The 100 most used German words you need to know

Learning German, it’s useful to quickly add vocabulary to your language skills so you express yourself and communicate. But if you’re asking yourself where to begin, why not start with the most used words of the language? Not only we’ve compiled the top 100 German words you need to know but also broken them down based on their function. Let’s dive in!

• The 100 most used words in German
• The 100 German words by parts of speech

The 100 most used words in German

The following is an overview of the top one hundred German words ranked by frequency of use. The list is based on text analysis done by the Projekt Deutscher Wortschatz at the University of Leipzig, which is part of the Natural Language Processing Group at the university’s Institute of Computer Science.

1. der (den, dem, des) – the (masculine article)
2. die (der, den) –  the (feminine article)
3. und – and
4. in (im) – in, into (in the)
5. von (vom) – of, from
6. zu (zum, zur) – to; at; too
7. das (dem, des) – the (neuter article)
8. mit – with
9. sich – himself, itself, yourself
10. auf – on
11. für – for
12. ist (sein, sind, war, sei, etc.) – is
13. nicht – not
14. ein (eine, einen, einer, einem, eines) – a, an
15. als – as, than, when
16. auch – also, too
17. es – it
18. an (am/ans) – to, at, by
19. werden (wurde, wird) – become, get
20. aus – from, out of
21. er – he
22. hat (haben, hatte, habe) – has/have
23. dass – that
24. sie – she, it; they
25. nach – to, after
26. bei – at, by
27. um – around, at
28. noch – still, yet
29. wie – as, how
30. über – about, over, via
31. so – so, such, thus
32. Sie – you (formal)
33. nur – only
34. oder – or
35. aber – but
36. vor (vorm, vors) – before, in front of; of
37. bis – by, until
38. mehr – more
39. durch – by, through
40. man – one, they
41. Prozent (das) – percent
42. kann (können, konnte, etc.) – be able, can
43. gegen – against; around
44. schon – already
45. wenn – if, when
46. sein (seine, seinen, etc.) – his
47. Mark (Euro) – Mark (Euro) currency
48. ihre/ihr – her, their
49. dann – then
50. unter – under, among
51. wir – we
52. soll (sollen, sollte, etc.) – should, ought to
53. ich – I (personal pronoun)
54. das Jahr – the year
55. zwei – two
56. diese (dieser, dieses, etc.) – this, these
57. wieder – again
58. Uhr – clock (often used as “o’clock” in telling time)
59. will (wollen, willst, etc.) – wants
60. zwischen – between
61. immer – always
62. Millionen (eine Million) – million(s)
63. was – what
64. sagte (sagen, sagt) – said (say, says)
65. gibt (es gibt; geben) – gives
66. alle – all, everyone
67. seit – since
68. muss (müssen) – must
69. doch – but, nevertheless, after all
70. jetzt – now
71. drei – three
72. neue (neu, neuer, neuen, etc.) – new
73. damit – with it/that; by that; because of that; so that
74. bereits – already
75. da – since, because
76. ab – off, away; exit
77. ohne – without
78. sondern – but rather
79. selbst – myself, himself
80. ersten (erste, erstes, etc.) – first
81. nun – now; then
82. etwa – about, approximately; for instance
83. heute – today, nowadays
84. weil – because
85. ihm – to/for him
86. Menschen (der Mensch) – people (the human)
87. Deutschland – Germany
88. anderen (andere, anderes, etc.) – other(s)
89. rund – approximately, about
90. ihn – him
91. das Ende – end
92. jedoch – nevertheless
93. die Zeit – time
94. uns – us
95. die Stadt – the city, town
96. geht (gehen, ging, etc.) – goes
97. sehr – very
98. hier – here
99. ganz – entire(ly), complete(ly), whole(ly)
100. Berlin – Berlin

Observations about the most common words in German

As you might have noted, the most used German words contain hardly any nouns. But look at the top nouns below and you’ll see many have to do with time. The most important words also contain many adverbs, pronouns and prepositions. Small-function words play a crucial part in the German language. Compound verbs tenses also feature frequently in German, which is why modal and auxiliary verbs are part of the most common words.

The 100 German words by parts of speech

The following is a compilation of the one hundred most used German words, but sorted by parts of speech. This will give you an overview of the top 25 German nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. These top lists are based on a scientific study conducted by Randall Jones and Erwin Tschirner and published in A Frequency Dictionary of German.

