German · A1 · Milestone
A1 graduation chest in German
Celebrate finishing A1 together! Review eight useful German phrases for everyday family life. These phrases use informal language suitable for speaking with your child.
What you'll learn
- Review greetings, questions, instructions and loving expressions.
- Use informal du forms when speaking to one child.
- Recognize basic word order and describe where something is.
German phrases for a1 graduation chest
Guten Morgen!
Good morning!
A friendly morning greeting.
Wo tut es weh?
Where does it hurt?
Use this to ask your child where they feel pain.
Zieh deine Schuhe an.
Put your shoes on.
An instruction to one child. Add bitte to make it gentler: Zieh bitte deine Schuhe an.
Es ist unter dem Tisch.
It is under the table.
Use es for a previously mentioned neuter noun, such as das Buch (the book).
Kannst du mir helfen?
Can you help me?
An informal request to one person. Mir means “me” here.
Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!
Happy birthday!
A standard German birthday wish.
Wie war dein Tag?
How was your day?
A simple question for talking together at the end of the day.
Ich habe dich sehr lieb.
I love you very much.
A warm, natural way to express love to your child.
Hear these phrases and practise them
Tildi plays every phrase out loud, tests you in five-minute lessons and builds them into bedtime stories from your own picture books.
Try it free for 7 daysKey words
der Morgen; plural: die Morgen
morning
In the greeting Guten Morgen!, the ending is fixed.
wehtun
to hurt
A separable verb: Es tut weh means “It hurts.”
anziehen
to put on
For clothing and shoes. The prefix an moves to the end in Zieh deine Schuhe an.
der Schuh; plural: die Schuhe
shoe
Deine Schuhe means “your shoes” when speaking informally to one person.
der Tisch; plural: die Tische
table
Unter dem Tisch means “under the table.”
helfen
to help
Use mir for “me” with helfen: Hilf mir, bitte! means “Help me, please!”
der Geburtstag; plural: die Geburtstage
birthday
Zum Geburtstag is part of the standard birthday wish.
der Tag; plural: die Tage
day
Dein Tag means “your day.”
liebhaben
to love; to be very fond of
Common in affectionate family language: Ich habe dich lieb.
Questions and word order
In a question with a question word, put the conjugated verb next. In a yes/no question, start with the conjugated verb.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Question with wo | Wo + verb + subject + rest? | Wo tut es weh? |
| Question with wie | Wie + verb + subject? | Wie war dein Tag? |
| Yes/no question with können | Kannst + du + rest + infinitive? | Kannst du mir helfen? |
Instructions and separable verbs
For an instruction to one child, use the informal singular imperative, usually without du. With a separable verb, put the prefix at the end.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Put on | anziehen → Zieh … an. | Zieh deine Schuhe an. |
| Gentler instruction | Zieh bitte … an. | Zieh bitte deine Schuhe an. |
Describing a location
When unter tells you where something is, it takes the dative case. The masculine article der becomes dem.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Under the table | unter + dem Tisch | Es ist unter dem Tisch. |
Useful forms to remember
Learn these short patterns as building blocks. War is a past form of sein (to be). Mir and dich both mean “me” or “you” in specific grammatical roles: helfen takes mir, while liebhaben takes dich.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Talking about the past | ist → war | Wie war dein Tag? |
| Help me | mir helfen | Kannst du mir helfen? |
| Expressing love | Ich habe dich sehr lieb. | Ich habe dich sehr lieb. |
| Birthday expression | zum = zu dem | Alles Gute zum Geburtstag! |
More examples
Guten Morgen! Wie geht es dir?
Good morning! How are you?
A friendly way to start the day with your child.
Wo tut es weh? Hier?
Where does it hurt? Here?
A short follow-up while your child points to the sore spot.
Wo ist das Buch? Es ist unter dem Tisch.
Where is the book? It is under the table.
Es refers to the neuter noun das Buch.
Wie war dein Tag? Mein Tag war gut.
How was your day? My day was good.
A simple question-and-answer pattern using war.