Cliff Jones Jr.

Core Vocabulary in German #

What are the most basic concepts that virtually all languages express? I’ve done my best to answer this question with a list of 200 core vocabulary items, and this is part one of the German version. To learn how I settled on these particular concepts and see what other languages have been added so far, check out “Core Vocabulary Across Languages.”

Abbreviations #

m = masculine gender (“der”)

f = feminine gender (“die”)

n = neuter gender (“das”)

Nouns #

  1. name = Name (m)
  2. water = Wasser (n)
  3. blood = Blut (n)
  4. fire = Feuer (n)
  5. stone/rock = Stein (m)
  6. dog = Hund (m)
  7. fish = Fisch (m)
  8. louse/flea = Laus (f), Floh (m)
  9. hand/arm = Hand (f), Arm (m)
  10. eye = Auge (n)
  11. ear = Ohr (n)
  12. nose = Nase (f)
  13. tongue = Zunge (f)
  14. tooth = Zahn (m)
  15. bone = Knochen (m)
  16. horn = Horn (n)
  17. tail = Schwanz (m)
  18. egg = Ei (n)
  19. leaf = Blatt (n)
  20. night/evening = Nacht (f), Abend (m)
  21. star = Stern (m)
  22. sun = Sonne (f)
  23. moon = Mond (m)
  24. earth/soil = Erde (f), Boden (m)
  25. salt = Salz (n)
  26. mountain = Berg (m)
  27. tree = Baum (m)
  28. rain = Regen (m)
  29. wind = Wind (m)
  30. bird = Vogel (m)
  31. flesh/meat = Fleisch (n)
  32. liver = Leber (f)
  33. skin/hide = Haut (f)
  34. knee = Knie (n)
  35. breast/chest = Brust (f)
  36. person/human = Mensch (m)
  37. man = Mann (m)
  38. woman = Frau (f)
  39. child = Kind (n)
  40. hair/fur = Haar (n), Fell (n)
  41. mouth = Mund (m)
  42. neck = Hals (m)
  43. foot/leg = Fuß (m), Bein (n)
  44. feather = Feder (f)
  45. grease/fat = Fett (n)
  46. smoke = Rauch (m)
  47. ash/soot = Asche (f), Ruß (m)
  48. sand = Sand (m)
  49. wood = Holz (n)
  50. root = Wurzel (f)
  51. rope/cord = Seil (n), Schnur (f)
  52. path/road = Weg (m), Pfad (m), Straße (f)
  53. year = Jahr (n)

Verbs #

  1. die = sterben
  2. see/look/watch = sehen, schauen
  3. hear/listen = hören
  4. know = wissen, kennen
  5. drink = trinken
  6. give = geben
  7. come = kommen
  8. stand = stehen
  9. sit/set = sitzen, setzen
  10. lie/lay = liegen, legen
  11. fly = fliegen
  12. eat = essen
  13. bite = beißen
  14. burn = brennen
  15. kill = töten, zerstören
  16. say/tell/speak/talk = sagen, sprechen
  17. laugh = lachen

Adjectives #

  1. new = neu
  2. full = voll
  3. good = gut
  4. long = lang
  5. red = rot
  6. black = schwarz
  7. white = weiß
  8. green = grün
  9. yellow = gelb
  10. small/little = klein, schmal
  11. big/large = groß
  12. wide/broad = weit, breit
  13. heavy = schwer, heftig
  14. old = alt
  15. dry = trocken, herb

Other #

  1. I/me = ich/mich/mir
  2. you = du/dich/dir, ihr/euch, Sie/Ihnen
  3. what/which = was, welcher/welche/welches
  4. who/whom = wer/wen/wem
  5. one/a/an = eins, ein/eine/einen/einem/einer
  6. two = zwei
  7. not/no = nicht/nein
  8. this/these = dieser/diese/dies/dieses/diesen/diesem, das
  9. we/us = wir/uns
  10. all/everything/everyone = alle/allem/allen, alles, jedermann