Sprechen Sie Englisch? (SHPREKH-en zee ENG-lish) is the polite way to ask do you speak English in German: use it with shop staff, officials and any adult you don't know. With friends, fellow students or children, ask Sprichst du Englisch? Opening with Entschuldigung (excuse me) makes either question sound friendlier.
- Formal
- Sprechen Sie Englisch?
- Informal
- Sprichst du Englisch?
- To a group
- Sprecht ihr Englisch?
- I speak a little German
- Ich spreche ein bisschen Deutsch.
- Level
- A1
Sprechen Sie or sprichst du: which should you ask?
Because you are usually asking a stranger, Sprechen Sie Englisch? is the version to memorise. Notice that the verb changes its vowel with du: sprechen becomes sprichst. The same happens with er and sie: Sie spricht Englisch, she speaks English.
| German | Register | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Entschuldigung, sprechen Sie Englisch? | Polite | Station staff, a pharmacist, a passer-by |
| Sprichst du Englisch? | Informal | Someone your age at a hostel, a party, a class |
| Sprecht ihr Englisch? | Informal plural | A group of friends or young people |
| Können Sie Englisch? | Colloquial, polite | Literally "can you English?", very common in speech |
| Spricht hier jemand Englisch? | Neutral | Does anyone here speak English? To a room or a counter |
Language names are capitalised when they are nouns: Englisch, Deutsch, Französisch. The adjective is lower case: ein englisches Buch, an English book. To say something is in a language, use auf, as in this line from a Contos A1 story:
Ein handgeschriebener Zettel auf Deutsch.What answers might you hear?
Many Germans, especially younger people and those in cities, speak English and switch to it quickly. Others will apologise and carry on in German, often more slowly. Either way, these are the replies to listen for:
Ja, klar.
Yes, of course.
Ein bisschen.
A little.
Nicht so gut, aber ich versuche es.
Not very well, but I'll try.
Nein, leider nicht.
No, I'm afraid not.
Sprechen Sie Deutsch?
Do you speak German?
Thrown back at you, kindly or not.
English words are part of everyday German anyway: okay, cool, das Handy (a mobile phone, in a sense English never used) and sorry.
How do you keep speaking German when people switch to English?
It is a common frustration for learners in Germany: you start in German and get an answer in English. Saying that you're learning usually solves it, and people tend to slow down for you.
Ich lerne Deutsch. Können wir Deutsch sprechen?
I'm learning German. Can we speak German?
Ich spreche ein bisschen Deutsch.
I speak a little German.
Ich spreche kein Deutsch.
I don't speak German.
kein, not nicht.
Kannst du bitte langsamer sprechen?
Can you speak more slowly, please?
du; with Sie, Können Sie bitte langsamer sprechen?
When you understand only half of the answer, the phrases on how to say "I don't understand" in German help. For a first conversation, add how to say "my name is".
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Read free in your browserFrequently asked questions
How do you pronounce Sprechen Sie Englisch?
Roughly "SHPREKH-en zee ENG-lish". Sp at the start of a word sounds like shp, the ch is a soft hiss, Sie sounds like "zee", and Englisch is close to English "English".
Is it rude to speak English to Germans straight away?
Not rude, but a few words of German first are appreciated. Entschuldigung, sprechen Sie Englisch? takes two seconds and shows you made the effort.
Why is it Englisch and not English?
German spells the sound sh as sch, so the language is Englisch. It is a noun here, which is why it has a capital letter.
Is Handy really German for mobile phone?
Yes. It looks English but is a German coinage; English speakers don't use it that way. Words like this are called Scheinanglizismen, false anglicisms.