Swiss-German is considerably different from German, especially as it happens in regard to those very phrases which a traveler needs: niceties, greetings, asking for stuff, getting directions, etc. One of the key differences to getting by with Swiss German. For example, "Fine, thank you" is Guet, merci; with guet being the German word for good/fine, while merci is from the French "thank you". In addition, there are many pronunciation differences which separate Swiss-German from either language. For example, the diphthong in Swiss-German "guet" versus the monophthong in High-German "gut".
Note that most of the following Swiss-German phrases and words are written as they would be pronounced by people living in the area around Bern, Basel, Zürich (i.e. in the canton of Bern, etc.). Whilst bernese dialect is widely understood in the Swiss-German part of Switzerland, it's by no means "official" Swiss-German (despite of the fact that Bern is the Swiss capital). There is no standardized Swiss-German ("Schwyzerdüütsch"). Remarkably, the native dialects spoken in the many Swiss-German cantons are clearly distinguishable by locals (i.e. they can tell apart from the dialect in which canton somebody grew up). Speaking Swiss-German is common for all people living in the Swiss-German part of Switzerland, independent of age or education. For writing, standard German is mostly used, though Swiss-German dialect is particularly popular among the youths (e.g. in e-mail messages, SMS messages etc.). With the ongoing globalization and immigration, mixing Swiss-German dialects with English (quite often even with pseudo English) or speaking so called "Jugo-Deutsch" (German pronounced as immigrants coming from the former Yugoslavia region tend to pronounce it) has also become trendy for youngsters.
For official documents, standard German is used.
Vowels
Consonants
Common diphthongs
Phrase list
Basics
Hello/Hi (informal)
Hoi!
Hi, everyone! (informal)
Hoi zäme!
Hi (very informal)
Saluti! [salooti!] / Saletti!
Hello (formal)
Grüezi! [Grea-atsie]
Hello, Ms./Mr. ... (formal)
Grüezi Frau/Herr ...
Hello, everyone (formal)
Grüezi mitenand! [Grea-tsi metta-nònd]
Problems
ich ha(n) mi(s) Portmonnaie verlore!
I lost my wallet! (n, s = variants, depending on the dialect)
ich fühl mi(ch) schlächt
I feel sick/not well/upset (ch = variant)
wo isch de Polizei Poschte?
where is the police station?
ich mues öppis mälde
I have to/must report something
Spital
Hospital
Hät's da es Spital i de Nöchi?
is there a hospital nearby?
ich bi(n) velore/mir sind verlore
I/we am/are lost!! (n = variant)
bitte säged sie mir wo.....isch?
Can you please tell me where.....is?
Bahnhof
train station
Taxi Stand
taxi station
Bank
Bank
Post
post office (prononced="pay-tay-tay")
Hotel " "
the " " hotel
Chile
church
ich bi(n) verliebt!
I'm in love
ich lib dech!
I love you!
Numbers
1
eis, äis, ais, eins
2
zwei, zwöi, zwai
3
drü, drai, drei
4
vier
5
foif, fföif, füüf, fünf
6
sächs, säggs
7
sibe, sebe, siebe
8
acht
9
nün
10
zäh, zehn
11
elf
12
zwölf
13
drizäh
14
vierzäh
15
füfzäh
16
sächzäh
17
sibzäh
18
achzäh
19
nünzäh
20
zwänzg, zwanzig
21
einezwänzg, einezwanzig
22
zweiezwänzg, zweiezwanzig
23
drüezwänzg, dreiezwanzig
24
vierezwänzg, vierezwanzig
25
foifezwänzg, fünfezwanzig
26
sächsezwänzg, säggsezwanzig
27
sibenezwänzg, siebenezwanzig
28
achtezwänzg, achtezwanzig
29
nünezwänzg, nünezwanzig
30
driss(i)g
40
vierz(i)g
50
füfzg, fuffzig
60
sächz(i)g
70
sibezg, siebzig
80
achtz(i)g
90
nünz(i)g
100
hundert
101
hundertundäis
102
hundertzwöi
Clock time
time
Zit
What time is it?
Was isch för zit?
It is...
Es esch ...
one o'clock
eis
half past twelve
halbi eis
quarter to one
viertel vor eis
ten to one
zäh vor eis
quarter past one
virtel ab eis
ten past one
zäh ab eis
half past one
halbi zwoi
Duration
Wie lang gohts bis ... (How long does it take to...)
Wie lang het me bis....? (dito)
Duretslang bes of? (dito)
