German GCSE Vocabulary List - General and Topic Areas 1 to 5

Sep 22, 2026

Uploaded by Finn

Comprehensive GCSE German vocabulary list covering general language and five topic areas: home and local area, health and sport, leisure and entertainment, travel and the wider world, and education and work. Includes foundation-tier wording and guidance for classroom use, explaining how listening and reading assessments draw on the list. Notes are provided for speaking, writing, and controlled assessment, plus expected prior knowledge such as numbers, dates, grammatical items, and common cognates.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages52

Reading Time2 h 11 min

AccessFree to download

Contents

German GCSE Vocabulary List

German Vocabulary List General

Topic Area 1 Home and local area

Topic Area 2 Health and sport

Topic Area 3 Leisure and entertainment (includes online)

Topic Area 4 Travel and the wider world

Topic Area 5 Education and work

Speaking and Writing

Prior knowledge

Cognates

Vocabulary List General and Topic Areas 1 to 5 GCSE German OCR GCSE in German: J731 OCR GCSE (Short Course) in German Spoken Language: J031 OCR GCSE (Short Course) in German Written Language: J131 This Vocabulary List is designed to accompany the OCR GCSE German Specification for teaching from September 2009 Contents Contents 2 German GCSE Vocabulary List 3 German Vocabulary List General 5 Topic Area 1 Home and local area 14 Life in the home; friends and relationships 14 Local area, facilities and getting around 21 Topic Area 2 Health and sport 28 Sport, outdoor pursuits and healthy lifestyle 28 Food and drink as aspects of culture and health 31 Topic Area 3 Leisure and entertainment (includes online) 36 Socialising, special occasions and festivals 36 TV, films and music 38 Topic Area 4 Travel and the wider world 42 Holidays and exchanges 42 Environmental, cultural and social issues 44 Topic Area 5 Education and work 48 School life in the UK and in the target language country or community 48 Work experience, future study and jobs, working abroad 51 German GCSE Vocabulary List This vocabulary list will be a valuable guide for teachers when planning their teaching and learning programmes and preparing candidates for the assessment. Please note that this list should not be seen as a self-study aid, as only brief meanings have been given and candidates may need help from their teacher/tutor to interpret some items correctly. Foundation Tier: Assessment tasks for Foundation Tier Listening and Reading will be based on material in this vocabulary list. The assessments will contain some unfamiliar vocabulary but this will not be tested. Higher Tier: Assessment tasks for Higher Tier Listening and Reading will be based on material in both the Foundation and Higher Tier lists. Assessments will contain some unfamiliar vocabulary, and some of this will be tested, since the national subject criteria require candidates to use a range of techniques to deduce meaning. Speaking and Writing In Controlled Assessment tasks, candidates may use vocabulary from the Foundation and Higher tier lists but can also use vocabulary that specifically suits the tasks they choose to do and their own personal interests. Prior knowledge It is expected that candidates will be already familiar with the following: 􀁸 Numbers –(ordinal and cardinal) 􀁸 Days of the week, months of the year and seasons 􀁸 Towns, countries and nationalities 􀁸 Feminine and plural forms of the words listed 􀁸 Prefixes and suffixes of words already listed 􀁸 Target-language words used in English 􀁸 English words used in the target language. 􀁸 Grammatical items and structures figuring in Appendix B in the Specification (e.g. conjunctions, prepositions, both simple and compound, reflexives, common adverbs and adverbial phrases, etc. ) 􀁸 Straightforward and common cognates Please note that some easily recognisable cognates may not be present in this list; however, others have been presented as a help to teachers and candidates. Cognates included in this list are those that are written similarly to their English counterparts, but pronounced in a markedly different way. At Higher tier, candidates should know how to interpret suffixes as linguistic markers showing relationships between different parts of speech and have an awareness of the function of prefixes to modify the meaning of the root: e.g. réserver réservation place réservée übernachten Übernachtung producir reducir introducir Page 4 of 52 GCSE German General Vocabulary List © OCR 2009 German Vocabulary List General Foundation ab ab und zu Abend (abends) als/ wenn bald (bis bald) bevor damalsdann endlich / zuletzterst (um) früh (früher) gestern gewöhnlich heuteimmer (noch) manchmal Mittag (mittags) Mitte (mitten in) Mitternacht Monat (monatlich) morgen Morgen (morgens) nachdem nachher Nachmittag (nachmittags) nä

FAQs

What is the purpose of this GCSE German vocabulary list?

It supports teaching and learning programmes by providing structured vocabulary for GCSE German, with guidance for teachers preparing candidates for assessment.

How do Foundation and Higher Tier assessments use this vocabulary list?

Foundation Tier listening and reading are based on material from the list, with some unfamiliar vocabulary not tested. Higher Tier uses both Foundation and Higher Tier lists, and some unfamiliar vocabulary may be tested.

Should students use this list for independent self-study?

The list is not intended as a self-study aid because only brief meanings are provided; candidates may need help from a teacher or tutor to interpret items correctly.

Sep 22, 2026

Uploaded by Finn

German GCSE Vocabulary List - General and Topic Areas 1 to 5_Page 1

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