Lesson 17: Places
In this lesson, you’ll learn some common places in town in German. You’ll also learn how to say where something is using simple sentences.
What you’ll learn
- common place words in German
- how to ask Where is … ?
- how to say … is in town
- how to make short sentences with ist
Common places in town
Here are some useful beginner words:
der Supermarkt = the supermarket
die Schule = the school
der Park = the park
das Café = the café
das Restaurant = the restaurant
der Bahnhof = the train station
die Apotheke = the pharmacy
das Hotel = the hotel
die Bank = the bank
das Museum = the museum
These are good words to learn because you will see them often in everyday German.
Asking where something is
A very useful question is:
Wo ist … ? = Where is … ?
Examples:
Wo ist der Supermarkt? = Where is the supermarket?
Wo ist die Schule? = Where is the school?
Wo ist das Café? = Where is the café?
This is a simple pattern you can use with many place words.
Saying where something is
A useful answer pattern is:
… ist in der Stadt. = … is in town.
Examples:
Der Supermarkt ist in der Stadt. = The supermarket is in town.
Die Schule ist in der Stadt. = The school is in town.
Das Café ist in der Stadt. = The café is in town.
For now, learn in der Stadt as one useful phrase.
A simple grammar point
You already know that ist is a form of sein.
- der Supermarkt ist …
- die Schule ist …
- das Café ist …
This helps you say where a place is.
So the pattern is:
place + ist + location
Examples:
Der Park ist in der Stadt.
Das Hotel ist hier.
Die Bank ist da.
Useful location words
Here are three simple location words:
hier = here
da = there
in der Stadt = in town
Examples:
Das Museum ist hier. = The museum is here.
Der Bahnhof ist da. = The train station is there.
Die Apotheke ist in der Stadt. = The pharmacy is in town.
Simple example sentences
Wo ist der Bahnhof? = Where is the train station?
Der Bahnhof ist da. = The train station is there.
Wo ist das Hotel? = Where is the hotel?
Das Hotel ist hier. = The hotel is here.
Wo ist die Bank? = Where is the bank?
Die Bank ist in der Stadt. = The bank is in town.
Exercise: Match the place
Learn more about How to Ask for Directions in German.
