Start politely, ask for one destination and listen for a short sequence of directions. Confirm a landmark rather than pretending to understand everything.
The idea
Entschuldigung, wo ist der Bahnhof? is a useful opening. Gehen Sie geradeaus and Biegen Sie links ab are formal instructions. Links means left and rechts means right. Über die Brücke names a route across the bridge. If you miss a step, ask Können Sie das bitte wiederholen? A map and a repeated landmark can help you check understanding.
Give a route in short steps, name useful landmarks and help a visitor notice when they have gone too far. Gehen Sie von der Bibliothek geradeaus. — Go straight ahead from the library. Giving directions in German
Examples
- Entschuldigung, wo ist der Bahnhof?
- Gehen Sie geradeaus.
- Biegen Sie links ab.
- Die Apotheke ist rechts.
- Gehen Sie über die Brücke.
- Ist es weit von hier?
Read-aloud uses a synthetic German voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.
No German device voice is available. You can still read the text and use the linked listening resources.
Watch out
Links and rechts are easy to confuse under pressure. Point to the direction and repeat the key word when checking.
Try it yourself
Gehen Sie ___! (nicht links oder rechts)
Show answer or example answer
geradeaus
Geradeaus means straight ahead, without turning left or right.
Biegen Sie links ___.
Show answer or example answer
ab
Abbiegen is separable; in this imperative, ab comes at the end.
Wo ___ der Bahnhof?
Show answer or example answer
ist
Der Bahnhof is singular, so the form of sein is ist.
Practice round
Answer three questions, then rebuild three German sentences. We keep your score.
Gehen Sie ___! (nicht links oder rechts)
Biegen Sie links ___.
Wo ___ der Bahnhof?
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
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Choose a familiar place. Give three short directions to it, then reverse roles and ask for one instruction to be repeated.