German Redemittel: Set Phrases That Score in Speaking and Writing

Redemittel are ready-made German phrases that do a job: open a letter, introduce an opinion, disagree without sounding rude, walk an examiner through a chart. Strong Goethe and telc candidates lean on them because under time pressure you cannot build every sentence from scratch. This guide gives you phrase banks for the functions that appear in almost every exam task from B1 to C1, plus a table for upgrading a B1 phrase to its B2/C1 version.

What Redemittel are and why examiners reward them

The word means "means of speech": fixed chunks like Meiner Meinung nach (in my opinion) or Ich freue mich auf Ihre Antwort (I look forward to your reply). You learn them as whole units, so they come out correct every time.

Examiners reward them for two reasons. First, register: the right phrase shows you know the difference between an email to a landlord and a message to a friend, and register is scored directly in the writing paper. Second, structure: phrases like Einerseits... andererseits (on the one hand... on the other) show where your argument is going, which feeds the coherence criterion. An essay with clear Redemittel scaffolding reads a level above the same ideas as loose sentences.

There is a third, quieter benefit: Redemittel buy thinking time. Opening with Das ist eine interessante Frage. Ich denke, dass... (That is an interesting question. I think that...) gives your brain two seconds to plan while your mouth produces error-free German. Treat the phrase banks below like core vocabulary in the German vocabulary guides: a small set, learned to automatic recall.

Opening and closing a letter or email

Writing tasks start and end with fixed formulas, and a wrong register costs marks in the first line. Learn one formal and one informal set completely.

Formal (to a company, landlord, school office):

• Opening: Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, (Dear Sir or Madam,) or, with a name, Sehr geehrte Frau Weber, (Dear Ms Weber,)
• Stating your reason: Ich schreibe Ihnen, weil... (I am writing to you because...); Mit großem Interesse habe ich Ihre Anzeige gelesen. (I read your advertisement with great interest.)
• Requesting: Ich wäre Ihnen sehr dankbar, wenn Sie mir ... schicken könnten. (I would be very grateful if you could send me ...)
• Closing: Ich freue mich auf Ihre Antwort. (I look forward to your reply.); sign off with Mit freundlichen Grüßen (Kind regards)

Informal (to a friend):

• Opening: Lieber Jonas, / Liebe Ana, (Dear Jonas, / Dear Ana,); vielen Dank für deine E-Mail, ich habe mich sehr darüber gefreut. (thanks a lot for your email, it made me really happy.)
• Apologising for silence: Entschuldige, dass ich mich so lange nicht gemeldet habe. (Sorry I have not been in touch for so long.)
• Closing: Ich freue mich, bald von dir zu hören. (I look forward to hearing from you soon.); sign off with Viele Grüße (Best wishes)

These frames carry 20 to 30 words of your answer before you write a single original idea. Where the marks for register and layout sit is mapped in the Schreiben section guide.

Opinions, agreement and polite disagreement

Almost every task from B1 up asks for your opinion, and paired speaking makes you react to a partner's. You need all three moves.

Giving and contrasting opinions

• Stating a view: Ich bin der Meinung, dass... (I am of the opinion that...); Meiner Meinung nach... (in my opinion...); at B2/C1: Meines Erachtens... (in my view...); Ich vertrete den Standpunkt, dass... (I take the position that...)
• Weighing two sides: Einerseits..., andererseits... (on the one hand..., on the other hand...); Auf der einen Seite..., auf der anderen Seite... (same meaning, longer form)
• Contrasting directly: Im Gegensatz dazu... (in contrast to that...); Während viele das praktisch finden, sehe ich vor allem die Nachteile. (While many find that practical, I mainly see the downsides.)

Agreeing and disagreeing without sounding rude

• Agreeing: Da stimme ich dir zu. (I agree with you there.); Das sehe ich genauso. (I see it exactly the same way.); Da hast du völlig recht. (You are completely right there.)
• Partly agreeing: Das stimmt zwar, aber... (That is true, but...); Ich verstehe deinen Punkt, trotzdem denke ich, dass... (I see your point, but I still think that...)
• Disagreeing politely: Da bin ich anderer Meinung. (I have a different opinion there.); Das sehe ich anders. (I see that differently.); at B2/C1: Dem kann ich nicht ganz zustimmen, denn... (I cannot fully agree with that, because...)

