German · A1 · Family moment
At the playground in German
Simple German phrases for slides, swings and sharing at the playground. Use these with one child. Practise können (can) and nicht können (cannot) to talk about ability.
What you'll learn
- Invite your child to play and take turns.
- Give short, gentle safety instructions.
- Ask what your child can do using können.
- Use nicht with können to say what someone cannot do.
German phrases for at the playground
Möchtest du schaukeln?
Do you want to swing?
A gentle invitation. Schaukeln means to play on a swing.
Halt dich gut fest!
Hold on tight!
Use this when your child needs to hold on securely.
Sei vorsichtig.
Be careful.
A short safety reminder for one child.
Jetzt bist du dran.
Your turn now.
Du bist dran is a common way to say it is someone's turn.
Lass uns den Ball teilen.
Let's share the ball.
Invites your child to share the use of the ball.
Kannst du hochklettern?
Can you climb up?
Kannst du asks about your child's ability.
Mach bitte langsamer.
Slow down, please.
A natural request to move or play more slowly.
Noch fünf Minuten.
Five more minutes.
Useful for giving a gentle warning before leaving.
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
schaukeln
to swing
The swing itself is die Schaukel.
sich festhalten
to hold on
In a command to one child: Halt dich fest!
vorsichtig
careful
Use with sein (to be): Sei vorsichtig.
dran sein
to have one's turn
Du bist dran means it is your turn.
der Ball
the ball
Use den Ball when it is the object, as in den Ball teilen.
teilen
to share
Useful when encouraging children to share toys.
hochklettern
to climb up
Hoch adds the meaning up.
langsam
slow
Langsamer means slower or more slowly.
Saying can and cannot
Können means can or to be able to. Use kann with ich and kannst with du. Put the action verb in its infinitive form at the end. Add nicht before that verb to say cannot.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| I can | Ich kann + infinitive. | Ich kann klettern. — I can climb. |
| You can | Du kannst + infinitive. | Du kannst schaukeln. — You can swing. |
| I cannot | Ich kann nicht + infinitive. | Ich kann nicht hochklettern. — I cannot climb up. |
| You cannot | Du kannst nicht + infinitive. | Du kannst nicht hochklettern. — You cannot climb up. |
Asking Can you ...?
For a yes/no question, put kannst before du. Keep the action verb at the end. Short answers can leave out the action verb.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Question | Kannst du + infinitive? | Kannst du hochklettern? — Can you climb up? |
| Yes | Ja, ich kann … | Ja, ich kann schaukeln. — Yes, I can swing. |
| Short negative answer | Nein, das kann ich nicht. | Nein, das kann ich nicht. — No, I can't do that. |
More examples
Kannst du rutschen?
Can you go down the slide?
At a playground, rutschen commonly means to use the slide.
Ich kann den Ball fangen.
I can catch the ball.
The action verb fangen comes at the end.
Ich kann noch nicht hochklettern.
I cannot climb up yet.
Noch nicht means not yet.
Jetzt bin ich dran.
It's my turn now.
Change du bist to ich bin to talk about your own turn.