7 Meanings of ‘Bitte’ [The Most Versatile German Word]
The German word bitte probably the most versatile word in German. In this post you’ll learn all the different meanings of bitte, and in which situations they apply.
Before we get started, let’s discover how this sweet little word actually sounds:
Please
Easily the most common meaning of bitte. German speakers are known for their politeness (höflichkeit) so you will hear this a lot, and hopefully you will use it at lot yourself when you visit a German speaking country.
| Ich hätte gern ein Stück Kuchen bitte | I would like a piece of cake please |
When bitte means ‘please’, generally it appears either at the end of the sentence or in position 3 after the verb or subject:
| Könnte ich bitte noch einen Tee haben? | Could I have another tea please? |
May I help you?
Sometimes you’ll sit down in a café or restaurant, and hear from the waiter or waitress: bitte schön? This is a short way to say ‘can I help you?’ in German.
| Kellner/in: (comes to table) Bitte schön? | Waiter/ess: (comes to table) May I help you? |
| Du: Ich hätte gern ein Schnitzel bitte | You: I would like a schnitzel please |
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Here you go
Next up: Bitte can mean ‘here you go’ in the context of handing something over. You will hear this a lot when you speak with customer facing staff, such as waiters and waitresses.
Sometimes you’ll hear bitte on it’s own, and sometimes you’ll hear bitte sehr. This is one of these phrases where you’ll do yourself no favours if you try to translate it. Sehr means ‘very’ so we could end up with ‘here you go very’.
Just remember it as a chunk and listen out for it next time you visit a café or restaurant.
| Du: Ich hätte gern ein Schnitzel bitte | You: I would like a schnitzel please |
| Kellner/in: (brings meal) Bitte sehr | Waiter/ess: (brings meal) There you go |
You’re welcome
Closely related to the previous meaning for bitte, is ‘you’re welcome’. Let’s use the previous scenario again:
| Du: (receives meal) Danke | You: (receives meal): Thank you |
| Kellner/in: Bitte | Waiter/ess: You’re welcome |
German speakers like to adjust this phrase to match what you say to them. So if you were to say: danke schön (thank you kindly), your waiter/ess would respond with: bitte schön.
If you said: danke sehr (thank you very much), their response would be: bitte sehr. Look out for this next time you visit a German speaking country.
So far you have learned that bitte can mean ‘please’, ‘may I help you?’, ‘there you go’ and ‘you’re welcome’. Because of this you may encounter a lot of uses of bitte in one conversation, so we end up with a crazy exchange like this:
| Kellner/in: Bitte schön? | Waiter/ess: May I help you? |
| Du: Ich hätte gern ein Schnitzel bitte | You: I would like a schnitzel please |
| Kellner/in: (brings meal) Bitte sehr | Waiter/ess: (brings meal) There you go |
| Du: Danke | You: Thank you |
| Kellner/in: Bitte | Waiter/ess: You’re welcome |
Pardon
The next meaning of the word bitte is ‘pardon?’ or ‘excuse me?’ It is said with an upper inflection at the end because it is a question.
It is used when someone doesn’t hear or understand something that another person has said:
| Kennst du, dass mein lieblingswort auf Deutsch ist Geschwindigkeitsüberschreitung? | Did you know that my favourite German word is Geschwindigkeitsüberschreitung? |
| Bitte? Ich verstehe nicht! | Pardon? I don’t understand! |
You can also say wie bitte? which means the same thing, but it often shortened to a simple bitte?
Go ahead / After you
Yet another meaning for bitte is ‘go ahead’ in the context of letting someone go through a door or to speak first etc.
For example if you are speaking to your language partner, and you both go to say something at the same time, one of you can say bitte, as in ‘go ahead, you go first’.
| Beide: Wie geht es dir? | Both: How are you? |
| Du: Bitte. | You: Go ahead |
You can also think of it as ‘after you’ in the context of letting someone go ahead of you, or holding a door open for someone.
To ask / beg
In German we also have the verb bitten which means ‘to request’, ‘to plead’ or ‘to ask’. This is conjugated in the usual way and used with the first person accusative (dich, euch or Sie). It can be used to express more emotion or even desperation than a simple ‘can you?’
Here are some examples:
| Er bittet sie zu bleiben | He’s begging her to stay |
| Herr Schmitt, ich bitte Sie, lassen Sie mich meinen Job behalten | Herr Schmitt, I‘m begging you, let me keep my job (formal) |
| Ich bitte dich, mir zu glauben | I’m asking you to believe me (informal) |
| Ich bitte euch nochmals zu gehen | I’m asking you guys again to leave |
So now you know 7 different meanings for the word bitte. Since there are so many possible meanings, be sure to listen out for it used in different contexts. Check for different tones or inflections to see if you can detect whether it is being used as a question, statement or just general politeness.
The most common use for the word bitte is ‘please’, so next let’s learn how to say ‘thank you’ in German.
Vielen Dank
This is great! Thanks!