Basic Swiss German Phrases for Everyday Life in Switzerland

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The first Swiss German word most newcomers learn is Grüezi. The next few come at the bakery counter, the supermarket till and on the train, where the same short exchanges happen every day. You do not need much Swiss German to get through them.

This post collects those phrases by situation. One thing to know first: Swiss German has no single official spelling, and words change from one region to the next. We give one common spelling for each phrase and name regional forms where they differ.

Saying hello, briefly

Grüezi is the polite hello for anyone you would call Sie: the shop assistant, the conductor, anyone you do not know. Among friends it is Hoi, or Sali, which is especially common in Basel. To greet a group, add one word: Grüezi mitenand, or the informal Hoi zäme. In Bern the formal greeting is Grüessech. There is more in our post on how to say hello in Swiss German.

At the bakery

The key phrase for any shop is Ich hätti gärn…, “I would like…”. It is the polite way to ask for something, and it works for bread and train tickets alike. The croissant has its own Swiss name, Gipfeli.

At the Migros or Coop checkout

The till asks the same three questions every time: your loyalty card, a bag, and how you will pay. This scene is at Migros, whose card is Cumulus.

Twint is the Swiss mobile payment app. For the receipt, ask Chan ich bitte d Quittig ha?, “Can I please have the receipt?”. And listen to the cashier’s verbs: Hend Sie, Bruuched Sie, Wie zahled Sie. Staff address customers with the polite Sie, and you answer the same way.

On the train and the tram

Buying a ticket uses the shop phrase again: Grüezi! Ich hätti gärn es Billett uf Bärn, bitte. A ticket is a Billett, borrowed from French, and you travel uf a city, where Standard German says nach. The reply is Eifach oder retour?, “One way or return?”, and you answer Retour, bitte.

On board, the conductor comes through the carriage:

The Halbtax is a card that gives you half-price tickets. On a crowded tram, the phrase to know is Ich muess usgstiige, “I need to get off”, and the stop itself is a Haltstell.

At the restaurant

Before you sit down at a shared table, ask Isch de Platz no frei?, “Is this seat still free?”. Ordering is Ich hätti gärn… once more, or simply the dish and bitte. “A glass of white wine, please” is Es Glas Wiisswii, bitte.

En Guete is the one not to skip. It is said before a meal, at home or in a restaurant, and it is considered rude to start eating without it. The answer is Merci, Ihne au! to someone you call Sie, or Danke, dir au!, “Thanks, you too!”, to a friend. In Luzern the wish becomes Ä Guetä!, the same words in the local form. When you toast with Proscht!, look each person in the eye as your glasses meet. The more formal toast is Zum Wohl!

The bill usually does not come until you ask for it. Chönd mir zahle, bitte? or the shorter D’Rächnig, bitte. both work, and the server may then ask zäme oder separat?: one bill for the table, or separate ones?

With neighbours and colleagues

In a shop you are Sie; the neighbour in this scene says du from his first line.

At work, the morning starts with Guete Morge! Wie gaht’s?, and the easy answer is Guet, merci — und dir?, “Good, thanks, and you?”. Later comes the coffee break, Gömer go Kafi trinke?, “Shall we get a coffee?”, and on Monday, Wie isch dis Wuchenänd gsi?, “How was your weekend?”. En Guete belongs here too: you say it when you see a colleague eating lunch.

Sorry, thank you, goodbye

Exgüsi comes from the French excusez, and you will hear it from Zürich to Luzern: Exgüsi, wo isch de Bahnhof?, “Excuse me, where is the train station?”. Zürich also has Tschuldigung, which in Bern becomes Tschoudigung.

Thank you is usually Merci, from French too. Merci is used at least as often as Danke, and Merci vilmal the warmer “thank you very much”. In Basel it is Merci vilmol. A plain Bitte also answers a thank you.

For goodbye, Ade is the traditional word and Tschau comes from the Italian ciao; Bern and Basel say Adie. A goodbye in a shop usually comes with a wish: Merci und en schöne Tag!, “Thanks and have a nice day!”. If the wish comes to you first, answer Merci, Ihne au!, “Thank you, you too!”. Ihne is the polite Sie form, the right one for a stranger.

Where Grüezi comes in

Every phrase in this post comes from Grüezi, our app for learning Swiss German on iPhone and Android. Most tables above are scenes from its dialogues, where you pick your reply and get a short note when it sounds too much like Standard German. Many of the words and phrases also have a short audio clip in Zürich dialect that you can tap to hear.

The bakery and the train station dialogues are free, and so is the first unit, Grüezi! Basics, with its lesson on please and thank you, where Merci vilmal, Exgüsi and Gärn gscheh are taught. The checkout, the restaurant, the neighbours, the office and the conductor on the train are part of Premium. The story of why we made it starts with a first week of understanding nothing.