Introducing Yourself

German Basic Conversation 1

Chapter 2 · Introducing Yourself

🙋 Introducing Yourself — Sich vorstellen

Last chapter you learned to greet people. Now you'll say who you are, ask who someone else is, say "nice to meet you", introduce a third person, and — very useful with German names — spell a name out loud.

💬 Six Short Conversations — Gespräche

Read each one aloud, using the pronunciation line. CAPITALS show the stressed part of a word.

① A Formal Introduction — Guten Tag, ich heiße …

A: Guten Tag. Ich heiße Anna Weber. Und Sie? GOO-ten TAHK. ikh HY-suh AH-nah VAY-ber. oont ZEE Good day. My name is Anna Weber. And you?

B: Guten Tag, Frau Weber. Mein Name ist Peter Braun. GOO-ten TAHK, frow VAY-ber. mine NAH-muh ist PAY-ter BROWN Good day, Mrs Weber. My name is Peter Braun.

A: Freut mich. FROYT mikh Nice to meet you.

B: Freut mich auch. FROYT mikh OWKH Nice to meet you too.

② Among Friends — Wie heißt du?

A: Hallo, ich bin Tom. Wie heißt du? HAH-lo, ikh BIN TOM. vee HYST DOO Hello, I'm Tom. What's your name?

B: Ich heiße Lisa. ikh HY-suh LEE-zah My name is Lisa.

A: Freut mich, Lisa! FROYT mikh, LEE-zah Nice to meet you, Lisa!

B: Freut mich auch, Tom! FROYT mikh OWKH, TOM Nice to meet you too, Tom!

③ Asking a Stranger — Wie heißen Sie?

A: Entschuldigung, wie heißen Sie? ent-SHUL-dee-goong, vee HY-sen zee Excuse me, what is your name?

B: Ich heiße Schmidt. ikh HY-suh SHMIT My name is Schmidt.

A: Wie bitte? Noch einmal, bitte. vee BIT-tuh? nokh INE-mahl, BIT-tuh Pardon? Once more, please.

B: Schmidt. S-C-H-M-I-D-T. SHMIT. ess-tsay-hah-emm-ee-day-tay Schmidt. S-C-H-M-I-D-T.

④ Introducing a Friend — Das ist …

A: Anna, das ist Max. AH-nah, dahs ist MAKS Anna, this is Max.

B: Hallo, Max! Freut mich. HAH-lo, MAKS! FROYT mikh Hello, Max! Nice to meet you.

C: Hallo, Anna! Freut mich auch. HAH-lo, AH-nah! FROYT mikh OWKH Hello, Anna! Nice to meet you too.

⑤ First Name & Surname — Vorname und Nachname

A: Wie ist Ihr Name, bitte? vee ist EER NAH-muh, BIT-tuh What is your name, please?

B: Mein Vorname ist Julia und mein Nachname ist Keller. mine FOR-nah-muh ist YOO-lee-ah oont mine NAKH-nah-muh ist KEL-ler My first name is Julia and my surname is Keller.

A: Wie schreibt man Keller? vee SHRYBT mahn KEL-ler How do you spell Keller?

B: K-E-L-L-E-R. kah-ay-ell-ell-ay-err K-E-L-L-E-R.

⑥ Introducing a Colleague (formal) — Angenehm

A: Frau Roth, das ist Herr Klein. frow ROAT, dahs ist hair KLINE Mrs Roth, this is Mr Klein.

B: Guten Tag, Herr Klein. Angenehm. GOO-ten TAHK, hair KLINE. AHN-geh-naym Good day, Mr Klein. Pleased to meet you.

C: Sehr erfreut, Frau Roth. zair er-FROYT, frow ROAT Delighted, Mrs Roth.

🗝️ Key Phrases at a Glance — Wichtige Sätze

Two ways to say your name, two ways to ask for someone else's, and a set of ways to say "nice to meet you".

You want to…	Formal (Sie)	Informal (du)
Ask a name	Wie heißen Sie?	Wie heißt du?
Say your name	Ich heiße … / Mein Name ist …	Ich heiße … / Ich bin …
Nice to meet you	Angenehm. / Sehr erfreut. / Freut mich.	Freut mich.
Introduce someone	Das ist Herr / Frau …	Das ist …
Ask for a name in an official setting	Wie ist Ihr Name?	—

Two verbs you just used — zwei Verben

You don't need grammar to speak yet — just learn these forms as they are.

Who	heißen (to be called)	Say it	sein (to be)	Say it
ich (I)	ich heiße	ikh HY-suh	ich bin	ikh BIN
du (you, informal)	du heißt	doo HYST	du bist	doo BIST
Sie (you, formal)	Sie heißen	zee HY-sen	Sie sind	zee ZINT

"Ich heiße" vs. "Ich bin" vs. "Mein Name ist" All three tell someone your name. Ich heiße Anna literally means "I am called Anna" and is the standard choice everywhere. Ich bin Anna ("I am Anna") is a little more casual. Mein Name ist Anna ("My name is Anna") is slightly more formal. Any of them will be understood — pick one and use it confidently. Also notice that a German name answer is often just the surname when formal: Ich heiße Schmidt, or Herr Schmidt.

