The World of Languages · Indo-European
German · Deutsch
The most widely spoken native language in the European Union, famous for long compound words, capitalised nouns and its world of dialects.
- 76 million native speakers
- 133 million speakers in total
- Latin script
- FSI Category II · 36 weeks
- Official in 6 countries
Where German is spoken
Tap or hover over a country. Colours show the language's status, based on Unicode CLDR territory data (population estimates mix sources and years).
Top countries by speakers
- Germany · DeutschlandOfficial language · 77M (91%)
- Netherlands · NiederlandeWidely spoken · 13M (71%)
- Austria · ÖsterreichOfficial language · 8.7M (97%)
- Poland · PolenOfficial regionally · 7.4M (19%)
- Switzerland · SchweizOfficial language · 6.5M (73%)
- United Kingdom · Vereinigtes KönigreichWidely spoken · 6.2M (9%)
- France · FrankreichWidely spoken · 3.4M (5%)
- Denmark · DänemarkOfficial regionally · 2.8M (47%)
- Belgium · BelgienOfficial language · 2.6M (22%)
- Brazil · BrasilienWidely spoken · 1.8M (0.84%)
- Hungary · UngarnWidely spoken · 1.8M (18%)
- Czechia · TschechienWidely spoken · 1.6M (15%)
Key numbers
- Native (L1) speakers
- 76 million
- Second-language (L2) speakers
- 57 million
- Total speakers
- 133 million
- Source
- Ethnologue (2026), via Wikipedia
German at a glance
German (Deutsch, pronounced [dɔɪ̯tʃ] ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It is also an official language of Luxembourg, Belgium and the Italian autonomous province of South Tyrol, French autonomous region of Alsace and as well as a recognised national language in Namibia. There are also notable German-speaking communities in other parts of Europe, including: Poland (Upper Silesia), the Czech Republic (North Bohemia), Denmark (North Schleswig), Slovakia (Krahule), Romania and Hungary (Sopron). Overseas, sizeable communities of German-speakers are found in the Americas.
From the Wikipedia article German language (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Name in German
- Deutsch
- Family
- Indo-EuropeanClassical Indo-EuropeanGermanicNorthwest GermanicWest GermanicHigh GermanUpper GermanMiddle-Modern High GermanModern High GermanUpper FranconianGlobal German
- Writing system
- Latin alphabet with ä, ö, ü and ß
- Direction
- Left to right
- Official in
- Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein
- Codes
- ISO 639-3
deu· Glottologstan1295· Q188 - Writing sample
Alle Menschen sind frei und gleich an Würde und Rechten geboren. Sie sind mit Vernunft und Gewissen begabt und sollen einander im Geist der Brüderlichkeit begegnen.
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights…”
Linguistic profile
How hard is German for English speakers?
The US Foreign Service Institute puts German in Category II: about 36 weeks (900 class hours) of full-time study to reach professional working proficiency.
Source: FSI language learning timelines. See all languages ranked: hardest · easiest.
Feature values from the World Atlas of Language Structures (WALS Online, CC BY 4.0).
The German script
Latin alphabet with ä, ö, ü and ß. Tap a character to hear it (your device reads the letter name or sound).
Standard letters from Unicode CLDR exemplar characters.
Useful German phrases with pronunciation
Numbers 1–10
- eins
- zwei
- drei
- vier
- fünf
- sechs
- sieben
- acht
- neun
- zehn
Days of the week
- Mon Montag
- Tue Dienstag
- Wed Mittwoch
- Thu Donnerstag
- Fri Freitag
- Sat Samstag
- Sun Sonntag
Everyday words
- water Wasser
- cat Katze
- dog Hund
- coffee Kaffee
- beer Bier
- bread Brot
- book Buch
Phrases and words checked against Wiktionary; days and months from Unicode CLDR. Audio uses your browser's built-in German voice when available.
Dialects and varieties
Standard German (Hochdeutsch)
Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg
Used in writing, education and the media everywhere.
Bavarian / Austrian
Bavaria and Austria
“Servus” for hello and goodbye, “Grüß Gott” for hello; Austrians say “Jänner” for January.
Swiss German
German-speaking Switzerland
Spoken in daily life by everyone, but written Standard German drops ß altogether (Strasse, not Straße).
Low German (Plattdeutsch)
Northern Germany
Did not undergo the High German consonant shift: “Water” and “Tied” vs Standard “Wasser” and “Zeit”.
Berlin dialect
Berlin
“Ick” for ich (I), “wat” for was (what).
Hear the dialects
Fun words, untranslatables and false friends
Schadenfreude
Pleasure at someone else's misfortune; English borrowed it whole.
Fernweh
An ache for faraway places: the opposite of homesickness.
Kummerspeck
Literally “grief bacon”: weight gained from comfort eating.
Feierabend
The moment the working day ends and free time begins.
Torschlusspanik
“Gate-closing panic”: fear that time is running out to achieve something.
False friends for English speakers
| German | Looks like | Actually means |
|---|---|---|
| Gift | gift | poison |
| bekommen | become | to get, to receive |
| Handy | handy | mobile phone |
| Chef | chef | boss |
Curious facts
- All nouns are capitalised in German, not just names: der Hund (the dog), die Freiheit (freedom).
- German has three genders and four cases; “the” can be der, die, das, den, dem or des.
- Compound nouns can get very long: Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaft is the famous joke example (Danube steamship company).
- Verbs go to the end of subordinate clauses: “…weil ich heute keine Zeit habe” (…because I today no time have).
- German is an official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Belgium.
Famous German-speaking voices
Singers & musicians
Writers & poets
Film & TV
Other famous figures
Descriptions from Wikidata; photos from Wikimedia Commons under the licences shown.
German culture now
Dark (TV series)
2017 German science-fiction television series
Run Lola Run
1998 German film by Tom Tykwer
All Quiet on the Western Front (2022 film)
2022 film by Edward Berger
Babylon Berlin
German neo-noir television series
Krautrock
Music genre that originated in Germany in the late 1960s
Grimms' Fairy Tales
Collection of German fairy tales
Learn German on YouTube
Free lessons from teachers and channels with German courses. Videos load only when you press play.
The story of the language
Quick quiz: how well do you know German?
Where to learn German
Learn German
LangMagic's guide to learning German.
LangMagicGerman Content Portal
German videos, with smooth progress from teachers' channels to native content.
LangMagicThe Endless Book
Read text you can understand, in the style of your favourite author and genre. About 30 languages.
LangMagicLangMagic Speak
Speaking lessons built around your topics, from materials you choose.
LangMagicLangMagic Meet
A virtual meeting platform built for language lessons, with follow-up exercises.
FreeWikivoyage German phrasebook
Free travel phrasebook with pronunciation guide
FreeWikibooks: German
Free, open textbook
FreeOmniglot: German
Script, pronunciation and useful phrases
FreeWiktionary: German dictionary
Free multilingual dictionary
Sources
- Speaker numbers: Ethnologue (2026), via Wikipedia.
- Countries, populations, alphabets, days and months: Unicode CLDR 46.
- Classification: Glottolog 5.3. Grammar features: WALS Online.
- Introduction: Wikipedia, German language (CC BY-SA 4.0). People and culture: Wikipedia and Wikidata. Images: Wikimedia Commons.
- Writing sample: Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1, from the Unicode UDHR collection. Phrases and words: Wiktionary. Difficulty: US Foreign Service Institute.
- Map: Natural Earth via world-atlas (public domain).