Swiss-German phrasebook

Swiss-German (Schweizerdeutsch in Standard German; some endonyms are Schwyzerdütsch, Schwiizertüütsch or Schwizertitsch) is a broad category of Germanic dialects spoken in Switzerland.

These dialects are considerably different from German, especially as it happens in regard to those very phrases which a traveler needs: niceties, greetings, asking for stuff, getting directions, etc. One of the key differences to getting by with Swiss German. For example, "Fine, thank you" is Guet, merci; with guet being the German word for good/fine, while merci is from the French "thank you". In addition, there are many pronunciation differences which separate Swiss-German from either language. For example, the diphthong in Swiss-German "guet" versus the monophthong in High-German "gut".

You are unlikely to have to learn Swiss-German, as all German-speaking Swiss educated in modern day schools are also able to speak standard German. Nevertheless, saying a few words in Swiss-German will undoubtedly impress the locals.

Swiss German is different from Swiss Standard German (Schweizer Hochdeutsch), which is a variant of standard German for formal speech and writing in Switzerland, with some vocabulary differences, such as das Tram ("streetcar", Straßenbahn or die Tram in standard German) and Billett ("ticket", Fahrkarte, Fahrschein or Ticket in standard German).

Neither Swiss German nor Swiss Standard German use the Eszett (ß).

Pronunciation guide

Note that most of the following Swiss-German phrases and words are written as they would be pronounced by people living in the area around Bern, Basel, Zürich (i.e. in the canton of Bern, etc.). Whilst bernese dialect is widely understood in the Swiss-German part of Switzerland, it's by no means "official" Swiss-German (despite of the fact that Bern is the Swiss capital). There is no standardized Swiss-German ("Schwyzerdüütsch"), and it is standard German that is an official language in Switzerland. Remarkably, the native dialects spoken in the many Swiss-German cantons are clearly distinguishable by locals (i.e. they can tell apart from the dialect in which canton somebody grew up). Speaking Swiss-German is common for all people living in the Swiss-German part of Switzerland, independent of age or education. For writing, standard German is mostly used, though Swiss-German dialect is particularly popular on informal writing (e.g. in e-mail messages, SMS messages etc.). With the ongoing globalization and immigration, mixing Swiss-German dialects with English (quite often even with pseudo English) or speaking so called "Jugo-Deutsch" (German pronounced as immigrants coming from the former Yugoslavia region tend to pronounce it) has also become trendy for youngsters.

For official documents, standard German is used.

Vowels

The vowels in swiss german are unlike the english vowels closer to the german and latin pronunciations.

Pronunciation Guide:

a - ah (as in saw) e - eh (as in end) i - e (as in eel) o -oh (as in on) u - oo (as in moose)

Consonants

Common diphthongs

Phrase list

Basics

Hello/Hi (informal) 

Hoi!

Hi, everyone! (informal) 

Hoi zäme!

Hi (very informal) 

Saluti! [salooti!] / Saletti!

Hello (formal) 

Grüezi! [Grea-atsie] / Grüessech! [Grea-sec]

Hello, Ms./Mr. ... (formal)

Grüezi/Grüessech Frau/Herr ...

Hello, everyone (formal) 

Grüezi mitenand! [Grea-tsi metta-nònd] / Grüessech mitenang!

Problems

i(ch) ha(n) mi(s) Portmonnaie verlore! 

I lost my wallet! (ch, n, s = variants, depending on the dialect)

i(ch) fühl mi(ch) schlächt 

I feel sick/not well/upset (ch = variant)

wo isch de Polizei Poschte? 

where is the police station?

i(ch) mues öppis mälde 

I have to/must report something (ch = variant)

Spital 

Hospital

Hät's da es Spital i de Nöchi? 

is there a hospital nearby?

i(ch) bi(n) velore/mer sind verlore 

I/we am/are lost!! (ch, n = variant)

bitte säged sie mir wo.....isch? 

Can you please tell me where.....is?

Bahnhof 

train station

Taxi Stand 

taxi station

Bank 

Bank

Poscht 

post office

Hotel " " 

the " " hotel

Chile 

church

i(ch) bi(n) verliebt! 

I'm in love

i(ch) liib di(ch)! 

I love you!

Numbers

1 

eis, äis, ais, eins

2 

zwei, zwöi, zwai

3 

drü, drai, drei

4 

vier

5 

foif, fföif, füüf, fünf

6 

sächs, säggs

7 

sibe, sebe, siebe

8 

acht

9 

nün

10 

zäh, zehn

11 

elf, euf

12 

zwölf, zwöuf

13 

drizäh

14 

vierzäh

15 

füfzäh

16 

sächzäh

17 

sibzäh

18 

achzäh

19 

nünzäh

20 

zwänzg, zwanzig

21 

einezwänzg, einezwanzig

22 

zweiezwänzg, zweiezwanzig, zwöiezwänzg

23 

drüezwänzg, dreiezwanzig

24 

vierezwänzg, vierezwanzig

25 

foifezwänzg, fünfezwanzig, füüfezwänzg

26 

sächsezwänzg, säggsezwanzig

27 

sibenezwänzg, siebenezwanzig

28 

achtezwänzg, achtezwanzig

29 

nünezwänzg, nünezwanzig

30 

driss(i)g

40 

vierz(i)g

50 

füfzg, fuffzig

60 

sächz(i)g

70 

sibezg, siebzig

80 

achtz(i)g

90 

nünz(i)g

100 

hundert

101 

hundertundäis, hundertundeis

102 

hundertzwöi

Clock time

time 

Zit

What time is it? 

Was isch für zit?

It is... 

