Asking for directions in German

You want to explore a German-speaking country seing as many sightseeings as possible? Then you really should learn how to ask for the direction in German! Being in an unknown city you can easily get lost and miss the things you hoped to see. In order to avoid this dilemma, I will show you not only how to ask for the direction in German, but also how to understand the directions you are given.

Lesson outline

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1.How to ask for directions in German
2.Directions in German
3.Asking the way: Vocabulary
3.1.Places in German
4.Exercises
4.1.Asking for directions in German: Fill in the Blanks Part 1
4.2.Asking for directions in German: Fill in the Blanks Part 2
4.3.Asking for directions in German: Multiple Choice Exercise

How to ask for directions in German

There are several ways how to ask for directions in German. But, first of all, you should start the conversation with the German equivalent for "Excuse me, please!":

Formal: Entschuldigen Sie bitte!
Informal: Entschuldige bitte!

English	German
Could you please tell me where the museum is?	formal: Können Sie mir bitte sagen wo das Musem ist? informal: Kannst du mir bitte sagen wo das Museum ist?
How do I get to the airport?	Wie komme ich zum Flughafen?
Do you know where the train station is?	formal: Wissen Sie wo der Bahnhof ist? informal: Weißt du wo der Bahnhof ist?

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Directions in German

First, you should learn how the cardinal directions are called in German!

directions

North = der Norden
South = der Süden
West = der Westen
East = der Osten

Asking the way: Vocabulary

In the following list, I will show you the main words you might hear when asking for directions!

English	German
left	links
right	rechts
to the left	nach links
to the right	nach rechts
straight	geradeaus
in front of	vor
behind	hinter
next to	neben
at the beginning of	am Anfang von
at the end of	am Ende von
to the north	nach Norden
to the south	nach Süden
to the west	nach Westen
to the east	nach Osten
the street	die Straße
the next street	die nächste Straße
The street after next	die übernächste Straße
The next street to the right	die nächste Straße nach rechts
The next street to the left	die nächste Straße nach links

directions

The first letter in a street name is always written in capital letters.

Places in German

In the following list, you can find some places you might like to go:

English	German
the train station	der Bahnhof
the bus stop	die Bushaltestelle
the airport	der Flughafen
the town hall	das Rathaus
the museum	das Museum
the restaurant	das Restaurant
the bar	die Bar
the city center	das Stadtzentrum
the shopping center	das Einkaufzentrum
the historic center	die Altstadt
the park	der Park
the hospital	das Krankenhaus
the police station	die Polizeiwache
the monument	das Denkmal
the bridge	die Brücke

Are you ready to explore a German-speaking country? Maybe, first, you should try out our exercises!

Exercises

Asking for directions in German: Fill in the Blanks Part 1
Asking for directions in German: Fill in the Blanks Part 2
Asking for directions in German: Multiple Choice Exercise