Lesson 35: Prices and Money
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about prices and money in German. This is useful when you go shopping, order food, or ask how much something costs.
What you’ll learn
- common money words in German
- how to ask how much something costs
- how to say a price
- how to use kosten
- how to say something is cheap or expensive
Money words
Here are a few useful words for this lesson:
| German | English |
|---|---|
| der Euro | the euro |
| der Cent | the cent |
| das Geld | the money |
| der Preis | the price |
| die Rechnung | the bill / check |
| die Karte | the card |
| das Bargeld | the cash |
These words help you understand basic shopping and payment situations.
Asking how much something costs
A very useful question is:
Wie viel kostet das? = How much does that cost?
You can use this question in many situations.
Examples:
Wie viel kostet das Brot? = How much does the bread cost?
Wie viel kostet der Kaffee? = How much does the coffee cost?
Wie viel kostet die Milch? = How much does the milk cost?
If you are not sure what something is called yet, you can simply ask:
Wie viel kostet das? = How much does that cost?
The verb kosten
kosten = to cost
For now, the most useful form is:
das kostet = that costs / it costs
Examples:
Das kostet zwei Euro. = That costs two euros.
Das kostet fünf Euro. = That costs five euros.
Das kostet zehn Euro. = That costs ten euros.
Saying prices
Here are simple price examples:
ein Euro = one euro
zwei Euro = two euros
drei Euro = three euros
fünf Euro = five euros
zehn Euro = ten euros
Examples:
Das kostet ein Euro.
Das kostet zwei Euro.
Der Kaffee kostet drei Euro.
Das Brot kostet fünf Euro.
Cheap and expensive
Two useful words are:
billig = cheap
teuer = expensive
Examples:
Das ist billig. = That is cheap.
Das ist teuer. = That is expensive.
Der Kaffee ist teuer. = The coffee is expensive.
Das Brot ist billig. = The bread is cheap.
Asking about payment
Here are a few useful payment phrases:
Kann ich mit Karte zahlen? = Can I pay by card?
Kann ich bar zahlen? = Can I pay in cash?
Die Rechnung, bitte. = The bill, please.
Use these in shops, cafés, and restaurants.
Mini dialogue
Kunde: Entschuldigung, wie viel kostet das Brot?
Mitarbeiter: Das kostet drei Euro.
Kunde: Kann ich mit Karte zahlen?
Mitarbeiter: Ja, natürlich.
Practice: Match the Words
