To ask for a bottle of water in German, say: "Eine Flasche Wasser, bitte" (A bottle of water, please). To specify, use mit Kohlensäure (with gas/sparkling) or ohne Kohlensäure (without gas/still). Note that in Germany, water is typically served bottled, not from the tap.
I would like a coffee with milk, please. Note that this request ends with bitte, meaning please when ordering drinks in German. It's always best to be polite when placing your order.
Yes, Backpfeifengesicht (pronounced roughly as bahk-FY-fuhn-guh-zikh-t) is an insult, though a colloquial and humorous one, describing a face that looks like it deserves a slap or punch, used for smug, annoying, or irritating faces. It's not a vulgar swear word but rather a cheeky term highlighting someone's unpleasant expression, combining Backe (cheek) and Pfeife (whistle/slap), meaning "a face that needs a slap".
It makes sense, but it's not that it's impolite; it doesn't make sense gramatically. Puedo tener literally means I can have. So, an English equivalent would be to order something like, I can have cheezburger, which sounds like cat talk. An option for this would be: Dame, por favor, una cheezburger.
Lyn Shepherd yes, I agree. Tap water in Germany is regulated to be restaurant-grade AND they actually carry out regular inspections. It's not the US 🤣😂🤣 That's not to say it can't have an excessive amount of minerals for most people's tastes (hard water). They sell bottled water if you like but it's usually carbonated.
It's also a good opportunity to remind you that you should always pay attention to the gender of the German words you learn. This determines which article (ein/eine/einen) to use when placing your order. Since it's neuter, ein Bier (a beer) would be the most generic option.
Frühschoppen (German pronunciation: [ˈfʁyːʃɔpm̩], meaning: an alcoholic drink before midday in company) is the German and Austrian tradition of meeting up at a pub, inn, or tavern in the late morning, usually on Sundays.
There are countless times a native speaker might use bitte in German conversations! As a note, any of the sentences above are still grammatically correct when you remove the word "bitte." They just become less polite. So, when in doubt, stick to polite etiquette and use bitte in German.
The question “Wie geht es dir?” literally (and forgive me, the chopped-up English here) means: “How goes it to you?”. Now you should answer the same way the other person asked you, and therefore it needs to be “Mir geht es gut” OR in chopped-up English: “To me it goes good”.
Jawohl. This old-timey expression of “yes” is very common in history movies, which is why it is often assumed to be a common expression in Germany. This could not be more untrue! Germans will usually only say jawohl to ironically say “yes”, as in “yes Sir”.
"No digas nada" in Spanish translates directly to "Don't say anything" or "Don't say a word" in English, used as a command or request to keep something secret or silent. It's a common informal phrase used to tell someone to keep quiet about a particular matter, often to avoid trouble, drama, or to maintain confidentiality.
"Muy poquito" means "very little," "just a tiny bit," or "not very much at all" in Spanish, intensifying the word "poco" (little) with "muy" (very) and adding the diminutive "-ito" for emphasis, often conveying a sense of smallness, scarcity, or even humor depending on the context. It's used for tiny quantities of things (money, time, food) or to downplay something significantly.
The pronoun yo is not necessary because the verb ending already tells us who the subject is. However, we sometimes include yo to add emphasis or to contrast with someone else, for example: Yo tengo un coche, pero mi hermano no. (“I have a car, but my brother doesn't.”)
What is the German word for a face that needs slapping?
The word Backpfeifengesicht therefore means something along the lines of “a face that's begging to be slapped” – or punched. Or hurt. You get the picture. We're sure you know someone with a Backpfeifengesicht – someone you just can't get through to without a good punch or a slap.
