Genau
Topic test · A1

Greetings and goodbyes test

13questions
8minutes
60%pass mark
Start the test Read the topic first

One question at a time, the clock runs. Answers stay closed like a real exam: you see every correct answer with its explanation at the end. Score 60% to finish the topic.

Topic test

13 questions, easy to hard

Pick an option and press «Next». You can go back and change it. Anything left blank counts as wrong.

It’s 09:00 in the morning and you see your boss at work.

Guten Morgen. Morning, until about 11:00. Gute Nacht is said when going to bed.

You ask an official you don’t know for their name.

Wie heißen Sie? With the formal address the verb takes -en, and Sie is capitalised.

Which one is wrong?

du heißst. The stem ends in -ß, so only a single -t is added.

I come from Turkey.

aus der Türkei. die Türkei takes an article; aus requires the Dativ.

— Wie geht’s? — Gut, danke.

Fine, thanks. And you?

Und dir? The question was asked informally, so the reply is informal too, and it takes the Dativ. The formal version is Und Ihnen?

You are ending a phone call.

Auf Wiederhören. “Until we hear each other again” — on the phone. Wiedersehen is for face to face.

It’s 23:30 and you are leaving a friend’s place.

Gute Nacht. When leaving and when going to bed. Guten Abend is said on arriving, not on leaving.

Which greeting do you hear all day in southern Germany?

Regional greetings: Grüß Gott in the south, Moin in the north. Don’t be surprised by either.

Which one means “See you soon!”?

The bis family is half of all goodbyes: Bis bald · Bis morgen · Bis später.

Which one means “nice to meet you” at a first meeting?

Freut mich! — the short form of Es freut mich, Sie kennenzulernen. It closes off an introduction.

You say “Gute Nacht” when you greet someone in the morning.

False. Gute Nacht is not a greeting but a goodbye, or something you say when going to sleep. In the morning you say Guten Morgen.

Wie Sie? (What’s your name?)

What’s your name?

heißen. With the formal address (Sie) the verb takes the infinitive ending -en.

Build the sentence: I’m fine, thanks. And you? (informal)

Tap the pieces to build the sentence

The classic reply when someone asks you informally how you are.
Quick rules

The rules in three lines

The full topic lives on its own page. This is only the core you need for the test.

  1. The greeting follows the clock

    Guten Morgen (morning) · Guten Tag (daytime) · Guten Abend (evening). Gute Nacht is not a greeting, it is the goodbye before bed.

    Guten Morgen!

  2. The goodbye follows the channel

    Face to face Auf Wiedersehen, on the phone Auf Wiederhören, informal Tschüss, soon Bis bald.

    Bis morgen!

  3. Meeting in three steps

    Wie heißen Sie? — Ich heiße … — Freut mich! Where you’re from: Woher kommen Sie? — Ich komme aus der Türkei.

    Freut mich!

  4. The reply changes with du/Sie too

    Wie geht es Ihnen? (formal) ↔ Wie geht's? — Und dir? (informal). Pick the register to match the other person.

    Gut, danke. Und dir?

Traps

Commonly mixed up

Where a direct translation breaks. The hard questions come from here.

  • Gute Nacht! as a morning greeting

    Guten Morgen!

    Gute Nacht is only for going to bed.

  • To an official: Wie heißt du?

    Wie heißen Sie?

    Sie for people you don’t know — basic politeness.

  • On the phone: Auf Wiedersehen!

    Auf Wiederhören!

    You can’t see them, you hear them.

  • du heißst

    du heißt

    When the stem ends in an s-sound, the s of the ending drops.