Today's words · 🛍️ Shopping
Shopping in Germany: 10 words before you pay
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Reading the price tag is half of shopping in Germany — these ten words do the other half.
It's Saturday afternoon and the supermarket queue goes on forever, because tomorrow is Sunday and everything will be shut. You finally reach the till, pay — and then can't remember how to ask for a receipt.
Today's ten words cover the whole trip: asking what something costs, spotting a discount, getting a receipt and exchanging something that doesn't fit. 🛍️
📋 The ten words at a glance
🧠 Words, examples and memory tricks
einkaufen
[EYEN-kow-fen]to go shopping, shop(kauft ein – hat eingekauft (separable))
📌 Am Samstag kaufen wir im Supermarkt ein.
→ On Saturday we do our shopping at the supermarket.
💡 ein (in) + kaufen (buy) = putting things in your basket 🛒
⚠ Separable: Ich kaufe heute ein.
das Geschäft
[ge-SHEFT]shop, store; business(Pl. die Geschäfte)
📌 Die Geschäfte schließen um 20 Uhr.
→ The shops close at 8 p.m.
💡 A shop is a place where people work hard (schaffen) 🏪 so it's a Geschäft.
Bonus It also means business: Wie laufen die Geschäfte? = How's business?
der Preis
[PRICE]price; prize(Pl. die Preise)
📌 Der Preis ist mir zu hoch.
→ The price is too high for me.
💡 English price and prize in one word 🏷️ Both are Preis.
Bonus value for money = das Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis
kosten
[KOS-ten]to cost(kostet – hat gekostet)
📌 Was kostet das?
→ How much is this?
💡 Just like English cost 💶 Was kostet das? works in every shop.
Bonus For more than one thing: Was kosten die Äpfel?
teuer
[TOY-er]expensive(teurer – am teuersten)
📌 Die Wohnungen in München sind sehr teuer.
→ Flats in Munich are very expensive.
💡 A cousin of English dear 💎 Expensive things are dear to us!
⚠ The comparative drops an e: teuer → teurer.
billig
[BILL-ish]cheap(billiger – am billigsten)
📌 Das T-Shirt ist billig.
→ The T-shirt is cheap.
💡 A light bill means billig 🪙 cheap!
⚠ It can sound cheap and nasty. To praise a good price, günstig is more natural.
der Rabatt
[ra-BAT]discount(Pl. die Rabatte)
📌 Für Studenten gibt es zehn Prozent Rabatt.
→ Students get ten percent off.
💡 From Italian for knocking the price down 🔨
Bonus Gibt es Rabatt für Studenten? = Is there a student discount?
reduziert
[reh-doo-TSEERT]reduced, on sale📌 Alle Jacken sind um 30 Prozent reduziert.
→ All jackets are reduced by 30 percent.
💡 It's simply English reduced 📉 Look for it next to red price tags.
Bonus on special offer = im Angebot: Die Butter ist heute im Angebot.
die Quittung
[KVIT-toong]receipt(Pl. die Quittungen)
📌 Kann ich bitte eine Quittung bekommen?
→ Could I have a receipt, please?
💡 quitt = square, settled 🧾 You've paid, so now you're quits!
Bonus A till receipt is also called der Kassenbon or just der Bon.
umtauschen
[OOM-tow-shen]to exchange (goods); to change (money)(tauscht um – hat umgetauscht)
📌 Kann ich diese Schuhe umtauschen?
→ Can I exchange these shoes?
💡 um (round, differently) + tauschen (swap) = swap it for another 🔄 Changing money too: Geld umtauschen.
⚠ Separable: Ich tausche die Schuhe um.
🇩🇪 A spoonful of German culture
Most shops in Germany are closed on Sundays, which is why supermarkets are so busy on Saturdays. Shops in stations and airports and petrol stations are common exceptions, and weekday opening hours depend on the state and the shop.
Bring your own bag. Bags at the till usually cost extra, so many people carry a cotton bag (Stoffbeutel). Plastic bottles and cans carry a deposit (Pfand), which you get back by feeding them into a machine at the supermarket.
If you buy something in a shop and it isn't faulty, an exchange isn't a legal right. Still, many shops will swap it if you have the receipt — so hold on to your Quittung! 🧾
✅ Quick quiz
Q. You've found a jacket you like, but there's no price tag. What do you ask the assistant?
- ① Ist das reduziert?
- ② Was kostet die Jacke?
- ③ Kann ich das umtauschen?
Show the answer
② Was kostet die Jacke?
Was kostet …? = How much is …? It's the basic way to ask a price.
Next time you shop, ask Was kostet das? at least once. Add Eine Quittung, bitte! at the till and you're a pro. 🛒
🔜 Tomorrow's topic: 👕 Clothes shop