Humanities Languages Top 100 Most-Used German Words Learning these words will be helpful for beginning German speakers Share Flipboard Email Print FatCamera / Getty Images Languages German Vocabulary Basics History & Culture Pronunciation & Conversation Grammar English as a Second Language Spanish French Italian Japanese Mandarin English Grammar by Hyde Flippo Updated January 25, 2018 Have you ever wondered what the top 500, 1,000 or 10,000 German words were? If you need to learn German vocabulary, which words should you learn first? Which ones are most frequently used?The Projekt Deutscher Wortschatz at the Universität Leipzig scanned texts and included variations of the same word, including capitalization versus lower case and other possible forms of any particular word. The definite article ("the") appears in all of its German variations: der/Der, die/Die, den, etc. The verb "to be" appears in all of its conjugated forms: ist, sind, war, sei, etc. Even the new and old spellings of dass/daß are considered two different words.The Leipzig researchers noted that if one were to select different text sources for analysis, one would get different results. An analysis of the vocabulary found in a novel versus that in a comic book or a newspaper would not be similar. Obviously, an analysis of spoken German would also yield different results. Here are charts showing the top 100 most-used German words, and one showing the top 30 most-spoken German words. Students of German 101 should get familiar with these words and their forms.Top 100 German Words Edited and ranked by frequency of use RankGermanEnglish1der (den, dem, des)the m.2die (der, den)the f. 3undand4in (im)in, into (in the)5von (vom)of, from6zu (zum, zur)to; at; too7das (dem, des)the n. 8mitwith 9sichhimself, itself, yourself10aufon11fürfor12ist (sein, sind, war, sei, etc.)is13nichtnot14ein (eine, einen, einer, einem, eines)a, an15alsas, than, when16auchalso, too17esit18an (am/ans)to, at, by19werden (wurde, wird)become, get20ausfrom, out of21erhe, it22hat (haben, hatte, habe)has/have23dass / daßthat24sieshe, it; they25nachto, after26beiat, by27umaround, at28nochstill, yet29wieas, how30überabout, over, via31soso, such, thus32Sieyou (formal)33nuronly34oderor35aberbut36vor (vorm, vors)before, in front of; of37bisby, until38mehrmore39durchby, through40manone, they41Prozent (das)percent42kann (können, konnte, etc.)be able, can43gegenagainst; around44schonalready45wennif, when46sein (seine, seinen, etc.)his47Mark (Euro)Mark (Euro) currency48ihre/ihrher, their49dannthen50unterunder, among 51wirwe52soll (sollen, sollte, etc.)should, ought to53ichI (personal pronoun)54Jahr (das, Jahren, Jahres, etc.)year55zweitwo56diese (dieser, dieses, etc.)this, these57wiederagain58UhrMost frequently used as "o'clock" in telling time.59will (wollen, willst, etc.)wants60zwischenbetween61immeralways62Millionen (eine Million)millions63waswhat64sagte (sagen, sagt)said (say, says)65gibt (es gibt; geben)gives66alleall, everyone67seitsince68muss (müssen)must69dochbut, nevertheless, after all70jetztnow71dreithree72neue (neu, neuer, neuen, etc.)new73damitwith it/that; by that; because of that; so that74bereitsalready75dasince, because76aboff, away; exit77ohnewithout78sondernbut rather79selbstmyself, himself80ersten (erste, erstes, etc.)first 81nunnow; then; well?82etwaabout, approximately; for instance83heutetoday, nowadays84weilbecause 85ihmto/for him86Menschen (der Mensch)people87Deutschland (das)Germany88anderen (andere, anderes, etc.)"other(s)89rundapproximately, about90ihnhim91Ende (das)end92jedochnevertheless93Zeit (die)time94uns us95Stadt (die)city, town96geht (gehen, ging, etc.)goes97sehrvery98hierhere99ganzentire(ly), complete(ly), whole(ly)100Berlin (das)Berlin Top 30 Words in Spoken German RankGermanEnglish1ichI2dasthe; that (one) neuter 3diethe f.4istis5nichtnot6jayes7duyou8derthe m.9undand10sieshe, they11soso, thus12wirwe13waswhat14nochstill, yet15dathere, here; since, because16maltimes; once17mitwith18auchalso, too19inin, into20esit21zuto; at; too22aberbut23habe / hab'(I) have24denthe25einea, an fem. indefinite article26schonalready27manone, they28dochbut, nevertheless, after all29warwas30dannthe citecite this article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Flippo, Hyde. "Top 100 Most-Used German Words." ThoughtCo, Jan. 25, 2018, thoughtco.com/top-most-used-german-words-4077044. Flippo, Hyde. (2018, January 25). Top 100 Most-Used German Words. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/top-most-used-german-words-4077044 Flippo, Hyde. "Top 100 Most-Used German Words." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/top-most-used-german-words-4077044 (accessed April 21, 2018). copy citation Continue Reading