About This Lesson
Use Basic thanks and farewells to practice German conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.
Dialogue
A
Bis später.
biss SHPAY-ter See you later.
B
Bis morgen.
biss MOR-gen See you tomorrow.
A
Danke schön.
DAHN-kuh shurn Thank you very much.
B
Das ist alles für heute.
dahs ist AHL-les fewr HOY-tuh That is all today.
A
Gute Nacht.
GOO-tuh nahkht Have a good night.
B
Bis zum nächsten Mal.
biss tsoom NEKH-sten mahl See you next time.Word by Word
Bis
In “Bis später.” and “Bis morgen.”, Bis introduces the time of the next meeting and helps express “see you”. A useful farewell pattern is Bis + a time expression, such as “Bis morgen.” Use it when saying goodbye and indicating when you expect to meet again.
später
In “Bis später.”, später means “later”. It specifies that the next meeting will be later, without giving an exact time. Use “Bis später.” when saying goodbye to someone you expect to see later the same day.
morgen
In “Bis morgen.”, morgen means “tomorrow”. It identifies tomorrow as the time of the next meeting. Use “Bis morgen.” when saying goodbye to someone you expect to see the following day.
Danke
In “Danke schön.”, Danke means “thank you” or “thanks”. It is the form used to thank someone directly; its citation form is danken. Use Danke with a person or for something someone has done, as in “Danke schön.”
schön
In “Danke schön.”, schön adds polite, friendly emphasis to Danke; together, the expression means “thank you very much”. The reusable expression is “Danke schön.” Use it when you want to thank someone warmly and politely.
Das
In “Das ist alles für heute.”, Das refers to the situation or amount being discussed and means “that” or “it” at the start of the statement. The pattern Das ist ... introduces what something is. Use it when pointing to or identifying a situation.
ist
In “Das ist alles für heute.”, ist means “is” and connects Das with the information that follows. It is the present form of sein used with Das. A useful pattern is Das ist + information, for example the exact dialogue phrase “Das ist alles für heute.”
alles
In “Das ist alles für heute.”, alles means “everything” or “all” and refers to the complete amount or activity. In the phrase “Das ist alles”, it indicates that nothing more is included. Use it when saying that something is complete or that there is nothing more.
für
In “Das ist alles für heute.”, für means “for” and connects alles with heute. The exact pattern “für heute” means “for today”. Use it when limiting an activity, amount, or plan to the current day.
heute
In “Das ist alles für heute.”, heute means “today”. Together with für, it marks today as the relevant time period. Use “für heute” when closing an activity or saying that something is enough for the current day.
Gute
In “Gute Nacht.”, Gute contributes “good” in the farewell “good night”. Gute is the form of gut used in this expression. Use “Gute Nacht.” when saying goodbye at night or before someone goes to sleep.
Nacht
In “Gute Nacht.”, Nacht means “night”. It names the nighttime period referred to in this farewell. Use it with Gute in “Gute Nacht.” when wishing someone a good night.
zum
In “Bis zum nächsten Mal.”, zum contributes “to the” before the phrase naming the next occasion; it is the contracted form of zu dem. The full expression “Bis zum nächsten Mal.” means “see you next time”. Use it as a farewell when you expect to meet the person again.
nächsten
In “Bis zum nächsten Mal.”, nächsten means “next” and identifies the occasion that will come again. It works together with Mal in the exact phrase “nächsten Mal”. Use this combination when referring to the next time you meet or do something.
Mal
In “Bis zum nächsten Mal.”, Mal means “time” in the sense of an occasion or meeting. It names the occasion that the speakers expect to happen again. The reusable expression is “Bis zum nächsten Mal.”, used when ending a conversation until a future meeting.
Grammar Points
Bis + Zeitangabe
Bis später!
biss SHPAY-terSee you later!
“Bis” comes before a time expression to indicate when you expect to meet again.
Bis zum nächsten Mal
Bis zum nächsten Mal!
biss tsoom NEKH-sten mahlSee you next time!
This is a fixed farewell expression; “zum” combines “zu” and “dem”.
German Vocabulary
alles
pron
AHL-les
everything; all
Bis morgen
phrase
biss MOR-gen
See you tomorrow
Bis später
phrase
biss SHPAY-ter
See you later
Bis zum nächsten Mal
phrase
biss tsoom NEKH-sten mahl
See you next time
Danke schön
phrase
DAHN-kuh shurn
Thank you very much
Gute Nacht
phrase
GOO-tuh nahkht
Good night
heute
adv
HOY-tuh
today
Quiz
Word Order
Arrange the words in the correct order.
See you later.
Show Answer
Bis später.See you tomorrow.
Show Answer
Bis morgen.Thank you very much.
Show Answer
Danke schön.Spelling
Tap the letters to spell the word.
today
Show Answer
heuteeverything; all