How to Say ‘How are you?’ in German
Wie geht's dir?
vee gayts deer
[vee gayts deer]
💬 Usage Tip: Swap dir for Ihnen to ask someone you'd address as Sie: Wie geht es Ihnen?
🇩🇪 In Germany: Germans often answer this honestly rather than with an automatic "fine", so it's mostly asked of people you actually know.
Phrase Breakdown
Wie
[vee]
how
Question word used to ask about condition, manner, or state.
Wie fühlen Sie sich heute?
How are you feeling today?
geht's
[gayts]
it's going / let's get going
A spoken contraction used to mean that the action is starting now.
Los geht's, wir starten mit der ersten Aufnahme.
Here we go, we’re starting with the first recording.
dir
[deer]
to you
The dative form of 'du,' often used in phrases like 'Danke dir' meaning 'thanks to you.'
Ich sage Dir danke, wenn du mir hilfst.
I say thanks to you when you help me.
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