer - "Wurscht", which means "I don't care".

waiter is taking order in a restaurant

Here is another list of useful words and phrases in German:

  • Bitteschön - Please.
  • Dankeschön - Thank you.
  • Entschuldigung - Sorry.
  • Tschüss! - Bye!
  • Wo ist...? - Where is...?
  • Links - To the left.
  • Rechts - To the right.
  • Geradeaus - Straight ahead.
  • Wie komme ich zu... How do I get to...?

    • German is not the easiest language to learn from scratch, but by memorising these simple everyday phrases from our short German phrasebook, you can make your stay in Vienna or any other place where German is spoken more comfortable and interesting.

    tourist

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