Learn Common German Words for Train Station Announcements! Perfect for A2-B1 Level Language Tests too!

Hello, everyone!　It’s Mimiko living in Germany!

Ninja

I want to be able to understand announcement in German at the train stations!

German station announcements are fast and hard to understand 😅They appear frequently in German language tests.

But don’t worry! If you know the words and pronunciations, it will be much easier to understand!

Today, let’s learn the words that are frequently used in station announcements, one by one.

Frequent words in station announcements

German station announcements are almost limited in the expressions used. So, once you learn the words and pronunciation, you will be surprised how much you can understand!

Let’s take a look at the vocabulary!

Vocabulary related to stations and trains

• der Bahnhof:  the station
• der Hauptbahnhof: central station（haupt + Bahhof）
• der Zug: train
• der Regionalzug: local train
• der Bahn: train
• der Regionalbahn: local train
• das Gleis: platform
• der Bahnsteig: platform

Vocabulary for departure

• abfahren：to depart
• der Zug fährt ab：the train departs
• der Abfahrt：departure

Words related to departure are often attached with the prefix “ab”. This “ab” has the meaning of “away“.

Vocabulary for arrival

• ankommen：to arrive
• der Zug kommt an ：the train arrives
• der Ankunft：arrival

• einfahren: to arrive
• der Zug fährt ein: the train arrives
• der Einfahrt: arrival (Vorsicht bei der Einfahrt!)

• eintreffen: to arrive
• der Zug trifft ein: the train arrives
• der Eintreffen: arrival

Words related to arrival are often used with the prefix “an” or “ein”. The prefix “an” means “to be attached to, to approach” (on), and “ein” means “into” (in, into).

  Vocabulary related getting on and off

Frequently, verbs related to getting on and off are Separable verbs, which consisting of “steigen” and the prefix (ein, aus, um)! They are very similar, so remember not to mistake the meaning.

• einsteigen (er steigt ein): to get in
• aussteigen (er steigt aus): to get off
• umsteigen (er steigt um): to transfer

Vocabulary about train delays

• verspäten: to delay
• der Zug verspätet: the train is delayed
• die Verspätung: delay
• verspätet: delayed
• später: later

Vocabulary about train cancellations

• ausfallen: to cancel
• der Zug fällt aus: the train is canceled
• keine Prognose：no forecast

Words that describe the reason

• Der Grund: the reason
• der Grund für A ist…: the reason for A is…
• der Grund dafür ist…: the reason is…

• wegen: due to/ because of
• wegen Störung: due to disruption
• wegen Streik: because of strike

Words that express purpose

• zu: to, for
• zum Abfahrt: for departure

Prepositions related to location

• von A : from A
• nach B : to B
• über C : via C
• auf Gleis 7: on Platform 7
• von Gleis 7：from Platform 7
• durch：through

Prepositions related to time

• um 7 Uhr : at 7 o’clock
• in wenigen Minuten：in a few minutes
• in Kürze : shortly

Announcement Terms

• Liebe Fahrgäste, : Dear passengers,
• Vorsicht, : attention,
• Wir bitten Sie um Entschuldigung : We apologize for any inconvenience.
• die Durchsage : announcement
• die Ansage : announcement
• die Bahnhofsansagen : station announcements

Adverbs used together, etc.

• ausnahmsweise : exceptionally
• ursprünglich : originary
• bereit: ready

Summary

How was it? Please study all these words and try listening again! You may find that you understand more and more words. ☺︎

In fact, there are not many difficult words, but what you need to pay attention to is “verb conjugation” and “pronunciation!

Learn the words and pronunciations above, and by all means, master the on-station announcements!