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LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

EXPLAINED: The German phrases you need as bars and restaurants reopen

Nervous about your German skills now that restrictions are easing? Here are some handy phrases for once it's possible to grab dinner or a drink with friends again.

EXPLAINED: The German phrases you need as bars and restaurants reopen
Two restaurant employees in Dresden set up chairs and tables on Wednesday to prepare for the opening of outdoor dining. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild | Sebastian Kahnert

In many areas of Germany, bars and restaurants are once again opening their doors – or at least their terraces – to customers. Months of lockdowns, curfews and pub closures mean it feels like an eternity since we have been able to catch up with friends in a pub or cafe.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: The rules in Germany on outdoor dining

To help you avoid any embarrassment over the next few weeks, we have compiled a list of useful phrases to try out at your local restaurant or bar:

Small talk

If you are seeing your pals after a long time, before you even get to ordering, you may need to brush up on the small talk you’ve managed to avoid over the past few months.

Wie geht es dir? Lange nicht gesehen! – ‘How are you? Long time no see!’ Easing restrictions mean that many people will be able to socialise with friends they may not have seen since last autumn – or longer. It’s likely that ‘lange nicht gesehen’ will become a very useful addition to your phrase book.

Wie läuft’s bei dir so? – ‘What have you been up to?’ Given the heavy restrictions in place up until now in Germany, the answer to this may be pretty short. Try it out if you want to hear about how your friends have passed the time during lockdown. 

Ich freue mich auf meine Covid-Impfung – ‘I’m excited for my Covid vaccine’ As it is all anyone can really think about at the moment, it is likely the pandemic will come up at some point during your conversation. Especially if you want to make plans for the future, it will be good to know when your friends are getting their vaccine doses. 

READ ALSO: Here’s the German vocabulary you need to get the Covid-19 vaccine

Kann ich einen Tisch reservieren, bitte? – ‘Can I book a table, please?’ With bars and restaurants able to open for outdoor dining for the first time in months, there is likely to be fierce competition for tables. It is definitely worth booking in advance to ensure you aren’t disappointed. 

Ist dieser Tisch frei? – ‘Is this table free?’ If you do try your luck and approach a restaurant without booking, use this phrase to ask staff if they can squeeze you in. 

Ordering 

Ich hätte gern ein… – ‘I would like a…’ Hopefully you haven’t forgotten this basic phrase while the bars have been closed, but in any case, this is your time to use it. You could also try the more colloquial ‘ich nehme ein…’ or ‘I’ll take a…’ if you want to sound a bit more casual when ordering your drinks. 

Ich besorge das Bier – ‘I’ll get this beer’ This one’s for those of you who are feeling generous. Maybe you’ve saved a few cents while the bars have been closed and you want to cover the cost of your friend’s drink for them. Use this phrase to let them know this one’s on you. 

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: How you can visit a bar in Berlin from Friday

         A Berlin bartender pours a drink in November. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christophe Gateau

Eating/Drinking

Guten Appetit! – ‘Bon appetit!’ No matter if you’re in a restaurant or not, this is a good phrase to have in your pocket. In Germany, it is common to say this before you begin any meal and is a friendly way to kick off your dinner. 

Nicht lange schnacken, Kopf in Nacken – ‘Stop talking, start drinking.’ Particularly if you have been waiting months to have a drink in your favourite bar, you may want to cut the small talk and get straight to business. 

Hat es dir geschmeckt? ‘Did you enjoy your meal?’ If you have been out to a restaurant for the first time in what feels like an eternity, you are likely to savour every mouthful. Use this question to check everyone else at your table has enjoyed the experience too.

Wir brauchen ein Katerfrühstück – ‘We need a hangover cure.’ Hopefully you won’t need to use this phrase, but if you’ve overdone it on your first night socialising with friends, you might be on the search for something to ease your headache the next morning. 

READ ALSO: German word of the day: Der Kater

Lass uns bald wieder treffen – ‘Let’s do this again soon.’ Hopefully your night has gone well, and you have been able to wow your friends with your grasp of the German language. This phrase will let them know you don’t want this to just be a one time thing. 

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GERMAN WORD OF THE DAY

German word of the day: Grenze

From national borders to personal limitations, this German word is a great one to add to your active vocabulary.

German word of the day: Grenze

Why do I need to know Grenze?

Because Grenze is one of those nifty words that has multiple uses beyond its most literal meaning, and which can also be used in verb form.

As with many German nouns, it also functions well as a compound noun (i.e. paired with other nouns to create a new word) so learning this word could add several new words to your vocabulary at once. 

What does it mean? 

Die Grenze (pronounced like this) can be best translated as border in English, but can also mean limit or boundary, depending on the context.

When you hear the word in a geographical sense, it’s usually used to discuss national borders, such as Germany’s borders with nine other countries.

Of course, borders don’t have to be national: a Stadtgrenze would refer to the city limits, while Bundeslandgrenzen are the borders between Germany’s federal states. Want to know where the border crossing is? In that case, you’ll need to locate the Grenzübergang (also a feminine noun). 

An Abgrenzung, meanwhile, is any kind of demarcation. 

In the list of useful compound nouns that can be made using Grenze, one particularly interesting one is Phantomgrenze. This word is used to describe borders that don’t physically exist but that take the form of cultural, political or economic divides – a prime example being the East/West divide that still exists in Germany more than three decades after reunification.

READ ALSO: How does Germany’s ‘phantom border’ still divide the country?

Less literally, you can use Grenzen to discuss physical or emotional limitations, or to talk about being pushed to the limit (an die Grenzen gestoßen sein). In a similar sense, there may be political boundaries (politische Grenzen), or scientific ones (wissenschaftliche Grenzen) that haven’t yet been crossed. 

You may have recently learned to set boundaries in your personal life, which can be described in German as “Grenzen setzen”. In that case, you may also want people to respect those boundaries (Grenzen respektieren). 

In fact, almost any well-known English phrase that refers to limits, borders or boundaries can usually be translated using Grenzen. For example, “Meine Leidenschaft kennt keine Grenzen” means “My passion knows no bounds.” 

Of course, this being German, there are countless other ways you can adapt Grenze not just into compound nouns but also into verbs or adjectives. 

Grenzen, of course, means “to border” while angrenzen means “to border on” and begrenzen means “to limit”. Speaking of which, if you’re hoping to snap up a discounted deal, you may well be warned: “Das Angebot ist stark begrenzt.” That tells you that the offer is limited, so you’d better hurry while stocks last!

Where does it come from?

Interestingly enough, the word Grenze has Slavic roots and stems from the Polish word granica, which also means border.

Geography buffs may well observe that Germany shares a fairly long border with Poland (along with eight other countries), so the etymology of the German word seems incredibly fitting. 

READ ALSO: Five German words that come from Polish

Use it like this: 

Es ist wichtig, die Grenzen anderer Menschen zu respektieren.

It’s important to respect other people’s boundaries. 

Wie viele Länder grenzen an Deutschland? 

How many countries border Germany?

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