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Topic test · A2

Making an appointment test

13questions
8minutes
60%pass mark
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Topic test

13 questions, easy to hard

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The safest opener on the phone: Ich gern einen Termin.

I’d like to make an appointment.

hätte. Just like English “I’d like” — a softened form whose meaning is politeness. Ich will is grammatically fine, the tone is harsh.

The other person said “halb zehn”. What time is it?

9:30. German looks at the coming hour: halb zehn = half of the tenth hour. If you’re not sure, confirm: Also um neun Uhr dreißig?

You want to move the appointment to another day without cancelling it:

verschieben. absagen is a full cancellation and costs you your place in line; kündigen is terminating a contract and is not used for appointments.

“Waren Sie schon einmal bei uns?” — the right answer:

Nein, ich bin neu. The question means “have you been with us before?” If you have: Ja, ich war schon einmal da.

In a formal letter: Ich kann den Termin leider nicht .

Unfortunately I won’t be able to attend the appointment.

wahrnehmen. In formal language this is “to attend an appointment”. Ich kann nicht kommen is also correct, but wahrnehmen fits better in writing.

What does Anliegen mean on an online form?

Matter / service. It is the first step of the form: if you pick the wrong Anliegen, you haven’t booked the right appointment.

What time is “Viertel vor acht”?

Viertel vor acht = a quarter to eight → 7:45. Viertel nach acht = 8:15. halb, unlike English “half past”, looks at the coming hour.

You have to cancel the appointment. Which is the most natural sentence?

I’m afraid I have to cancel the appointment.

The verb for cancelling is absagen; leider softens the sentence. To postpone, use verschieben.

“Passt es Ihnen am Montag um 10 Uhr?” — which reply accepts?

Does Monday at 10 suit you? — Yes, that suits me.

The pattern runs on the dative: Das passt mir. If it doesn’t suit: Das passt mir leider nicht — geht es auch am Dienstag?

The practice said “Bringen Sie bitte Ihre Unterlagen mit”. What do you bring?

die Unterlagen = documents (always plural). Going to an appointment, that means your card + referral + any earlier reports.

To make an appointment, saying Ich will einen Termin is the politest and most common opener.

will sounds like an order on the phone. The best opener is the Ich hätte gern einen Termin pattern.

When you want to postpone the appointment: Könnten wir den Termin ?

Postponing is expressed with verschieben, cancelling completely with absagen.

Build the sentence: Do you have anything free this week?

Tap the pieces to build the sentence

A very common pattern for asking whether there are openings.
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. Opener: Ich hätte gern einen Termin

    The Konjunktiv phrase works at every door: doctor, hairdresser, authority. A reason can follow: … zur Kontrolle · wegen Rückenschmerzen.

    Ich hätte gern einen Termin.

  2. halb looks FORWARD

    halb zehn = half past nine — the opposite of “half ten”. Viertel vor/nach is the quarter you know: Viertel vor acht is 7:45.

    halb zehn = 9:30

  3. absagen is cancelling, verschieben is postponing

    Both are softened with leider. When asking for a new one: Könnten wir den Termin verschieben?

    Ich muss den Termin leider absagen.

  4. Suitability runs on a dative pattern

    Passt es Ihnen am Montag? — Das passt mir gut / Das passt mir leider nicht. In formal writing “I can’t attend” is said with the verb wahrnehmen.

    Ich kann den Termin leider nicht wahrnehmen.

Traps

Commonly mixed up

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

  • halb zehn = 10:30

    halb zehn = 9:30

    halb is half of the coming hour — the “half past ten” reflex throws you an hour off.

  • Ich will einen Termin!

    Ich hätte gern einen Termin.

    will sounds like an order on the phone; the Konjunktiv phrase is the polite opener.

  • Der Termin ist kaputt.

    Ich muss den Termin leider absagen.

    kaputt is for objects; cancelling an appointment is said with absagen.

  • Ja, ich passe. (meaning “the appointment suits me”)

    Ja, das passt mir gut.

    The appointment is what fits, not you: the subject is das/es, the person is in the dative.