Most Frequent German Words in Speech and Writing

What German words will you encounter most frequently? The answer depends on whether they are in conversation or in reading material. Its valuable to note what words are the most common, although they may not help you as much as you might think. They include many pronouns, articles, prepositions and common verbs. Those are probably not enough to understand what someone is trying to tell you. Top 30 Most Frequent Words in Spoken German The 30 words ranked here for spoken German are excerpted from the Rangwà ¶rterbuch hochdeutscher Umgangssprache by Hans-Heinrich Wà ¤ngler (N.G. Elwert, Marburg, 1963). The words are ranked by frequency of use in everyday, spoken German. Top 30 Words - Spoken GermanRanked by Frequency of Use inGerman Speaking Vocabulary Rank Word Comment/Link 1 ich I - personal pronoun 2 das the; that (one) neuter - definite article or demonstrative pronoun)More: Nouns and Gender 3 die the f. - definite article 4 ist is - form of to be ( sein) 5 nicht not 6 ja yes 7 du you familiar - See Sie und du 8 der the m. - definite article 9 und and 10 sie she, they 11 so so, thus 12 wir we - personal pronoun 13 was what 14 noch still, yet 15 da there, here; since, because 16 mal times; once - particle 17 mit with - See Dative Prepositions 18 auch also, too 19 in in, into 20 es it - personal pronoun 21 zu to; at; too preposition or adverb 22 aber but - See Coordinating/Subordinating Conjunctions 23 habe / hab (I) have - verbs - forms of haben 24 den the - (form of der or dative plural) See Noun Cases 25 eine a, an fem. indefinite article 26 schon already 27 man one, they 28 doch but, nevertheless, after all particle 29 war was - past tense of to be (sein) 30 dann then Source:  Word Frequencies (TU Wien) A few observations about the Top 30 Spoken German Words: In this list of the top 30 spoken German words, there are no nouns, but lots of pronouns and articles.Prepositions are important in spoken (and reading) German. In the top 30 spoken words, there are three prepositions (all dative or dual): mit, in, and zu.The rank for spoken words can vary greatly from that for reading vocabulary. Examples: ich (spoken 1 / reading 51), ist (4/12), da (15/75), doch (28/69).All the top 30 words are small words. None has more than five letters; most have only two or three! Zipfs Law seems to hold true: There is an inverse relationship between the length of a word and its frequency. The Top 100 German Words Ranked by Frequency in Reading Material The words ranked here are taken from German newspapers, magazines and other online publications in German. A similar ranking for spoken German would be quite different. Although it is based on it, unlike the word frequency compilation from the Università ¤t Leipzig, this edited top 100 list of the most common German words in print eliminates duplicates (dass/daß, der/Der) and considers conjugated verb forms as a single verb (i.e., ist represents all forms of sein, to be) to arrive at the 100 most common German words you should know (for reading). However, most personal pronouns have their various forms listed separately. For example, the first-person singular forms ich, mich, mir are listed as separate words, each with its own rank. Alternative forms of other words (in parentheses) are listed in order of occurrence. The ranking below is based on the University of Leipzig compilation as of 8 Jan. 2001. Top 100 German WordsEdited and Ranked by Frequency of Use inGerman Reading Vocabulary Rank Word Comment/Link 1 der (den, dem, des) the m. - definite article 2 die (der, den) the f. - definite article 3 und and - coordinating conjunction 4 in (im) in, into (in the) 5 von (vom) of, from 6 zu (zum, zur) to; at; too preposition or adverb 7 das (dem, des) the n. - definite article 8 mit with 9 sich himself, itself, yourself 10 auf See Two-Way Prepositions 11 fr See Accusative Prepositions 12 ist (sein, sind, war, sei, etc.) is (to be, are, was, be, etc.) - verbs 13 nicht not 14 ein (eine, einen, einer, einem, eines) a, an - indefinite article 15 als as, than, when 