Fifty sentences for building your German vocabulary – part eight
Part eight, and its table covers the telephone and the doctor's surgery — the two hardest places for a learner, because the phone takes away the face and the gesture, and the surgery asks you about things you do not yet have a name for.
For that reason the phrases here are short and direct, fit to be read off a screen during the call itself without stumbling.
Why a store of words is built by volume, not by rule
Grammar organises what you already know; it does not produce what you do not. Someone who still cannot speak in the street after a year of study is usually short of words, not of rules. That is why this series comes in batches: fifty words at a time, heard, repeated and used, rather than analysed and explained. Anyone measuring their own progress knows that the distance between one level and the next is counted in words before it is counted in anything else.
Twenty phrases for the telephone and the surgery
| Deutsch | English |
|---|---|
| Guten Tag, hier spricht … | Good day, this is … speaking. |
| Ich rufe wegen eines Termins an. | I am calling about an appointment. |
| Ich möchte einen Termin vereinbaren. | I would like to make an appointment. |
| Haben Sie heute noch etwas frei? | Do you have anything free today? |
| Können wir den Termin verschieben? | Could we move the appointment? |
| Ich muss den Termin absagen. | I have to cancel the appointment. |
| Kann ich bitte mit Frau Müller sprechen? | May I speak to Frau Müller? |
| Ich rufe später noch einmal an. | I will call again later. |
| Bitte sprechen Sie etwas lauter. | Please speak a little louder. |
| Ich habe Sie nicht verstanden. | I did not understand you. |
| Können Sie mir Ihre Nummer geben? | Could you give me your number? |
| Ich bin krank. | I am ill. |
| Ich habe hier Schmerzen. | I have pain here. |
| Seit drei Tagen. | For three days. |
| Ich habe Fieber. | I have a fever. |
| Ich brauche ein Rezept. | I need a prescription. |
| Ich brauche eine Überweisung. | I need a referral. |
| Bin ich krankgeschrieben? | Am I signed off sick? |
| Ist das dringend? | Is that urgent? |
| Gute Besserung! | Get well soon! |
How to fix a word so it does not slip away
- Listen to the part once through, then again while pronouncing along with it, not after it
- Split the fifty over five days, ten a day — a single large batch is forgotten whole
- Review yesterday's words before starting today's; two minutes are enough
- Write one sentence per word taken from your own life, not from a book
- Review the whole part after a week and again after a month — spacing is what moves a word into long-term memory
- Anything forgotten twice goes on a small separate list and is reviewed on its own
Frequently asked questions
How do I open the call?
With one sentence: Guten Tag, hier spricht … then the reason in a second sentence. Brevity at the start puts both sides at ease.
What do I say when I do not understand?
Ich habe Sie nicht verstanden. then Bitte sprechen Sie langsamer. Never end a call in silence.
Should I write down what I want to say beforehand?
Yes — it is the single most useful habit. Three written sentences in front of you are enough, and you will find you needed no more.
What is the difference between Rezept and Überweisung?
das Rezept is a prescription dispensed at the pharmacy; die Überweisung is a referral to a specialist.
Watch the video
The video is on the OK+ channel on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qx_agFxYqE
Also on OK+
- Fifty sentences for building your German vocabulary – part seven
- A hundred verbs and their opposites for building your German vocabulary – part nine
- Learn German A1 – lesson 1
A tool that shortens the road
The OK Plus DE app gathers German administrative calculators and form templates in one place, free, ad-free, in seven languages. Android and iPhone, from the same page:
Get the OK Plus DE app
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