Recognising dialects: Bavarian, Swabian, Saxon, Berlin, Swiss German

Beyond the standard varieties (Austrian and Swiss Standard German), German has many dialects, and some are hard to follow even for other Germans. You don't need to speak them, but at C2 you should recognise the main ones and understand people who mix dialect into their Standard German.

The big picture

• Low German (Plattdeutsch) in the north never underwent the consonant shift of the south: ik, maken, Dorp, Appel for ich, machen, Dorf, Apfel. The boundary, roughly from Düsseldorf eastwards, is called the Benrath line.
• Central German in the middle: Saxon, Thuringian, Hessian, the Berlin dialect.
• Upper German in the south: Bavarian (including most of Austria), Swabian and Alemannic (including Swiss German).

• Oft verrät schon die Aussprache, woher jemand kommt.Often the pronunciation alone gives away where someone is from.

Clue words

Diminutives are a strong clue: -l or -erl (Bavarian, Austrian), -le (Swabian), -li (Swiss), -ken (Low German).

Five portraits

• Bavarian: Servus, Grüß Gott, I hob koa Zeit (Ich habe keine Zeit), a Hendl (a roast chicken), a bissl (a bit).
• Swabian: -le everywhere (Spätzle, Häusle), isch for ist, schaffe for arbeiten, ebbes for etwas.
• Saxon: soft consonants (p, t, k sound like b, d, g), rounded vowels, nu for ja, Bemme for a slice of bread with something on it.
• Berlin: ick, det, wat, j for g (jut for gut), Schrippe for a bread roll, and a blunt humour called Berliner Schnauze.
• Swiss German: ch for k (Chind for Kind), Grüezi, Merci, Chuchichäschtli (kitchen cupboard) as a famous tongue-twister. In Switzerland, dialect is spoken by everyone in everyday life, including on TV, while Standard German is the written language. This split is called diglossia.

• In der Deutschschweiz spricht man im Alltag Dialekt und schreibt Hochdeutsch.In German-speaking Switzerland people speak dialect in everyday life and write Standard German.
• Berliner gelten als direkt und schlagfertig.Berliners are considered direct and quick-witted.

Tag questions

A quick regional fingerprint is the word at the end of a sentence: gell (south), oder (Switzerland, also widely elsewhere), ne or nä (north), wa (Berlin), gelle (Hesse).

Coping strategies

• Ich verstehe den Dialekt besser, wenn langsam gesprochen wird.I understand the dialect better when people speak slowly.
• Könnten Sie das bitte noch einmal auf Hochdeutsch sagen?Could you say that again in Standard German, please?
• Viele Dialektsprecher wechseln mühelos ins Hochdeutsche.Many dialect speakers switch to Standard German effortlessly.

Dialects are not "bad German". They have their own grammar and a long history. Asking politely for Standard German is fine; mocking a dialect is not.

Common mistakes

• Imitating a dialect to sound friendly. Native speakers usually find it odd from a learner.
• Thinking Swiss Standard German and Swiss German dialect are the same.
• Telling someone their dialect is "wrong". It is a different system, not a mistake.
• Copying dialect forms like net or ick into written Standard German.
• Giving up after one sentence. Listen for the clue words and the rest often falls into place.