🎯 Situation

You're in an unfamiliar city in Germany. You need to find the train station, a supermarket, or a pharmacy, but you don't know the way. You need to know how to ask for directions and understand simple instructions.

📋 Sample phrases

Asking for directions

German	Pronunciation (IPA)	English
Entschuldigung, wo ist ...?	/ɛntˈʃʊldɪɡʊŋ, voː ɪst ...?/	Excuse me, where is ...?
Können Sie mir helfen?	/ˈkœnən ziː miːɐ̯ ˈhɛlfn̩?/	Can you help me?
Wie komme ich zum Bahnhof?	/viː ˈkɔmə ɪç t͡sʊm ˈbaːnhoːf?/	How do I get to the train station?
Ist es weit?	/ɪst ɛs ˈvaɪ̯t?/	Is it far?
Kann ich zu Fuß gehen?	/kan ɪç t͡suː ˈfuːs ˈɡeːən?/	Can I walk there?

Giving directions

German	Pronunciation (IPA)	English
links	/lɪŋks/	(on the) left
rechts	/ʁɛçts/	(on the) right
geradeaus	/ɡəˈʁaːdəˌʔaʊ̯s/	straight ahead
die erste Straße	/diː ˈʔeːɐ̯stə ˈʃtʁaːsə/	the first street
die zweite Straße	/diː ˈt͡svaɪ̯tə ˈʃtʁaːsə/	the second street
an der Ampel	/an deːɐ̯ ˈʔampl̩/	at the traffic light
an der Ecke	/an deːɐ̯ ˈʔɛkə/	at the corner

Important places

German	Pronunciation (IPA)	English
der Bahnhof	/deːɐ̯ ˈbaːnhoːf/	train station
der Supermarkt	/deːɐ̯ ˈzuːpɐˌmaʁkt/	supermarket
die Apotheke	/diː apoˈteːkə/	pharmacy
das Krankenhaus	/das ˈkʁaŋkn̩ˌhaʊ̯s/	hospital
die Polizei	/diː poliˈt͡saɪ̯/	police / police station
die Toilette	/diː tɔɪ̯ˈlɛtə/	toilet / restroom
das Hotel	/das hoˈtɛl/	hotel
die Haltestelle	/diː ˈhaltəˌʃtɛlə/	bus stop

💬 Sample dialogues

Dialogue 1: Finding the train station

You: Entschuldigung, wie komme ich zum Bahnhof? (Excuse me, how do I get to the train station?)

Passer-by: Gehen Sie geradeaus, dann die zweite Straße links. (Go straight ahead, then take the second street on the left.)

You: Ist es weit? (Is it far?)

Passer-by: Nein, fünf Minuten zu Fuß. (No, five minutes on foot.)

You: Danke schön! (Thank you very much!)

Dialogue 2: Finding the pharmacy

You: Entschuldigung, wo ist die Apotheke? (Excuse me, where is the pharmacy?)

Passer-by: Gehen Sie rechts, dann geradeaus. Die Apotheke ist an der Ecke. (Go to the right, then straight ahead. The pharmacy is on the corner.)

You: Vielen Dank! (Thank you very much!)

ℹ️ 📌 Quick memory tips

links (left) vs rechts (right) — easy to remember: Links = Left, and rechts even sounds like "right" — both begin with the same letter as their English meaning.
geradeaus /ɡəˈʁaːdəˌʔaʊ̯s/ = straight ahead — the ending aus means "out", so picture yourself heading straight out along the road.
German pharmacies are easy to spot: look for the big red letter A (for Apotheke).
If you don't understand, say: "Können Sie das bitte wiederholen?" /ˈkœnən ziː das ˈbɪtə viːdɐˈhoːlən/ = Could you please repeat that?

ℹ️ 🔗 Next step

Found your way? Next, learn how to go shopping in the lesson Grocery Shopping & Shopping.

Want to learn more direction vocabulary? See the A1 Vocabulary - Stadt section in the A1 program.