Wie geht es dir?

Lesson Audio

Transcript

Wie geht es dir?

1. Hallo!
2. Hi!
3. Wie geht es dir?
4. Mir geht es gut, danke.
5. Hast du heute Pläne?
6. Ja. Ich werde einige Freunde treffen.
7. Kann ich auch mitkommen?
8. Das wäre toll!

Grammar Notes

In German, as in English, there is more than one way to say hello: "hi," "guten tag."

In English, we add –(e)s to the present tense verb used with he, she, it. In German, we take the stem of the basic form of the verb, also called the infinitive, and add "–t": "gehen" — "geh" + "t." A common short version of "wie geht es dir?" is "wie geht's?"

"Mir geht es gut" is a common German phrase. A literal, word-for-word translation of I am fine in German would be odd to a native speaker. A common short version of "mir geht es gut" is "mir geht's gut."

The verb ending for most verbs in the informal singular "du" is "–st."

The ending of the first-person verb with "ich" is often a verb stem + "e": treffen" = "treff" + "e." This form of the present tense in German does not require a helping verb. In German, there is just one future tense, so "werde" means both going to and will.

All nouns in German are capitalized, but not the personal pronoun "ich," unless at the beginning of a sentence.

In German, just like in English, "wäre" expresses a future possibility or condition: would be.

Lesson Vocabulary

1. hallo  =  hello
2. hi  =  hi
3. wie geht es dir  =  how are you (informal)
4. mir geht es gut  =  I'm fine
5. danke  =  thank you
6. hast du  =  do you (informal) have
7. Pläne  =  plans
8. heute  =  today
9. ja  =  yes
10. ich werde  =  I'm going to
11. treffen  =  meet
12. einige  =  some
13. Freunde  =  friends
14. kann  =  can
15. ich  =  I
16. mitkommen  =  come
17. auch  =  too
18. das  =  that
19. wäre  =  would be
20. toll  =  great

Translation

How are you?

1. Hello!
2. Hi!
3. How are you?
4. I'm fine, thank you.
5. Do you have plans today?
6. Yes. I'm going to meet some friends.
7. Can I come, too?
8. That would be great!

Translation (Literal)

How goes it you (information, singular)?

1. Hello!
2. Hi!
3. How goes it you (informal, singular)?
4. Me goes it good, thanks.
5. Have you (informal) today plans?
6. Yes. I will some friends meet.
7. Can I also come?
8. That would be great!

Cultural Notes

Self-introductions in Germany are done with last and/or first names without using Mr./Mrs., Herr or Frau, and a simple handshake.

Informal ways of acknowledgement include waving, nodding and saying a casual “hallo”, and sometimes using a first name. Germans still continue using a degree of formality when greeting people.

In times past, titles were very important and you had to address someone by all their titles, especially in business settings. For example, “Herr Dr. Dr. Phillips” might be a physician with two doctorates to his name.

When meeting people, you should assume formality and then ask how they want to be addressed. It is not just a matter of formality but of respect; Germans place great importance on this and you shouldn't overlook it.

The younger generations are irritated by this level of protocol and are slowly doing away with it. Americans and Britains try to break down this barrier to move forward in relationships, but Germans prefer to keep the formality in greetings for a longer period of time into relationships.

Despite the protocol, people in many of the shops still greet customers with “guten Tag,” which means “good day”, or in southern Germany “grüß Gott,” meaning “God greet you”, and “auf Wiedersehen,” for goodbyes upon departure.