Shopping in Germany: Supermarkets, Pfand and Recycling Vocabulary

German shopping vocabulary, how the bottle deposit (Pfand) works, waste-sorting terms, shop opening hours and checkout customs.

Shopping in Germany is straightforward, but a few local habits and words are worth knowing before your first trip to the supermarket.

Shops

der Supermarkt — supermarket
die Bäckerei — bakery
die Metzgerei / Fleischerei — butcher
der Markt — market
die Drogerie — drugstore for toiletries and household goods (not medicines)
die Apotheke — pharmacy (medicines)
der Kiosk / der Späti — small kiosk / late-night shop (Berlin)
der Discounter — discount supermarket

In the shop

der Einkaufswagen — shopping trolley (often needs a coin deposit)
der Korb — basket
die Tüte / die Tasche — bag
die Kasse — checkout
der Kassenbon / die Quittung — receipt
das Angebot / das Sonderangebot — offer, special offer
der Preis — price
bar / mit Karte — cash / by card
Wechselgeld — change

Quantities

ein Kilo — a kilo
ein Pfund — 500 grams
100 Gramm
ein Liter
eine Packung — a packet
eine Flasche — a bottle
ein Stück — a piece
eine Scheibe — a slice

Opening hours

Shops in Germany are regulated by state law. Most shops are closed on Sundays and public holidays, apart from bakeries (for a few hours), petrol stations, some train station shops and tourist areas. Supermarkets often open until 8 or 10 p.m. on weekdays and Saturdays. Plan your Sunday shopping in advance!

Pfand: the bottle deposit

Germany has a well-known deposit system called Pfand:

Bottles and cans carry a deposit, typically 8 cents for reusable glass and plastic bottles (Mehrweg) and 25 cents for one-way plastic bottles and cans (Einweg), though amounts can vary.
You pay the deposit when buying, and get it back by returning the empties to a Pfandautomat (a reverse vending machine) in the shop.
The machine prints a receipt (Pfandbon), which you hand in at the checkout or deduct from your shopping.
Look for the Pfand logo on the label.
Many people leave empties next to public bins for others to collect, a courtesy known as Pfand gehört daneben.

Recycling: Mülltrennung

Germans sort their rubbish carefully:

der Restmüll — general waste (often a grey or black bin)
der Biomüll — organic waste (brown bin)
das Altpapier / das Papier — paper (blue bin)
der gelbe Sack / die gelbe Tonne — packaging (yellow bag or bin)
das Altglas — glass bottles (bottle banks: Weißglas clear, Grünglas green, Braunglas brown)
der Sperrmüll — bulky waste
der Sondermüll — hazardous waste

Rules vary by municipality. Your landlord or local council will explain the system.

At the checkout

Pack your own bags, and be ready: cashiers scan fast.
Bring your own bags: plastic bags cost money, and many people use cloth bags.
Wait behind the line if a divider is used.
Haben Sie eine Kundenkarte? — Do you have a loyalty card?
Brauchen Sie eine Tüte? — Do you need a bag?
Möchten Sie den Kassenbon? — Would you like the receipt?

Payment

Cash remains common, and some small shops accept only cash (Nur Barzahlung). Debit cards (Girocard) are widely accepted, credit card acceptance varies, and contactless payment is now common. Check before you shop.

Useful phrases

Wo finde ich ...? — Where can I find...?
Haben Sie ...? — Do you have...?
Was kostet das?
Ich hätte gern 200 Gramm Käse.
Das ist alles, danke.
Kann ich mit Karte zahlen?

Markets

Weekly markets (der Wochenmarkt) sell fresh produce, bread and cheese, and are a pleasant place to practise German. Greet the stallholder: Guten Morgen!

Common mistakes

Arriving at the shop on a Sunday.
Throwing away Pfand bottles.
Forgetting a bag.
Mixing up waste bins.

Look up shopping words offline with English German Dictionary →