Top 25 German nouns

1. das Jahr – the year
2. das Mal –  time (as in number of times)
3. das Beispiel – the example 
4. die Zeit – the time
5. die Frau – the woman, wife, Mrs. 
6. der Mensch – the human being, man
7. das Kind – the child 
8. der Tag – the day
9. der Mann – the man 
10. das Land – the country, land
11. die Frage – the question
12. das Haus – the house
13. der Fall – the fall, case  
14. die Leute – the people (plural)
15. die Arbeit – the work, job
16. das Prozent – the percent
17. die Hand – the hand
18. die Stadt – the city
19. der Herr – the man, gentleman, Mr.
20. der/das Teil – the part, piece
21. das Problem – the problem
22. die Welt – the world
23. das Recht – the right, law
24. das Ende – the end
25. die Million – the million

Top 25 German verbs

1. sein (ist), war, ist gewesen – to be
2. haben, hatte, hat gehabt –  to have
3. werden (wird), wurde, ist geworden – to become
4. können (kann), konnte, hat gekonnt – can, to be able to
5. müssen (muss), musste, hat gemusst – must, to have to
6. sagen, sagte, hat gesagt – to say 
7. machen, machte, hat gemacht – to do, make
8. geben (gibt), gab, hat gegeben – to give
9. kommen, kam, ist gekommen – to come
10. sollen (soll), sollte, hat gesollt – should, ought to
11. wollen (will), wollte, hat gewollt – to want
12. gehen, ging, ist gegangen – to go
13. wissen (weiß), wusste, hat gewusst – to know  
14. sehen (sieht), sah, hat gesehen – to see
15. lassen (lässt), ließ, hat gelassen – to let, allow, have done
16. stehen, stand, hat gestanden – to stand
17. finden, fand, hat gefunden – to find
18. bleiben, blieb, ist geblieben – to stay, remain
19. liegen, lag, hat gelegen – to lie, be lying
20. heißen, hieß, hat geheißen – to be called
21. denken, dachte, hat gedacht – to think
22. nehmen (nimmt), nahm, hat genommen – to take
23. tun, tat, hat getan – to do
24. dürfen (darf), durfte, hat gedurft – may, to be allowed
25. glauben, glaubte, hat geglaubt – to believe

Top 25 German adjectives

1. ganz – whole, all the
2. groß – big, large, great
3. gut – good
4. neu – new
5. erste, -r, -s – first
6. lang – long
7. deutsch – German
8. klein – small, little
9. alt – old
10. hoch – high, tall
11. einfach – simple, easy
12. letzte, -r, -s – last 
13. gleich – same  
14. möglich – possible
15. eigen – own
16. schön – beautiful, pleasant, good
17. spät – late
18. wichtig – important
19. weitere, -r, -s – additional
20. genau – exact
21. jung – young
22. kurz – short
23. stark – strong
24. richtig – right, correct
25. verschieden – different, diverse

Top 25 German adverbs

1. auch – also, too
2. so – so, thus, this way, such
3. dann – then
4. da – there
5. noch – still, yet
6. also – so, therefore
7. nur – only
8. schon – already 
9. mehr – more 
10. jetzt – now
11. immer – always
12. sehr – very
13. hier – here  
14. doch – but, still
15. wieder – again
16. eigentlich – actually
17.  oben – above, up there
18. nun – now
19. heute – today
20. weit – widely, far
21. eben – just now
22. erst – first, only, not until
23. natürlich – naturally, of course
24. vielleicht – perhaps, maybe
25. dort – there

Practice makes perfect

Learning vocabulary in your sleep would be a dream, wouldn’t it? However, for the most satisfying results and to achieve the most fluency, practice makes perfect. Now that you have at hand the 100 most used German words, it is time for your to put them to good use!

Jakob Straub

Jakob is a freelance writer in Barcelona, Spain, and his favorite books have pages all empty. As an expert storyteller, he publishes creative fiction in English and German and helps other authors shape their manuscripts into compelling stories. Thanks to an expertise in a wide range of topics such as writing, literature and productivity to marketing, travel, and technology, he produces engaging content for his clients. Apart from the escape that books offer, Jakob enjoys traveling digital nomad style and stays active with climbing and hiking. Find out more about him on his website, Twitter or on Goodreads.