What does it mean?
Öffis is a slang term for public transport and is often used in colloquial conversations or by tabloid newspapers.
How do you use it or where might you see it?
The full word for “public transport” in German – öffentlicher Verkehr – doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.
So Germans often just shorten this to öffis in everyday conversation. Öffis is also a blanket term to refer to all modes of possible public transport – whether its bus, train, tram, or even ferry.
Passengers wait for a bus at Zoo Station in Berlin. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild | Monika Skolimowska
How to use it?
Das €49 Ticket gilt für alle Öffis.
The €49 Ticket is good for all public transport.
Ich nehme Öffi und nicht mit dem Auto.
I take public transport instead of the car.
READ ALSO: Why the future of Germany’s €49 transit pass is up in the air
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