a brown dog wearing a German flag shirt and holding a yellow ball

Activities: "How to be polite in German?"

By: Ulrike Carlson
Associated Articles

These activities are part of our German Grammar series. The skills we are practicing here are covered in our article:

Activity 1: How to address them?

You are helping your friend Vera to send out invitations for a reception to celebrate her receiving a university degree. Vera plans to invite friends, family, colleagues from the restaurant she works at, and her professors. Everyone needs an invitation that is just right (and of course very polite) for them.

Look at the guest list and check off which form of address you would use in each case. (If two different solutions might be possible, mark both, and think about why you made that choice.)

Use this vocabulary to help you out:

German
English

die Kommilitonin

fellow university student

der Neffe

nephew

der Verlobte

fiancee

eng

close

  • Prof. Dr. Müller

  • Karin Breitner; eine Kommilitonin

  • Hannes; Veras Neffe

  • Heiner Straßberg; Veras Chef

  • Jonas Dahlem; Veras Kollege im Restaurant

  • Mama und Papa

  • Herr und Frau Klagenfurt; die neuen Nachbarn

  • Dr. Klaus Steiner, ein enger Freund der Familie

  • Lila, Veras beste Freundin

  • Frau Sybille Mühlstedt, die Mutter von Veras Verlobtem

Tip for teachers:
After this activity, pair students with a partner and ask them to write one of the invitations as well as an RSVP.

Activity 2: What is the most polite?

For each situation, pick the most polite way of saying things, based on factors such as relationship to each other, formality vs. informality and how polite you feel you need to be. (Remember: Being too polite might have the effect of irony.)

Use this vocabulary to help you out!

German
English

unbekannt

unknown

bitten

to ask, to request

durchlassen

to let someone pass

geehrt

honored

probieren

to try, to taste

der Ärger

trouble

  • Du sitzt im Zug, auf dem Sitz am Fenster. Links neben dir sitzt eine unbekannte, ältere Frau. Du möchtest zur Toilette gehen und musst die Frau bitten, für dich aufzustehen. Du sagst:

  • Dein Freund, Jakob Schneider, hat zum Geburtstag eine Tüte Gummibärchen bekommen. Du magst Gummibärchen und möchtest sie probieren. Wie kannst du ihn darum bitten?

  • Deine Hausaufgaben sind noch nicht fertig und du solltest sie heute abgeben. Du musst deinem Professor eine E-mail schreiben und um mehr Zeit bitten. Du schreibst:

Tip for teachers:
This activity can also serve as a reading comprehension activity. Ask your students to talk about the problem in each situation, similar problems and possible solutions. For situation 3, invite your students to write the entire email, providing a reason for the late homework.

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