A1 · 48 words
People and family in German
The people you talk about on the first day — and the nouns whose gender you can actually predict.
Family words are the first place where German gender behaves the way an English speaker expects: der Vater and die Mutter, der Sohn and die Tochter. That is comforting and slightly misleading — it is true for people and stops being true for everything else, as das Mädchen demonstrates on the very same page. The other thing worth noticing here is the -in ending. Add it to a masculine noun for a person and you get the feminine: Freund becomes Freundin, Lehrer becomes Lehrerin. It is fully productive, so it works on a job title you met five minutes ago.
The words
Verb (6)
arbeitento workVerbA1
The stem ends in -t, so the du and er forms add an -e-: du arbeitest, er arbeitet.
kennento know (a person or place)VerbA1
German splits English "know": "kennen" for people and places, "wissen" for facts.
heißento be calledVerbA1
The stem ends in -ß, so the du form is "heißt" and not "heißst".
liebento loveVerbA1
besuchento visitVerbA1
Inseparable prefix: the participle is "besucht" without ge-.
heiratento marry, to get marriedVerbA2
Noun (36)
der Mannman, husbandNounA1
Plural: die Männer. Also means "husband": mein Mann.
die FamiliefamilyNounA1
Plural: die Familien. Pronounced with four syllables.
die ElternparentsNounA1
Plural only — there is no singular. For one parent German says "ein Elternteil".
der VaterfatherNounA1
Plural: die Väter.
die MuttermotherNounA1
Plural: die Mütter.
das KindchildNounA1
Plural: die Kinder. Neuter, like almost every word for a young creature.
der SohnsonNounA1
Plural: die Söhne.
die TochterdaughterNounA1
Plural: die Töchter.
der BruderbrotherNounA1
Plural: die Brüder.
die SchwestersisterNounA1
Plural: die Schwestern.
die GeschwistersiblingsNounA1
Plural only. German has one word where English needs a phrase.
die GroßmuttergrandmotherNounA1
Plural: die Großmütter. Informally: die Oma.
der GroßvatergrandfatherNounA1
Plural: die Großväter. Informally: der Opa.
die OmagrandmaNounA1
Plural: die Omas.
der OpagrandpaNounA1
Plural: die Opas.
das BabybabyNounA1
Plural: die Babys — an -s plural, because the word is borrowed.
der JungeboyNounA1
Plural: die Jungen. A weak noun: den Jungen, dem Jungen.
das MädchengirlNounA1
Neuter, because every noun ending in -chen is. Plural: die Mädchen.
der Freundfriend, boyfriendNounA1
Plural: die Freunde. "Mein Freund" usually means boyfriend; for a friend say "ein Freund von mir".
die Freundinfriend, girlfriendNounA1
Plural: die Freundinnen. The -in ending makes the feminine, and its plural is always -innen.
der NachbarneighbourNounA1
Plural: die Nachbarn. A weak noun: den Nachbarn, dem Nachbarn.
der KollegecolleagueNounA2
Plural: die Kollegen. Weak noun. Feminine: die Kollegin.
die LeutepeopleNounA1
Plural only, and always plural: "die Leute sind".
die PersonpersonNounA1
Plural: die Personen. Feminine even when the person is male.
der NamenameNounA1
Plural: die Namen. A weak noun with an odd genitive: des Namens.
das AlterageNounA2
No plural in this sense.
der Berufprofession, jobNounA1
Plural: die Berufe.
der LehrerteacherNounA1
Plural: die Lehrer — no ending. Feminine: die Lehrerin.
der ArztdoctorNounA1
Plural: die Ärzte. Feminine: die Ärztin, with an umlaut.
der StudentstudentNounA1
Plural: die Studenten. A weak noun: den Studenten. Only for university; a school pupil is "der Schüler".
der Enkelgrandson; grandchildNounA2
Plural: die Enkel.
die EnkelingranddaughterNounA2
Plural: die Enkelinnen.
der OnkeluncleNounA1
Plural: die Onkel.
die TanteauntNounA1
Plural: die Tanten.
die EhefrauwifeNounA2
Plural: die Ehefrauen.
der EhemannhusbandNounA2
Plural: die Ehemänner.
Adjective (5)
altoldAdjectiveA1
Comparative: älter, am ältesten.
jungyoungAdjectiveA1
Comparative: jünger, am jüngsten.
verheiratetmarriedAdjectiveA2
ledigsingle, unmarriedAdjectiveA2
The word used on official forms; in conversation people say "Single".
geborenbornAdjectiveA1
Adverb (1)
zusammentogetherAdverbA1
This list belongs to People and relationships — 17 lists and 693 words that can also be practised as a whole.
Practise this list
From these 48 words, as many per round as you like — up to all of them: first what is due today, then new ones. First you choose, then you fill the gap, then you write it yourself. Mistakes come back again shortly.