Basic greetings and introductions | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Guten Morgen zusammen.

   Good morning, everyone.

   Guten Morgen

   Good morning

   zusammen

   together; everyone as a group

   More detail

   Guten Morgen is the standard German greeting meaning “Good morning.” Morgen is the masculine noun “morning.” In this greeting, Guten is the masculine accusative singular form of gut, as in an abbreviated greeting formula. Related greetings include Guten Abend (“Good evening”) and Gute Nacht (“Good night”); the ending changes because Nacht is feminine. zusammen means “together.” In this greeting, it addresses the people present collectively, so it contributes the sense “everyone” or “all together.” In another sentence, Wir arbeiten zusammen. means “We work together.” Together, Guten Morgen followed by zusammen addresses the group as a whole and means “Good morning, everyone.” It is a natural, friendly greeting to several people. The following question, Wie geht es dir?, uses singular informal dir and asks one person how they are.

2. Wie geht es dir?

   How are you?

   Wie

   how

   geht

   is going

   es

   it

   dir

   you

   More detail

   Wie asks about manner or condition: “how.” It is the question word used here to ask about someone’s state. For example, Wie geht es dir? means “How are you?”, while Wie heißt du? means “What is your name?” geht is the third-person singular present form of gehen, whose basic meaning is “to go.” In the fixed expression es geht jemandem, it describes how things are going for that person rather than physical movement. The useful present-tense forms include ich gehe (“I go”) and er/sie/es geht (“he/she/it goes”); geht is the form used with es here. es is the neuter third-person singular pronoun, but in es geht dir it functions as the formal subject of the expression. It does not identify a particular person or object in this question. The following context uses the same construction in Mir geht es gut. (“I am fine.”). dir is the dative form of du (“you,” singular, informal). The construction es geht dir uses the dative to mark the person whose condition is being asked about. Compare Mir geht es gut. (“I am fine.”), where mir is the dative form of ich (“I”). Together, Wie geht es dir? literally follows the German pattern “How is it going for you?” and conventionally means “How are you?” It is an informal singular question addressed to one person.

3. Mir geht es gut.

   I am fine.

   Mir

   to me

   geht

   goes; is going

   es

   it

   gut

   well; fine

   More detail

   Mir means “to me” here. It is the dative form of the first-person singular pronoun; the basic form is ich (“I”), while mir marks the person experiencing the condition. In this expression, it refers to the speaker. geht is the present-tense third-person singular form of gehen (“to go”). Its meaning is part of the fixed expression es geht jemandem gut—literally, “it goes well for someone”—rather than a statement about physical movement. Compare the reusable question pattern Wie geht es dir? (“How are you?”), where dir means “to you.” es is the pronoun “it” and functions as the grammatical subject in this expression. Its specific role is tied to the idiom; it does not identify a separate participant in the conversation. gut means “well” or “fine” here. It is the positive form of the adjective gut; the comparative is besser (“better”), as in Es geht besser (“It is going better”). In es geht ... gut, it describes the speaker’s condition. Together, Mir geht es gut follows the reusable pattern jemandem geht es gut: jemandem is the person whose condition is being described, es geht is the fixed verbal frame, and gut says that the condition is good. Thus the whole utterance means “I am fine.”

4. Schön, dich kennenzulernen.

   Nice to meet you.

   Schön

   nice; pleasant

   dich

   you

   kennenzulernen

   to meet; to get to know

   More detail

   Schön is the adjective meaning “nice” or “pleasant” here. It is used predicatively in an abbreviated courteous expression; a fuller version could be Es ist schön, dich kennenzulernen (“It is nice to meet you”). The adjective itself does not show the person being addressed. dich is the accusative singular informal form of du (“you”). The accusative is used because kennenlernen takes the person one gets to know as its object. In formal address, German uses Sie rather than du; the object form is also Sie. kennenzulernen is the infinitive of the separable verb kennenlernen, meaning “to get to know.” In this greeting, it naturally means “to meet.” With zu, a separable verb places zu between its two parts: kennenlernen becomes kennenzulernen. The form is an infinitive, not a finite verb. Together, Schön and dich kennenzulernen mean “Nice to meet you.” This is a common courteous greeting when meeting someone.

5. Einen schönen Tag noch.

   Have a nice day.

   schönen

   nice, pleasant

   Tag

   day

   noch

   still, yet

   More detail

   schönen is the adjective schön (“nice, beautiful”) in an inflected form. Here it describes Tag (“day”). Because Tag is masculine singular and the phrase uses the accusative form after einen, the adjective takes the ending -en: ein schöner Tag (a nice day, as a subject) but einen schönen Tag (a nice day, as the object of an implied wish). The article einen marks masculine singular accusative; it does not by itself assert a numerical count. Tag is the masculine noun meaning “day.” Its plural is Tage. In this expression it refers to the day being wished for, without adding any further specific information about which day. noch commonly means “still” or “yet,” but in this parting expression it contributes the idea “for the rest of the day” or “as you continue your day.” Its meaning is therefore not best translated as a separate literal “still” in the English sentence. Together, einen schönen Tag is the reusable German wish “a nice day,” with the accusative marking required by the implied wish or greeting formula. The final noch gives the formula its natural parting sense: “Have a nice day” or “Have a nice rest of the day.”

6. Gern geschehen.

   You are welcome.

   Gern geschehen.

   You are welcome.

   More detail

   Gern means “gladly” or “with pleasure.” It is an adverb and can be reused to express willingness, as in Ich helfe gern. — “I’m happy to help.” geschehen is the form of geschehen, “to happen” or “to take place.” In this fixed expression, it is part of a conventional polite reply rather than a literal statement about an event. The phrase is commonly used after someone thanks you; Gern geschehen. means “You are welcome” or “Gladly.” Together, Gern geschehen. is a concise, polite response to thanks. It is a standard neutral expression in German.