🔤 Spelling a Name — Buchstabieren

German names can be tricky to catch, so Germans spell them out often — on the phone, at a hotel, at the doctor. Learn the letter names below and you can spell your own name. Say the letter, not the sound: "S-C-H" is ess-tsay-hah.

A ah B bay C tsay D day E ay F eff G gay H hah I ee J yot K kah L ell M emm N enn O oh P pay Q koo R err S ess T tay U oo V fow W vay X iks Y ÜP-si-lon Z tset ä A-Umlaut ö O-Umlaut ü U-Umlaut ß ess-tset

Useful questions and replies for spelling:

German	Say it	English
Wie schreibt man das?	vee SHRYBT mahn DAHS	How do you write / spell that?
Können Sie das buchstabieren?	KUR-nen zee dahs bookh-shtah-BEE-ren	Can you spell that?
Wie bitte?	vee BIT-tuh	Pardon? / Sorry, what?

📖 Vocabulary — Wortschatz

20 key words and phrases from this chapter. Nouns have a capital letter and an article: der (masculine), die (feminine), das (neuter). Learn them together.

#	German	Say it	English	Type	Note
1	heißen	HY-sen	to be called	verb	ich heiße, du heißt, Sie heißen
2	sein	zine	to be	verb	ich bin, du bist, Sie sind
3	schreiben	SHRY-ben	to write	verb	"Wie schreibt man das?"
4	buchstabieren	bookh-shtah-BEE-ren	to spell	verb	Buchstabe = letter
5	ich	ikh	I	word	not capitalised unless it starts a sentence
6	du	doo	you (informal)	word	friends, family, children
7	Sie	zee	you (formal)	word	always capital S; also means "she"/"they" (sie) in lowercase
8	wie	vee	how / what (in "what's your name")	word	Wie heißen Sie?
9	auch	owkh	also / too	word	Freut mich auch.
10	mein	mine	my	word	mein Name; before feminine words it's meine
11	der Name	NAH-muh	name	noun
12	der Vorname	FOR-nah-muh	first name	noun	vor = before
13	der Nachname	NAKH-nah-muh	surname	noun	nach = after
14	der Freund	froynt	friend (male) / boyfriend	noun	see tip below
15	die Freundin	FROYN-din	friend (female) / girlfriend	noun	-in = feminine ending
16	das ist …	dahs ist	this is …	phrase	Das ist Max.
17	Freut mich.	froyt mikh	Nice to meet you.	phrase	works both formal and informal
18	Angenehm.	AHN-geh-naym	Pleased to meet you.	phrase	formal
19	Sehr erfreut.	zair er-FROYT	Delighted.	phrase	very formal
20	Wie bitte?	vee BIT-tuh	Pardon?	phrase	politely asking someone to repeat

Real German Tip — "Mein Freund" Can Mean Boyfriend Freund and Freundin are the words for "friend", but mein Freund / meine Freundin ("my friend") is very often understood as "my boyfriend / my girlfriend". To be clear about a platonic friend you can say ein Freund von mir ("a friend of mine") — we'll use it in Chapter 5. For now, introduce people simply with their name: Das ist Max.

Real German Tip — Titles & Surnames In formal situations Germans use Herr or Frau plus the surname, and they rarely use first names with people they've just met. Watch for the moment someone says Sagen wir du? ("shall we say du?") — that's the offer to switch to first names and the informal du.

✍️ Try It Yourself — Übungen

Say each answer out loud first, then click to check. Use your own name where you see [Name].

1. Introduce yourself to a new colleague, formally, and say it's nice to meet them.

Show answer

Guten Tag. Ich heiße [Name]. Freut mich. (or: Mein Name ist [Name]. Angenehm.)

2. At a party, ask a person your own age for their name.

Show answer

Hallo! Wie heißt du? (You can add: Ich bin [Name].)

3. You ask an older stranger for their name and don't catch it. What do you say next?

Show answer

Wie bitte? Noch einmal, bitte. (Then: Können Sie das buchstabieren?)

4. Spell your first name aloud in German. For example, "Tom".

Show answer

T-O-M = tay-oh-emm. Try it with your own name — and your surname too.

5. Introduce your friend Anna to your colleague Herr Klein, formally.

Show answer

Herr Klein, das ist Anna. (Herr Klein might reply: Angenehm. — and Anna: Freut mich.)

Coming Up in Chapter 3 You can now introduce yourself and spell your name. Next: numbers, your age and contact details — counting, and giving a phone number or email address.