The purpose of this list is to give a rough idea of the German language. The words listed below are not the most common German words, but a broad sampling of words. See the Word Lists page for more details.
| English | German (Deutsch) |
| I | ich |
| you (singular) | du, Sie *(formal)* |
| he | er |
| we | wir |
| you (plural) | ihr, Sie *(formal)* |
| they | sie |
| this | dieses |
| that | jenes |
| here | hier |
| there | dort |
| who | wer |
| what | was |
| where | wo |
| when | wann |
| how | wie |
| not | nicht |
| all | alle |
| many | viele |
| some | einige |
| few | wenig |
| other | andere |
| one | eins |
| two | zwei |
| three | drei |
| four | vier |
| five | fünf |
| big | groß |
| long | lang |
| wide | breit, weit |
| thick | dick |
| heavy | schwer, heftig |
| small | klein, schmal |
| short | kurz |
| narrow | eng |
| thin | dünn |
| woman | Frau |
| man (male) | Mann |
| man (human) | Mensch |
| child | Kind |
| wife | Frau, Ehefrau, Weib |
| husband | Mann, Ehemann |
| mother | Mutter |
| father | Vater |
| animal | Tier |
| fish | Fisch |
| bird | Vogel |
| dog | Hund |
| louse | Laus |
| snake | Schlange |
| worm | Wurm |
| tree | Baum |
| forest | Wald, Forst |
| stick | Stock |
| fruit | Frucht |
| seed | Samen, Saat |
| leaf | Blatt |
| root | Wurzel |
| bark (of a tree) | Rinde, Borke |
| flower | Blume |
| grass | Gras |
| rope | Seil |
| skin | Haut |
| meat | Fleisch |
| blood | Blut |
| bone | Knochen, Gebein |
| fat (noun) | Fett |
| egg | Ei |
| horn | Horn |
| tail | Schwanz |
| feather | Feder |
| hair | Haar |
| head | Kopf |
| ear | Ohr |
| eye | Auge |
| nose | Nase |
| mouth | Mund |
| tooth | Zahn |
| tongue | Zunge |
| fingernail | Fingernagel |
| foot | Fuß |
| leg | Bein |
| knee | Knie |
| hand | Hand |
| wing | Flügel |
| belly | Bauch |
| guts | Eingeweide |
| neck | Hals, Nacken, Genick |
| back | Rücken |
| breast | Brust |
| heart | Herz |
| liver | Leber |
| to drink | trinken |
| to eat | essen |
| to bite | beißen |
| to suck | saugen |
| to spit | spucken |
| to vomit | erbrechen |
| to blow | blasen |
| to breathe | atmen |
| to laugh | lachen |
| to see | sehen |
| to hear | hören |
| to know | wissen, kennen |
| to think | denken |
| to smell | riechen |
| to fear | fürchten |
| to sleep | schlafen |
| to live | leben |
| to die | sterben |
| to kill | töten |
| to fight | kämpfen |
| to hunt | jagen |
| to hit | schlagen |
| to cut | schneiden |
| to split | spalten |
| to stab | stechen |
| to scratch | kratzen |
| to dig | graben |
| to swim | schwimmen |
| to fly | fliegen |
| to walk | gehen |
| to come | kommen |
| to lie (as in a bed) | liegen *(state)* |
| to sit | sitzen *(state)* |
| to stand | stehen *(state)* |
| to turn (intransitive) | drehen |
| to fall | fallen |
| to give | geben |
| to hold | halten |
| to squeeze | quetschen |
| to rub | reiben |
| to wash | waschen |
| to wipe | wischen |
| to pull | ziehen |
| to push | drücken |
| to throw | werfen |
| to tie | binden |
| to sew | nähen |
| to count | zählen |
| to say | sagen |
| to sing | singen |
| to play | spielen |
| to float | schweben |
| to flow | fließen |
| to freeze | frieren |
| to swell | schwellen |
| sun | Sonne |
| moon | Mond |
| star | Stern |
| water | Wasser |
| rain | Regen |
| river | Fluss |
| lake | See |
| sea | Meer |
| salt | Salz |
| stone | Stein |
| sand | Sand |
| dust | Staub |
| earth | Erde |
| cloud | Wolke |
| fog | Nebel |
| sky | Himmel |
| wind | Wind |
| snow | Schnee |
| ice | Eis |
| smoke | Rauch |
| fire | Feuer |
| ash | Asche |
| to burn | brennen |
| road | Straße |
| mountain | Berg |
| red | rot |
| green | grün |
| yellow | gelb |
| white | weiß |
| black | schwarz |
| night | Nacht |
| day | Tag |
| year | Jahr |
| warm | warm |
| cold | kalt |
| full | voll |
| new | neu |
| old | alt |
| good | gut |
| bad | schlecht |
| rotten | verfault, verrottet |
| dirty | schmutzig, dreckig |
| straight | gerade |
| round | rund |
| sharp (as a knife) | scharf |
| dull (as a knife) | stumpf |
| smooth | glatt |
| wet | nass, feucht |
| dry | trocken |
| correct | richtig, korrekt |
| near | nahe |
| far | weit, fern |
| right | rechts |