Nein, das ist falsch (No, that is wrong) is grammatically fine and socially wrong; the interaction criterion in paired speaking rewards the softened forms.

Describing graphs and statistics at B2 and C1

From B2 upwards, speaking and writing tasks often hand you a chart. The whole description runs on about a dozen chunks:

• Introducing the graphic: Die Grafik zeigt, wie viele... (The chart shows how many...); Die Grafik gibt Auskunft über... (The chart provides information about...)
• Reporting movement: Die Zahl der Studierenden ist deutlich gestiegen. (The number of students has risen significantly.); ... ist gesunken (... has fallen); ... hat sich verdoppelt (... has doubled); ... ist konstant geblieben (... has stayed constant)
• Ranking and share: An erster Stelle steht... (In first place is...); Der Anteil liegt bei rund 40 Prozent. (The share is around 40 percent.)
• Highlighting: Auffällig ist, dass... (It is striking that...); Im Vergleich zu 2015... (Compared with 2015...)

Learn these together with the number and quantity vocabulary from the B2 vocabulary guide, because a graph description is nothing but chunks plus figures.

Structuring a presentation and surviving paired speaking

The B1 and B2 speaking exams include a short presentation and a discussion with a partner. Both have their own Redemittel.

Presentation skeleton

• Opening: Ich möchte heute über das Thema ... sprechen. (Today I would like to talk about the topic of ...); Mein Vortrag besteht aus drei Teilen. (My presentation has three parts.)
• Signposting: Zuerst..., danach..., zum Schluss... (First..., after that..., finally...); Damit komme ich zum nächsten Punkt. (That brings me to the next point.)
• Closing: Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, dass... (In summary, it can be said that...); Vielen Dank für Ihre Aufmerksamkeit. Gibt es noch Fragen? (Thank you for your attention. Are there any questions?)

Interrupting and holding the floor

• Interrupting politely: Darf ich kurz etwas dazu sagen? (May I quickly say something about that?); Entschuldigung, wenn ich dich unterbreche, aber... (Sorry to interrupt you, but...); Da möchte ich kurz einhaken. (I would like to jump in there briefly.)
• Holding the floor: Lass mich bitte kurz ausreden. (Please let me finish.); Nur noch ein Gedanke. (Just one more thought.)
• Handing over: Wie siehst du das? (How do you see that?); Was hältst du davon? (What do you think of that?)

The hand-over phrases matter most: examiners score interaction, and asking your partner a real question is the easiest way to show it. The Sprechen exam guide breaks down how each part of the speaking test is scored; the timed mock exams on SagaDeutsch include the paired discussion format, so you can rehearse these phrases against the exam-day clock.

B1 phrase or B2/C1 upgrade: which to use

You often do not need new ideas to move up a level, just the stronger version of the same phrase. Use the B1 column until it is automatic, then swap in the upgrade.

One warning: C1 formulas around B1 grammar read hollow. Upgrade two or three phrases per text and make sure the sentences between them hold the same level.

A worked example: Redemittel inside a writing answer

Here is the core of a B2 forum post on "Sollten Museen kostenlos sein?" (Should museums be free?). The Redemittel are in italics; notice how little original language sits between them.

Meines Erachtens sollten Museen für alle kostenlos sein. Einerseits kostet der Betrieb natürlich Geld, andererseits gehört Kultur allen Menschen, nicht nur denen, die sich Eintrittskarten leisten können. Ein treffendes Beispiel dafür ist London: Dort sind viele Museen gratis und immer voll. Hinzu kommt, dass gerade Familien mit Kindern von freiem Eintritt profitieren. Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, dass kostenlose Museen eine Investition in die Gesellschaft sind.

That paragraph is roughly 70 words, and about half of them came out of a phrase bank. The structure is visible at a glance, the register is consistent, and every chunk is error-free because it was learned whole. Your ideas slot into frames you no longer have to think about, which is why Redemittel practice pays off faster than almost any other B1 vocabulary work.