I'm leaving for Germany and Austria in two weeks and I know NO German. I bought the Living Language online study course a few months ago but haven't been too diligent about using it. So... perhaps Fodorites can help me in giving me some simple phrases?

When I went to France last year, I had all of the usuals down, bonjour, sil vous plait, merci, bonsoir... but I don't really know any of that stuff in German.

Help!

Please: Bitte
Thank you: Danke

(you can make these a bit more ingratiating by adding schon - sorry, can't do umlauts on this keyboard)

Excuse me: Entschuldigung (or Entschuldigen Sie, bitte).

Be aware that "Hallo" is used in German, but as more of an alerting/warning expression, somewhere between "Oi" and "Well excuse ME": if someone uses it to you, look around you, you may have made some mistake, or you might be about to fall over a cliff. Don't use it as a friendly greeting.

Good morning: Guten Morgen
"" afternoon: "" Tag
"" evening: "" Abend
"" night: Gute Nacht
Austrians often say "Gruss Gott" as a greeting.

Goodbye: Auf wiedersehen (often shortened to "wierdersehen&quot. North Germans will often say informally "Tschuss".

>bonjour, sil vous plait, merci, bonsoir..

Grüß Gott (prussian: Guten Tag), Bitte (Bitteschön), Danke (Dankeschön), Guten Abend.

Or Morgen, Tag, "N'Abend"
(Morning, Day, Evening)
if you want is short but beautiful.

Thanks so far... I know Gruss Gott means "for God" or "with God" or something like that.. how do you pronounce it? I'd hate to screw up something so important.

>Don't use it as a friendly greeting.
Things have changed "Hallo" is accepted. Use it just like at home to say "Hi".

Hi Jen,

For pronunciation, go to http://www.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php and choose German.

Hello is Guten Tag--(pronounced "Gooten Tak.&quot It literally means "Good Day," of course. Guten Abend means good evening.

Bitte or Bitte Schön is kind of an all-purpose word. ("Bit tuh Schern&quot It means please and thank you. When you are served with a meal, your server usually says "Bitte" as he/she places the food in front of you.

Auf Wiedersehen means goodbye. Literally something like "until seeing you again." ("Auf vee duh sehn&quot The w is pronounced as v.

Danke or Danke Schön ("Dan kuh schern&quot means thank you.

Bitte and danke are less formal than bitteschön and dankeschön.

In parts of Germany friendly goodbye greetings include either ciao and tschüss (said like choos, as in moose).

Gruss Gott can be said "groose got" (again as in moose has).

Upon entering a shop you'll often hear just the shortened versions Morgen (for Guten Morgen) or Tag, (for Guten Tag). A reply of Morgen (morning) or Tag (day) is fine. Use your ears as a clue and you'll pick it up fast.

I heard Gruss Gott often in Austria when leaving shops. I responded with danke schon, assumed that was okay?

Yes, that's o.k.

schon = already
schön = nice or beautiful

The one i like and a common one is

have a Gute Fahrt

meaning good journey i think - it's often emblazoned on train posters, etc.

Efficient travelers can use "Servus" for anything: Hello & Good-bye. Works in Bavaria, Austria, and Hungary -- but it's a bit more on the colloquial side.

The "ü" in Tschüss or Grüss Gott is not the same sound as in moose, actually you don't have anything similar in English. Since you know some French: It's the same sound as the "u" in "salut".
Easiest way to learn it is to listen to other people saying it. No big deal if you mispronounce it.

And "Grüss Gott" only works for greetings, not for good-byes. Even for Austria it is weird to hear it when leaving a store. And saying "danke schön" does not match either way. Would be as if someone bid you a "Good afternoon" in English and you said "Thanks a lot" in reply.

Saying "Grüss Gott" in any place in Central or Northern Germany would get you the same reaction as a hearty "Howdy" in Manhattan, though.

So, if someone in Austria says Gruss Gott when you are entering a shop, what is a proper response?

bookmarking - thanks!

"... if someone in Austria says Gruss Gott when you are entering a shop, what is a proper response?"

It would be Grüss Gott not Gruss Gott, a Gruss (oo sound) is a greeting, grüssen (ü sound halfway between oo and ee) is the verb to greet.

Proper response: Guten Tag, or, late in the day, Guten Abend.

But if you will be switching to English for any more conversation, then using the (no doubt heavily accented) German on your part comes across as a bit cute, a bit like trying to be funny, not necessarily endearing.

>what is a proper response?
Grüß Gott
Hallo
Grüß Sie
....

Grüß Sie is not a German greeting in Austria - did you mean Grüezi which they don't use in Austria? In Switzerland in the local dialect of many cantons Grüezi (strong z as in ts) is a proper greeting, while in the canton of Bern for example it is Grüessech.

A hearty "Hey, how ya doin'" always works for me.

>Grüß Sie
That's what we say over here. (rather common)
Comes from "Ich grüße Sie" or "Grüß Sie Gott" or "Grüß eana Gott" (Bavarian) and is the same as "Grüezi".

This is accurate German with pronunciation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyU-sOx-_hM