Vocabulary

German Vocabulary Lists by CEFR Level

15,003 German words graded A1 to C2, each with its article and plural or its principal parts, English glosses, 47,942 example sentences from real usage, and native audio. Each level is one list, commonest words first.

15,003 words

47,942 examples

14,787 with audio

6 CEFR levels

By level

Pick your level

Each level lists only the words that level adds.

A1 · Beginner 1,038 words Your first German: everyday words, der/die/das, and short sentences you can use on day one. The start of the frequency list Start at word 1 A2 · Elementary 558 words Everyday German: shopping, travel, family and work, plus the past tense and modal verbs. 1,596 cumulative from A1 Start at word 1 B1 · Intermediate 1,550 words The independent-user threshold: opinions, plans, experiences, and connected written German. 3,146 cumulative from A1 Start at word 1 B2 · Upper Intermediate 1,998 words Fluent, spontaneous German for study and work, including abstract and technical topics. 5,144 cumulative from A1 Start at word 1 C1 · Advanced 4,426 words Academic and professional German: implicit meaning, register, and long complex texts. 9,570 cumulative from A1 Start at word 1 C2 · Mastery 5,433 words Near-native command: nuance, idiom, and effortless reading of anything written in German. 15,003 cumulative from A1 Start at word 1

By gender

der, die or das

German nouns carry a gender you have to learn with the word.

Masculine der: 3,833 nouns Every masculine noun in the list, commonest first. Browse Feminine die: 3,609 nouns Every feminine noun in the list, commonest first. Browse Neuter das: 1,618 nouns Every neuter noun in the list, commonest first. Browse

By word class

Verbs, nouns, adjectives

Part of speech 2,742 verbs German verbs with their principal parts (present, preterite, past participle) and auxiliary. Browse Part of speech 9,109 nouns German nouns with gender, article, plural and genitive. Browse Part of speech 2,207 adjectives German adjectives with comparative and superlative forms. Browse Part of speech 518 adverbs German adverbs of time, place, manner and degree. Browse Part of speech 303 function words Prepositions, conjunctions, pronouns, articles and numerals: the connective tissue of German. Browse

By subject

Topic word lists

All 35 topics

Common questions

How many German words do I need at each CEFR level?

This list holds 15,003 words graded A1 to C2: A1 adds 1,038, A2 adds 558, B1 adds 1,550, B2 adds 1,998, C1 adds 4,426, C2 adds 5,433. Cumulatively that is about 1,596 words by A2, 3,146 by B1 and 5,144 by B2, roughly the ranges the Goethe-Institut and telc syllabuses assume.

How is the vocabulary ordered?

Within each level, commonest first. Frequency comes from a 65-million-sentence subtitle corpus, so the words at the top of a level are the ones you will actually meet first.

Does every word come with audio?

14,787 of the 15,003 words link to a native pronunciation recording on Wikimedia Commons. Press the speaker next to any headword.

Is this free?

Yes. Every word, example and translation on the site is free, with no account and no paywall. The data is published under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the attribution page for sources.

Word data from Wiktionary, Tatoeba and OpenSubtitles, used under CC BY-SA 4.0. See sources.