{"id":8521,"date":"2017-06-23T07:00:39","date_gmt":"2017-06-23T07:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=8521"},"modified":"2017-07-12T13:28:33","modified_gmt":"2017-07-12T13:28:33","slug":"at-a-petrol-station-german-vocab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/at-a-petrol-station-german-vocab\/","title":{"rendered":"At A Petrol Station: German Vocab"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guten Tag! Inspired by this post on the Greek blog<\/a>, I thought it would be handy to look at German vocabulary related to petrol stations and driving \u2013 as this is something practical, important, and which you will use in day-to-day life in Germany.<\/p>\n

This is the German road sign for a petrol station:<\/p>\n

\"Zeichen<\/a>

Tankstelle. By Andreas06 [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div>\n

Some of the petrol station names to look out for in Germany are: Aral, Shell, Total, Esso, Avia, Jet<\/strong> and Agip<\/strong>, to name a few.<\/p>\n

\"Jet<\/a>

JET Tankstelle. Photo by sludgeulper on flickr.com under a CC license (CC BY-SA 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Obviously, the main word to look out for is die Tankstelle<\/strong> \u2013 petrol station.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Germans have a verb for the act of filling up your car with petrol: tanken. <\/strong>Whereas in English we\u2019d have to say the equivalent of \u2018Ich brauche Benzin\u2019 (\u2018I need to get petrol\/gas\u2019) or \u2018Ich muss zur Tankstelle\u2019 (\u2018I need to go to the petrol station\u2019), in German you can simply say Ich muss tanken.<\/strong> This comes from the English word tank.<\/strong> \u2018I need to tank\u2019. I\u2019m not joking when I say that this verb has amused me since childhood \u2013 probably because I recognised the mixture of German and English and found it wonderfully simple!<\/p>\n

When you head to the Tankstelle<\/strong> to do some tanken<\/strong>, be sure to know which type of fuel to put into your Auto<\/strong> (car):<\/p>\n

Petrol \/Gas\u2013 das Benzin
\nDiesel \u2013 der Diesel<\/strong><\/p>\n

You may also see Benzin described as Bleifrei \u2013 unleaded<\/strong>, or as one of the following: Normal, Super, Super Plus.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Softdrinks<\/a>

Diesel, Benzin bleifrei (unleaded petrol), Super bleifrei (super unleaded). Photo by tacker on flickr.com under a CC license (CC BY-ND 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

If you\u2019re renting a car (which you\u2019d do from a place called die Autovermietung<\/strong>, or das Mietwagenb\u00fcro<\/strong> \u2013 car rental place) and you\u2019re unsure of the exact fuel type your car needs, be sure to ask \u2013 or even get them to write it down for you (this information is probably written down somewhere anyway, but just in case you are unsure, you could always ask for clarification):<\/p>\n

Welchen Kraftstoff<\/u> braucht das Auto?<\/strong> \u2013 Which fuel type<\/u> does the car use?<\/p>\n

W\u00fcrden Sie das bitte f\u00fcr mich aufschreiben?<\/strong> \u2013 Would you write that down for me, please?<\/p>\n

Better to be safe than sorry.<\/p>\n

At the Tankstelle<\/strong>, use die Pumpe<\/strong> (the pump) to fill your car up, firmly close der Tankdeckel<\/strong> (petrol cap cover), note which number S\u00e4ule<\/strong> (pillar) you are at, then go and tell the cashier so you can pay for your fuel. \u2018Nummer vier, bitte\u2019<\/strong> – ‘Number four, please’.<\/p>\n

While at a petrol station, you may also want to do the following things:<\/p>\n

die Windschutzscheibe waschen<\/strong> \u2013 Wash the windscreen<\/p>\n

die Autoreifen aufpumpen<\/strong> lassen<\/strong> \u2013 Have the tyres pumped up<\/p>\n

Einen Kaffee kaufen<\/strong> \u2013 Buy a coffee (sehr wichtig<\/strong> \u2013 very important!)<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve driven in Germany before, what was your experience like? Was there anything ungew\u00f6hnlich <\/strong>(unusual) about the petrol stations you visited, or was it all very straight-forward? Let us know in the comments!<\/p>\n

Bis bald,<\/p>\n

Constanze<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Guten Tag! Inspired by this post on the Greek blog, I thought it would be handy to look at German vocabulary related to petrol stations and driving \u2013 as this is something practical, important, and which you will use in day-to-day life in Germany. This is the German road sign for a petrol station…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":8525,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[33064,95125,503874,10381,1992,89871,503875,2080,95131,375982,8426,376023,503873,503876,503877,433371,990,13],"class_list":["post-8521","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-language","tag-auto","tag-autobahn","tag-benzin","tag-car","tag-cars","tag-daily-life","tag-diesel","tag-driving","tag-german-language","tag-germanvocabulary","tag-germany","tag-language","tag-petrol-station","tag-tanken","tag-tankstelle","tag-travellingingermany","tag-vocab","tag-vocabulary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t