German, graded from A1 to C2.

14,997 words with their articles, plurals and principal parts. 276 reading texts chosen so you already know most of the words in them. 3,897 practice questions that explain themselves. Free, no account.

Get started Start at A1

Starting from nothing? Learn the alphabet first · Not sure which level?

14,997Words
A1–C2

47,932Example
sentences

276Graded
texts

3,897Practice
questions

The six levels

Pick where you are

A1 Beginner Your first German: everyday words, der/die/das, and short sentences you can use on day one. 606words 46texts 576questions A2 Elementary Everyday German: shopping, travel, family and work, plus the past tense and modal verbs. 786words 30texts 561questions B1 Intermediate The independent-user threshold: opinions, plans, experiences, and connected written German. 1,607words 50texts 701questions B2 Upper Intermediate Fluent, spontaneous German for study and work, including abstract and technical topics. 2,058words 50texts 689questions C1 Advanced Academic and professional German: implicit meaning, register, and long complex texts. 4,465words 50texts 675questions C2 Mastery Near-native command: nuance, idiom, and effortless reading of anything written in German. 5,475words 50texts 695questions

How it works

Three things, in this order

Learn the words

One list per level, commonest first. Nouns arrive with their article, plural and genitive; verbs with all three principal parts and their auxiliary. Every entry has real example sentences and, where a recording exists, native audio.

Vocabulary →

Read something real

Short texts in which you already know most of the words, with an English translation for every line.

Reading →

Look up the form

13,725 conjugation and declension tables: every tense of a verb, every case of a noun, all three sets of adjective endings. Plus the mistakes real learners make in exam scripts.

Grammar →

Test what stuck

Five exam formats: gap-fill, articles, grammar, comprehension, true/false. Every answer explains why it is right and why the other options are wrong.

Practice →

Shortcuts

Straight to the hard parts

Pronunciation The German alphabet All 30 characters with their names and sounds, including ä, ö, ü and ß. Learn the letters Masculine nouns "der": 3,833 nouns Every masculine noun, commonest first, with the endings that predict gender. Browse Feminine nouns "die": 3,609 nouns Every feminine noun, commonest first, with the endings that predict gender. Browse Neuter nouns "das": 1,618 nouns Every neuter noun, commonest first, with the endings that predict gender. Browse Drill der, die or das? 360 article questions, A1 to C2. Practise Word class 2,742 German verbs With present, preterite, past participle and whether it takes haben or sein. Browse By subject 35 topic word lists Business, medicine, law, sport, computing and more. Browse

Start reading

The easiest texts on the site

All reading

A1 · 65 words · 1 min Mein Tag 100% of the words are ones an A1 learner already knows. Read with translation A1 · 65 words · 1 min Ein Anruf 100% of the words are ones an A1 learner already knows. Read with translation A1 · 57 words · 1 min Im Restaurant 100% of the words are ones an A1 learner already knows. Read with translation

Questions people ask

Is German Fluent free?

Yes, entirely. Every word list, reading text and practice question is on the site with no account, no trial and no paywall. The underlying data is published under CC BY-SA 4.0.

What are the CEFR levels for German?

Six, from A1 to C2. A1 and A2 are the basic user, B1 and B2 the independent user, C1 and C2 the proficient user. German exams map onto them directly: Goethe-Zertifikat A1 through C2, telc Deutsch A1 through C1, and TestDaF around B2–C1.

Which level am I?

A quick test: open a level's word list and read down the first stretch of it. If you know almost every word, that level is behind you. If you know about two-thirds, that is where to study. Under half, drop a level. Do the same with a B1 reading text. Comfortable reading is a better signal than a self-assessment questionnaire.

How many German words do I need to be fluent?

Around 5,057 words gets you to B2, which is the level most people mean by "fluent": you can follow a normal conversation, read a newspaper and work in German. The first 1,000 do most of the work: they cover the majority of what is actually said.

Where does the material come from?

The word list and its grammar come from Wiktionary; example sentences from Tatoeba and an open subtitle corpus; the reading texts from Klexikon, a German encyclopaedia written for children, with A2 drawn from the Leichte-Sprache wikis MiniKlexikon and Hurraki. The A1 texts are written here from the A1 word list, because no wiki is simple enough for a first 600 words. Translations, glossaries and practice questions are otherwise machine-generated from those sources and machine-checked. Full details on the attribution page.