Signs in German
Learn how to recognize these all-important signs in German to avoid embarrassment and frustration! Ever walked into the wrong restroom in another country? Had your car towed from a no-parking spot? Been fined for lighting up in a non-smoking area?
Don’t worry, it’s probably happened to all of us at some time or other, but let’s make sure it doesn’t happen in Germany! These words and phrases are also useful to know in case you need to ask if something is open or closed, or explain that something is out of order.
Let's check out this lesson on signs in German!
Resources for further reading:
How to pronounce signs in German
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Damen
Ladies
Herren
Gentlemen
Ziehen
Pull
Drücken
Push
Geöffnet
Open
Geschlossen
Closed
Die Öffnungszeiten
The opening hours
Parken verboten
No parking
When you buy food in a supermarket and don’t intend to eat it right away it might pay to check the ‘best before date’ to avoid nasty surprises…
Das Haltbarkeitsdatum
The expiration date
Mindestens haltbar bis...
Best before...
Most restaurants have a smoking and a non- smoking area. There is a big discussion in Germany at the moment over whether to ban smoking in public buildings altogether. In the meantime it might be helpful to learn what “Rauchen verboten” means.
Die Raucherecke
The smoking area
Die Nichtraucherecke
The non-smoking area
Rauchen verboten!
No smoking!
Sometimes you will see big bright colored signs in nearly every store window. There must be a sale on…
Der Schlussverkauf
The end of season sale
Reduziert
Reduced
Das Schnäppchen
The bargain
For more lessons on German vocabulary I recommend these!
- Learn the words and phrases used around the airport in German.
- Need to book a hotel in German? This is the vocab lesson for you.
- Imagine you’re traveling in Germany and you need to ask for directions in German.
Bis bald!
Paul Weber: Rocket German
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