A2 German vocabulary explained: how the official Goethe list grows to circa 1,300 words, what is genuinely new after A1, and how the exam recycles it.
At A2 your German vocabulary roughly doubles. The official Goethe A2 wordlist runs to circa 1,300 lexical units, up from around 650 at A1, and the exam expects you to at least recognise all of them in reading and listening texts. That sounds like a lot until you see what the new half actually is: mostly deeper coverage of familiar topics, plus a handful of genuinely new areas like work, health, and everyday services.
This guide maps the A2 layer precisely: which words are new, which A1 topics grow, the separable verbs and adjective pairs that A2 texts lean on, and how the Hören and Lesen papers recycle the same topic areas again and again. If you are still building the first 650 words, start with the A1 vocabulary guide and come back; everything here assumes that base.
What the official A2 wordlist actually demands
The official Goethe A2 Wortliste defines the vocabulary for the Goethe-Zertifikat A2: circa 1,300 lexical units, for which at least receptive command is expected, based on the bundesdeutsche Standardvariante of German. Last verified July 2026.
Two phrases in that sentence decide how you should study.
- Receptive command means you must recognise and understand every listed word when you read or hear it. You do not need to produce all 1,300 actively. In practice, aim to use the high-frequency core (greetings, appointments, shopping, directions, daily routine) actively and recognise the rest.
- Bundesdeutsche Standardvariante means the list is built on standard German as used in Germany. Austrian and Swiss variants exist, but the Goethe exam texts stick to the German standard, so that is the form you memorise: der Junge, not der Bub.
A "lexical unit" is slightly broader than a word: fixed phrases like zu Fuß (on foot) count as one unit each, and chunks are easier to remember than isolated words.
What A2 adds on top of each A1 topic
The A1 list is organised around topic areas such as Person, Wohnen, Essen und Trinken, Einkaufen, Arbeit und Beruf, and Reisen. A2 does not replace them; it deepens each one and shifts the register from survival to everyday life. Use this table to see where the new 650 words actually live.
| A1 base topic | What A2 adds on top |
|---|---|
| Person: name, age, family | Feelings and opinions: zufrieden, traurig, sich freuen, Angst haben |
| Arbeit/Beruf: job titles | Working life: die Stelle, der Kollege, die Besprechung, Teilzeit, kündigen |
| Körper: basic body parts | Health and appointments: der Termin, das Rezept, die Erkältung, krank sein |
| Reisen/Verkehr: ticket, train | Travel logistics: die Verspätung, das Gleis, umsteigen, die Auskunft |
| Einkaufen: food, prices | Services and problems: das Formular, die Gebühr, umtauschen, sich beschweren |
| Wohnen: rooms, furniture | Renting and moving: die Miete, der Nachbar, umziehen, der Vermieter |
Notice the pattern: A1 names things, A2 handles situations. At A1 you know der Zug (the train); at A2 you understand an announcement that the train is 20 Minuten verspätet and you must change platforms. That situational layer is exactly what the exam tests.
The genuinely new A2 topics, in themed groups
Four areas are close to empty at A1 and fill up at A2. Learn these as themed groups, always with article and plural, because gender errors fossilise fast if you skip them now.
Work and Beruf
- Jobs and workplaces: die Stelle, -n (position); der Kollege, -n / die Kollegin, -nen (colleague); der Chef, -s / die Chefin, -nen (boss); die Firma, Firmen (company); das Büro, -s (office)
- Working life: die Besprechung, -en (meeting); der Feierabend (end of the working day); die Pause, -n (break); der Urlaub (holiday, leave); das Gehalt, Gehälter (salary)
- Applying: die Bewerbung, -en (application); der Lebenslauf, Lebensläufe (CV); die Ausbildung, -en (vocational training); sich bewerben (to apply); kündigen (to quit, to give notice)
Health and appointments
- People and places: der Arzt, Ärzte / die Ärztin, -nen (doctor); die Praxis, Praxen (doctor's office); die Apotheke, -n (pharmacy); das Krankenhaus, Krankenhäuser (hospital)
- Being ill: die Erkältung, -en (cold); das Fieber (fever); der Husten (cough); die Schmerzen (pl., pain); die Grippe (flu)
- Getting help: der Termin, -e (appointment); das Rezept, -e (prescription); die Tablette, -n (tablet); das Medikament, -e (medicine); die Krankenkasse, -n (health insurance fund)
Travel beyond the ticket counter
- At the station: das Gleis, -e (platform, track); die Verspätung, -en (delay); der Anschluss, Anschlüsse (connection); die Auskunft, Auskünfte (information desk); der Automat, -en (machine)
- Planning: buchen (to book); die Unterkunft, Unterkünfte (accommodation); die Ermäßigung, -en (discount); der Ausflug, Ausflüge (day trip); das Gepäck (luggage)
Everyday services: bank, post, and offices
- Bank: das Konto, Konten (account); überweisen (to transfer money); die Gebühr, -en (fee); das Bargeld (cash)
- Post: das Paket, -e (parcel); die Briefmarke, -n (stamp); der Absender, - (sender); schicken (to send)
- Offices and forms: das Formular, -e (form); die Anmeldung, -en (registration); die Unterschrift, -en (signature); unterschreiben (to sign)
Separable verbs: the grammar hiding inside the wordlist
A2 is where separable verbs stop being a curiosity and become the backbone of everyday sentences. The wordlist is full of them, and the exam loves them because the prefix lands at the end of the sentence, so you must hold the whole clause in your head: Ich hole dich um acht Uhr vom Bahnhof ab. (I will pick you up from the station at eight.)