Es isch ...

one o'clock 

eis

half past twelve 

halbi eis

quarter to one 

viertel vor eis

ten to one 

zäh vor eis

quarter past one 

virtel ab eis

ten past one 

zäh ab eis

half past one 

halbi zwoi

Duration

Wie lang gohts bis ... (How long does it take to...) Wie lang het me bis....?

Days

Mänti(g)
Zyschti(g)
Mittwuch
Dunnschti(g)
Fryti(g)
Samschti(g)
Sunnti(g)

Months

January 

Januar

February 

Februar

March 

März, Merz

April 

April

May 

Mai

June 

Juni

July 

Juli

August 

Auguscht

September 

Septämber

October 

Oktober

November 

Novämber

December 

Dezämber

Writing time and date

date 

Datum

tenth of January, 2009 

zähte erste zwoitusignün

Colors

Red 

rot

Blue 

blau

Black 

schwarz

Green 

grüen

White 

wiiss

Yellow 

gäl(b)

Purple 

violet

Orange 

orange (orah-nsh)

Pink 

rosa/pink

Gray 

grau

Transportation

Motorcycle - Töff, Döff

Vespa, Motorbike - Töffli, Döffli, Mofa

Bicycle - Velo

Tram (Streetcar) - Tram, Drämmli

Bus Train Plane

Bus, Car - Bus

Reisecar - travel bus

Zug - train

Flugzüg, Flüüger - airplane

Directions

graad uus - straight ahead

links - left

rächts - right

vore, vorne - in front

vüre, vürschi, vorwärts - forwards

hinde, hinge - in the back

hindere, rückwärts, zrugg - backwards, back

Taxi

Zum Hotel ...... bitte! - to the ..... hotel please!

was koschtet's öppe nach .......? - How much does it cost to ....., approximately?

Flughafe - airport

Bahnhof - train station

Hotel .... - ..... hotel

i(ch) ha(n)'s pressant! - I'm in a hurry!

mir händ's pressant! - We are in a hurry!

Bitte pressiere! - Hurry, please!

Lodging

Money

Gäld / Bargäld, Stutz (coll.), Stütz (coll.) 

cash, money.

isch Bargäld ok? mit Bargäld bezahle? 

can I pay with cash? pay with cash?

Was koschtet das? 

how much is this/that?

Z'tüür! (Zu teuer) 

Too expensive! (might be very offensive!)

Das isch mir e chli z'tüür 

That seems to be rather expensive (more polite phrasing)

Hät's no billigeres? 

Do you have something cheaper?

Chann i(ch) mit Kreditkarte zahle? 

Can I use my Credit Card?

Trinkgäld (gäh) 

Tip (Tipping)

I(ch) nimm das 

I'll take/buy it (i pronounced like "e" in english)

I(ch) möcht öppis anders 

I would like something else.

Händ si Souvenirs? 

Do you have souvenirs?

Wo chan i(ch) Gäld wächsle? 

Where can I change money?

Wo isch de nächscht Bankomat? 

Where is the closest ATM?

Eating

En guete! 

Enjoy your meal!

Schoggi 

Chocolate (gg is often pronounced as 'ck,' thus 'schocki')

Proscht, Pröschtli, Prosit! 

Cheers

Herdöpfel / Erdöpfel 

Potato(es) (pronounced hadopfel / erdoplfel)(Erdöpfel would roughly translate to "earth apple" similar to the French Pom De Terre.)

Rüebli 

Carrot(s)

Ä Stangä, es Chliises 

A small glass of beer

En Chübel, es Grosses 

A big glass of beer

Es Glas Wii 

A glass of wine

Es Glas Rote (Wii) 

A glass of red wine

Es Glas Wysse (Wii) 

A glass of white wine

Oktobertee 

wine (slang/coll.)

Chriesi 

cherry/cherries

Chueche 

pie

Gipfeli 

croissant(s)

Milchkafi, Schale 

cafe au lait

Kafi crème 

coffee

Bier 

beer

Suufe 

to drink beer/alcohol...

Schwiizer Chääs 

Swiss cheese

Röschti 

mashed, fried potatoes (a Swiss speciality)

Fondue 

Fondue (melted Swiss cheese in a bowl, a Swiss speciality, usually eaten during winter-time only)

Raclette 

melted, roasted Swiss cheese (a Swiss speciality, usually eaten during winter-time only)

Züri-Gschnätzlets 

Cut veal, often served with Röschti, speciality of Zurich

I(ch) würd(i) gern e Schwiizer Spezialität probiere 

I'd like to taste a Swiss speciality

Was chönd Sie mir empfehle? 

Can you recommend something?

Bars

e Schtange, es Chliises 

A small glass of beer

en Chübel, es Grosses 

A large glass of beer

en/es Aperitiv 

a starter

Pröschtli!, zum Wohlsii! 

Cheers!

Chueche, Cake, Flade 

Cake

Shopping

Poschtä, iichaufe 

Going shopping

Wieviel choschtet ...? 

How much does ... cost?

Gits en Rabatt? Gits en Ermässigung? 

Can you give me a discount?

Wo häts ...? 

Where can I find ...?

Driving

Auto fahre 

driving a car

Wo ane fahrt dä bus? 

Where is this bus going to?

Fahruswiis 

driving license

Verkehrsregle 

traffic rules

Unfall 

accident

Polizischt

police officer

Rechtsverkehr 

right-hand traffic/driving (that's the way to drive in Switzerland)

Other

Händ ihr de ... kaputt gmacht? 

Did you destroy the ...?

Hoi 

Hi (informal)

Grüezi/Grüessech Frau/Herr 

Hello (formal)

Guete Morge 

Good morning (informal and formal)

Guete Abig/Abe 

Good evening (informal and formal)

Schöne Hinicht 

Have a pleasant evening (informal and formal)