16 auch also, too 17 es it 18 an (am/ans) to, at, by 19 werden (wurde, wird) become, get 20 aus from, out of 21 er he, it - personal pronoun 22 hat (haben, hatte, habe) to have - verbs 23 dass / da that 24 sie she, it; they - personal pronoun 25 nach to, after - dative preposition 26 bei at, by - dative preposition 27 um around, at - accusative preposition 28 noch still, yet 29 wie as, how 30 ber about, over, via - two-way preposition 31 so so, such, thus 32 Sie you (formal) 33 nur only 34 oder or - coordinating conjunction 35 aber but - coordinating conjunction 36 vor (vorm, vors) before, in front of; of - two-way preposition 37 bis by, until - accusative preposition 38 mehr more 39 durch by, through - accusative preposition 40 man one, they - personal pronoun 41 Prozent (das) percent 42 kann (knnen, konnte, etc.) be able, can modal verb 43 gegen against; around - accusative preposition 44 schon already 45 wenn if, when - subordinating conjunctions 46 sein (seine, seinen, etc.) his - possessive pronoun 47 Mark (Euro) Der Euro was put into circulation in Jan. 2002, so Mark (Deutsche Mark, DM) is far less frequent now. 48 ihre/ihr her, their - possessive pronoun 49 dann then 50 unter under, among - two-way prepositions 51 wir we - personal pronoun 52 soll (sollen, sollte, etc.) should, ought to - modal verbs 53 ich Obviously ich (I) would rank higher for spoken German, but it also ranks high in print. 54 Jahr (das, Jahren, Jahres, etc.) year 55 zwei two - See Numbers 56 diese (dieser, dieses, etc.) this, these - dieser-word 57 wieder again (adv.) 58 Uhr Most frequently used as oclock in telling time. 59 will (wollen, willst, etc.) wants (to want, want, etc.) - modal verbs 60 zwischen between - two-way preposition 61 immer always (adv.) 62 Millionen (eine Million) millions (a/one million) - number 63 was what 64 sagte (sagen, sagt) said (past) say, says 65 gibt (es gibt; geben) gives (there is/are; to give) 66 alle all, everyone 67 seit since - dative preposition 68 muss (mssen) must (to have to, must) 69 doch but, nevertheless, after all particle 70 jetzt now - adverb 71 drei three - number 72 neue (neu, neuer, neuen, etc.) new adjective 73 damit with it/that; by that; because of that; so thatda-compound (with preposition) 74 bereits already adverb 75 da since, because (prep.), there, here (adv.) 76 ab off, away; exit (theater); from, starting at - adv./prep. 77 ohne without - accusative preposition 78 sondern but rather 79 selbst myself, himself, etc.; self-; even (if) 80 ersten (erste, erstes, etc.) first - adverb 81 nun now; then; well? 82 etwa about, approximately; for instance (adv.) 83 heute today, nowadays (adv.) 84 weil because - subordinating conjunction 85 ihm to/for him personal pronoun (dative) 86 Menschen (der Mensch) people (human being) 87 Deutschland (das) Germany 88 anderen (andere, anderes, etc.) other(s) 89 rund approximately, about (adv.) 90 ihn him personal pronoun (accusative) 91 Ende (das) end 92 jedoch nevertheless 93 Zeit (die) time 94 uns us, to us personal pronoun (accusative or dative) 95 Stadt (die) city, town 96 geht (gehen, ging, etc.) goes (to go, went, etc.) 97 sehr very 98 hier here 99 ganz entire(ly), complete(ly), whole(ly) 100 Berlin (das) Berlin Source: Projekt Wortschatz - Università ¤t LeipzigStand vom 8. Jan. 2001 A few observations about the Top 100 German Words: In this edited list of the Top 100 German Words, there are only 11 nouns (in ranked order): Prozent, Mark (Euro), Jahr/Jahren, Uhr, Millionen, Mensch/Menschen, Deutschland, Ende, Zeit, Stadt, Berlin. These nouns reflect common news and business content in German-language periodicals.Since several simple past tense forms (Imperfekt, war, wurde, sagte) appear in the top 100, it might be better to introduce the past tense earlier in German instruction/learning. In German reading material, the simple past is used more than in conversation.Zipfs Law seems to hold true: There is an inverse relationship between the length of a word and its frequency. The most frequent words are monosyllabic. The longer the word, the less its used, and vice versa.