Learn these as one group, always with a full example sentence rather than an isolated infinitive:
- People and plans: anrufen (to call), einladen (to invite), abholen (to pick up), mitbringen (to bring along), absagen (to cancel)
- Daily logistics: anfangen (to begin), aufhören (to stop), stattfinden (to take place), umsteigen (to change trains), umziehen (to move house)
- Paperwork: ausfüllen (to fill in), abgeben (to hand in), sich anmelden (to register)
A cheap exam win hides here: in Hören, the separable prefix often carries the answer. Der Kurs fällt heute aus (the course is cancelled today) and der Kurs fängt heute an (the course starts today) begin identically; only the final prefix tells you which option to tick.
Adjective pairs that carry your opinions
A2 speaking and writing tasks ask for simple opinions and comparisons, so the wordlist adds adjectives in natural opposites. Learning them as pairs halves the memorisation effort and gives you an instant way to compare two things.
- Feelings: zufrieden / unzufrieden (satisfied / dissatisfied); glücklich / traurig (happy / sad); freundlich / unfreundlich (friendly / unfriendly)
- Judgements: praktisch / unpraktisch (practical / impractical); gefährlich / sicher (dangerous / safe); anstrengend / entspannt (exhausting / relaxed)
- Description: laut / leise (loud / quiet); schwer / leicht (heavy or hard / light or easy); pünktlich / spät (punctual / late); gesund / krank (healthy / ill)
One sentence pattern turns every pair into speaking-exam material: Ich finde die Wohnung praktisch, aber ein bisschen laut. (I find the flat practical but a little loud.) Simple, correct, and exactly the level the A2 Sprechen rubric rewards.
How the exam recycles these topics in Hören and Lesen
The A2 exam does not sample vocabulary randomly. The same topic areas return in predictable disguises across the paper, which means every themed group above pays off several times.
- Hören: announcements at stations (travel words), voicemail messages about appointments (health and Termin words), and short workplace dialogues (Beruf words). Training your ear on these situations, the way the Hören section strategies describe, is mostly a vocabulary exercise in disguise.
- Lesen: notice-board ads, short emails about plans and invitations (separable verbs everywhere), and simple information texts about services, opening hours, and forms.
- Schreiben and Sprechen: the productive papers stay inside the same topics, so your active core should be the everyday-life half of the list: making plans, describing your routine, asking for information, and giving simple opinions with the adjective pairs above.
This recycling is why studying by theme beats studying alphabetically. When a practice paper exposes a word you missed, it almost always belongs to one of the groups in this post; add it to that group, not to a random flashcard pile.
Your next steps
- Audit the A1 base first. Any A1 topic where you cannot name ten words actively is a gap to close before piling on A2 words.
- Work through the new topics one group at a time. One themed group per day, always with article, plural, and one example sentence per word.
- Drill the separable verbs aloud. Say full sentences so the prefix-at-the-end rhythm becomes automatic.
- Test recognition weekly. Read and listen to short A2 texts; receptive command is what the wordlist demands, and reading is the cheapest way to build it.
Frequently asked questions
The official Goethe A2 wordlist contains circa 1,300 lexical units, and the exam expects at least receptive command of them, meaning you recognise them in reading and listening texts. You do not need to use all 1,300 actively. A solid active core of 700 to 800 everyday words plus reliable recognition of the rest is a realistic and sufficient target.
A2 roughly doubles the A1 list, from circa 650 to circa 1,300 lexical units, and shifts from naming things to handling situations. The genuinely new areas are working life, health and appointments, travel logistics, and everyday services like banks and offices. The rest is depth added to A1 topics: feelings, opinions, and the separable verbs that everyday German runs on.
Yes. The Goethe-Institut publishes the A2 Wortliste as a free PDF, and it is the authoritative source for what the Goethe-Zertifikat A2 can test. Goethe publishes official wordlists only up to B1; from B2 upwards vocabulary is open and topic-driven. Use the official list as your checklist, but learn from themed groups and real texts rather than reading the PDF top to bottom.
At a steady 10 new words per day with regular review, the roughly 650 new A2 units take about three months to cover, which matches the pace of most A2 courses. The limiting factor is retention, not exposure: spaced review and weekly reading or listening practice matter more than raw daily volume.
