Today's words · 👋 Greetings & introductions
Hello, nice to meet you: 10 German words for first meetings
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Nail the first thirty seconds of any German conversation, starting today.
First day of language school. The person next to you smiles and says, „Hallo, ich bin Lukas. Woher kommst du?“ You know the answer, but all that comes out is „Äh…“.
Today's ten words take you from hello to goodbye: greeting, giving your name, asking where someone's from and saying it was nice to meet them. With them you can get through a whole first conversation. 👋
📋 The ten words at a glance
- Hallo — hello, hi
- Guten Tag — hello, good day (daytime greeting)
- tschüss — bye (informal)
- Auf Wiedersehen — goodbye
- heißen — to be called
- der Name — name
- woher — where from
- sich vorstellen — to introduce oneself; (sich dat.) to imagine
- kennenlernen — to get to know, meet (for the first time)
- angenehm — pleasant; (on being introduced) pleased to meet you
🧠 Words, examples and memory tricks
Hallo
[HAH-loh]hello, hi📌 Hallo! Wie geht's?
→ Hi! How are you?
💡 Basically English hello 👋 Fine with friends, colleagues and shop staff.
Bonus In northern Germany you'll hear Moin! all day long.
Guten Tag
[GOO-ten TAHK]hello, good day (daytime greeting)(expression)
📌 Guten Tag, Frau Schmidt! Wie geht es Ihnen?
→ Hello, Mrs Schmidt! How are you?
💡 gut (good) + Tag (day) = have a good day ☀️ The polite daytime hello.
Bonus Morning: Guten Morgen. Evening: Guten Abend.
tschüss
[CHUESS]bye (informal)(expression)
📌 Tschüss, bis morgen!
→ Bye, see you tomorrow!
💡 French adieu, reshaped by northern Germans into tschüss 😄 Wave and go.
⚠ It's casual. In formal settings, say Auf Wiedersehen.
Auf Wiedersehen
[owf VEE-der-zay-en]goodbye📌 Auf Wiedersehen und bis morgen!
→ Goodbye, see you tomorrow!
💡 wieder (again) + sehen (see) = see you again 👀 Lovely when you take it literally.
Bonus On the phone: Auf Wiederhören! (hear you again)
heißen
[HY-sen]to be called(heißt – hat geheißen (irregular))
📌 Wie heißt du?
→ What's your name?
💡 Think ‘Hi, I'm…’ — heißen is how you give your name 📛 Ich heiße Anna.
⚠ Irregular past participle: hat geheißen
der Name
[NAH-muh]name(Pl. die Namen)
📌 Mein Name ist Kim.
→ My name is Kim.
💡 Spelt like English name 🏷️ Just say it ‘NAH-muh’.
⚠ Weak noun: den Namen, des Namens
woher
[voh-HAIR]where from📌 Woher kommst du?
→ Where are you from?
💡 wo (where) + her (towards here) = from where to here? 🌍 Perfect for asking someone's origin.
Bonus The answer: Ich komme aus England.
sich vorstellen
[zikh FOR-shtel-en]to introduce oneself; (sich dat.) to imagine(stellt sich vor – hat sich vorgestellt)
📌 Darf ich mich kurz vorstellen? Ich bin Sarah.
→ May I briefly introduce myself? I'm Sarah.
💡 vor (in front) + stellen (put) = put yourself in front of people 🙋 That's introducing yourself.
⚠ Separable: Ich stelle mich kurz vor.
kennenlernen
[KEN-en-lair-nen]to get to know, meet (for the first time)(lernt kennen – hat kennengelernt)
📌 Wo habt ihr euch kennengelernt?
→ Where did you two meet?
💡 kennen (know) + lernen (learn) = learn to know someone 🤝 The moment you meet.
Bonus Schön, Sie kennenzulernen! = Nice to meet you!
angenehm
[AN-guh-naym]pleasant; (on being introduced) pleased to meet you(angenehm – angenehmer – am angenehmsten)
📌 Angenehm! Ich bin Lisa.
→ Pleased to meet you! I'm Lisa.
💡 Related to annehmen (accept) 😊 Easy to accept = pleasant.
Bonus Works for weather too: Das Wetter ist angenehm.
🇩🇪 A spoonful of German culture
In Germany, adults meeting for the first time and colleagues at work usually start with Sie. If someone says „Wir können uns duzen.“, you can switch to du. At language schools, universities and among young people, du is common from the start.
A handshake is common at formal first meetings, and eye contact matters. Many people also say a quick „Hallo!“ or „Guten Tag!“ when they walk into a shop or bakery.
Greetings change by region, too. In the south you'll often hear Grüß Gott, in the north Moin. Copy what the locals say and you'll blend right in. 🙂
✅ Quick quiz
Q. You meet your new landlady for the first time. She says „Ich bin Frau Weber.“ How do you reply?
- ① Angenehm! Mein Name ist Kim.
- ② Tschüss, bis morgen!
- ③ Woher kommst du?
Show the answer
① Angenehm! Mein Name ist Kim.
Angenehm! means ‘pleased to meet you’ — the polite reply when you're introduced.
Stand in front of a mirror and do a thirty-second introduction, from Hallo to Auf Wiedersehen, out loud. Even better: try it on someone real tomorrow! 👋
🔜 Tomorrow's topic: 🙏 Thanks, sorry & favours