Sometimes the usual route of communicating your emotions isn’t succinct enough. German interjections are words that help you express your joy, surprise, pain, and more with a single word or even a single syllable like mist (darn).
Far from being filler words, interjections are one of the quickest ways to make your German phrases sound more spontaneous and emotive without bogging down your message with overly descriptive language. By understanding what German interjections are and how to use them, you’ll be able to move beyond textbook phrases and into real, living language as you read below.
Table of Contents
Understanding what an interjection does in German
Interjections in German sentences are used to communicate how you’re feeling in just one or two funny German words. You likely use interjections in English all the time, such as “yuck” or “wow.” While they don’t have much of an impact on the structure or meaning of the sentence following the interjection, interjections let your audience know how you’re reacting or your sentiment about the situation or conversation. Even simple words like “yes” in German can be an interjection, since it communicates your agreement.
Here are a handful of common German interjections and how they’re used to show emotion or sentiment.
- Aua, das hat wehgetan! = Ouch, that hurt!
- Das ist, mist, gar nicht so einfach, wie ich dachte. = That’s, darn, not as easy as I thought.
- Dieser Fisch reicht wirklich eklig, pfui! = This fish smells really disgusting, yuck!
Notice how conversational the examples above sound. This is because you’re more likely to use German interjections while speaking than you are to use them in writing, unless you’re writing down a conversation someone had or that you imagined.
A list of 25 German interjections with English equivalents
Emotions transcend cultures—even more so among two Germanic languages, so it’s no surprise that many German interjections have direct translations in the English language. Take a look at this German interjections list to add some terms to your vocabulary.
| German Interjection | English Translation |
| Ach so… | I see… |
| Achtung! | Attention!/Watch out! |
| Ah! | Ah! |
| Aua! | Ouch! |
| Bäh! | Ugh!/Yuck! |
| Bravo! | Bravo! |
| Genau! | Exactly! |
| Halt! | Stop! |
| Hoopla! | Whoops! |
| Huch! | Whoa! |
| Hurra! | Hooray! |
| Igitt! | Ew! |
| Juhu! | Woohoo! |
| Klasse! | Awesome! |
| Los! | Go!/Come on! |
| Mist! | Darn!/Crap! |
| Na ja. | well… |
| Prima! | Excellent! |
| Schade | Too bad/what a pity |
| Stimmt | True/right |
| Super! | Super! |
| Toll! | Great! |
| Uff! | Oof! |
| Hui! | Wow! |
| Ups! | Oops! |
5 German interjections you won’t find in the English language
Though you’ll find a plethora of German interjections with direct translations into English, some of them involve a little more nuance to understand.
By incorporating uniquely German interjections into your conversations, you’ll sound natural and fluent with minimal effort on your part. Check out the five German interjections that lack direct English translations and learn how to use them correctly.
1. Doch
As a German interjection, doch can be difficult to define in English since it can have multiple meanings based on the context in which it’s used. Doch can be used to counter a negative statement.
For example, if someone claims that you can’t speak German, you could respond with a simple doch to let them know that you do, in fact, speak German.
You can also use doch to emphasize a statement, like saying “indeed” or “really” in English.
- Sie hat das doch wirklich getragen! = She really did wear that!
When you’re worried that an order you need to give will come across too harshly, you can soften it with doch as well.
- Essen Sie doch Ihr Gemüse. = Go ahead and eat your vegetables.
2. Pfui!
Typically used to scold children or pets, pfui is a German interjection similar to the English “yuck,” but with more of a “shame on you” feeling to it. If you have a pet dog who’s eating out of the trash, for example, you can yell Pfui! at them to show your disgust and to get them to stop.
In general, Germans don’t find correcting the behavior of an adult as being too terribly taboo. That means you can use this German interjection on adults around your same age or younger as long as you’re not worried about offending them with your scolding.
