German words for kids · Greetings & manners
How to say “how are you?” in German
How are you? is the first real conversation kids can have in a new language: one question and a short answer they can say back.
How are you? in German
Wie geht's?
Sounds like ≈ vee GAYTS
Good to know: Short for Wie geht es dir? (literally "how goes it for you?"). German w sounds like an English v. A typical answer: gut, danke!
Hear it in a song
Real lines from our German songs, with the English meaning shown in the app:
Wie geht's dir?
How are you?
from Wenn du fröhlich bist (If You're Happy)
Hallo, Natur! Wie geht es dir?
Hello, Nature, how are you?
from Hallo, Natur (Hello, Nature)
Wie geht's?
How are you?
from Hallo, wie geht's? (Hi, How Are You?)
3 songs that teach it
“How are you?” is one of the key words in these songs. Every line is shown in German with its English meaning.
Guten Morgen
Good Morning · Greetings · Free
- Guten Morgen · good morning
- Wie geht's dir? · how are you?
- sehr gut · very well
- danke · thank you
Hallo, wie geht's?
Hi, How Are You? · Greetings · Free
- hallo · hello
- Wie geht's? · how are you?
- gut · good
- Lass uns spielen! · let's play!
Hallo, mein Freund
Hi, Friend · Greetings · Free
- hallo · hello
- Freund · friend
- Wie geht's? · how are you?
- Name · name
Also sung in: Wenn du fröhlich bist, Hallo, Natur.
Practice ideas for parents
- 1Ask Wie geht's at pick-up time and accept any answer, in any language. The point is hearing the question every day.
- 2Give a teddy a voice and have it ask your child Wie geht's, then swap roles.
- 3Pair it with feelings: ask Wie geht's, then point at a happy or sad face drawing together.
Related German words
“How are you?” in other languages
- Spanish:¿cómo estás?
- French:comment ça va ?
- Italian:come stai?
- Portuguese:como estás?
- Dutch:hoe gaat het?
Sing it in German, free
The first unit, 6 greeting songs with lyrics and English translation, is free forever. No card needed. Premium unlocks all 134 songs.
About the pronunciation: the “sounds like” spellings are rough English approximations for parents (capital letters show the stressed syllable). Germanhas sounds English doesn't, so treat them as a starting point and let the songs be the model. Songs are original and produced with AI music tools. Ideas for using German songs with your family.