3. Tja…
Tja is a German interjection that shows a begrudging acceptance of something unfortunate. It’s similar to saying “welp” in English, but with a more forward-looking connotation of what’s to be done about the bad news.
- Tja… es sieht so aus, als würde er nicht kommen. = Welp… it looks like he’s not coming.
4. Na!
As another example of a highly contextual German interjection, na is primarily heard at the start of a conversation. Depending on your tone when you say na, it can mean:
- Hello! → Na, wie geht’s? = Hey, how’s it going?
- Well? → Na, komm schon! = Well, come on!
- So? → Na, und? = So, and what then?
Keep in mind that na is rather casual, so you wouldn’t break this interjection out during a board meeting or when meeting someone new, for example. With friends, family, or people younger than yourself, however, it can be a great way to showcase your understanding of the finer points of German interjections.
5. Scheibenkleister!
Have you ever started saying a bad word in front of someone you shouldn’t, like a child or grandmother, and needed to quickly shift gears? Like when you drop something heavy on your foot and you say “fffffffudge.” Germans experience this exact same situation as well!
When a German starts off with schei… (the first few letters of the German curse word for “crap”) and realizes they’re in a situation where they shouldn’t curse, they can finish it off by saying Scheibenkleister. This literally translates to “window putty.” It’s a humorous way to avoid cursing when your emotions get the best of you and you start saying something you shouldn’t.
How to include German interjections in a sentence
German interjections might be the easy part of speech to incorporate into a German sentence. This is because you don’t need to worry about restructuring your sentence, nor do you have to conjugate or decline anything around interjections. You simply need your old trusty friend: the comma.
German interjections at the start of a sentence
If your German interjection is at the start of your sentence, just plop your chosen interjection at the start of your sentence and follow it up with a comma. That’s it for including your German interjection into your sentence!
- Hui, das war wirklich einfach! = Wow, that was easy!
- Stimmt, deutsche Interjektionen sind einfach zu verwenden. = True, German interjections are easy to use.
Ending a sentence with a German interjection
The story is similar when your German interjection of choice is at the end of a sentence. All you need to do is put a comma after the word that comes before it and a space, then simply set your interjection at the very end.
- Ich habe meine Hausaufgaben verloren, ups. = I lost my homework, oops.
- Endlich habe ich Urlaub, juhu! = I’m finally on vacation, woohoo!
Using a German interjection in the middle of a sentence
You could, of course, have an emotional reaction or realization in the middle of your sentence and reach for a handy German interjection. In this case, your friendly neighborhood comma will come before and after the interjection.
- Ich habe mich, aua, in den Finger geschnitten. = I have, ouch, cut my own finger.
- Das ist, ach so, jetzt verstehe ich dien Problem. = That is, I see, now I get your problem.
Tips for getting the tone right while using German interjections
Americans are famous for being overly zealous or giving too much praise to something that doesn’t quite make the cut for “incredible” in other cultures. While using German interjections, an easy way to sound more German is to avoid using interjections like toll (great) or klasse (awesome) unless you’re talking about something that really knocks it out of the park.
Germans are more reserved, so perhaps you could use a German interjection like ach so (I see) when you’re enjoying a particularly tasty plate of food. If you want some concrete examples of the typical levels of excitement in the German tone, you might check out some German movies on Netflix when you have the time. While some interactions are more theatrical, quality German movies often captivate the more reserved manner in which a typical German conducts themselves.
Interject language into your life with Rosetta Stone
German interjections are powerful ways to input emotion into your German conversations without much need to restructure your sentence or adjust your grammar. Learning what common interjections you use in English translates directly into German and picking up some new, uniquely German, interjections is an easy way to sound more expressive and natural while speaking German.
If the emotional approach works best for you as a language learner, consider taking a live lesson with Rosetta Stone. You’ll get time with a native German speaker who will cover a relevant cultural topic and give you the emotional context language needs to feel authentic.
0 Commentaires