Invitations & Making Plans
Use these phrases to invite friends or colleagues out, suggest times and venues, and negotiate social plans naturally in German.
Key Phrases
Hast du Lust, am Samstag zusammen was trinken zu gehen?
casualDo you feel like grabbing a drink together on Saturday?
Informal and very common among friends and peers.
Hätten Sie Lust, heute Abend mit ins Restaurant zu kommen?
politeWould you like to join us at the restaurant tonight?
Polite formula using Konjunktiv II and 'Sie' for coworkers or new acquaintances.
Wir könnten uns erst mal auf einen Kaffee treffen und quatschen.
neutralWe could meet up for a coffee first and have a chat.
'Quatschen' is standard colloquial German for having an informal chat.
Voll gerne, ich bin auf jeden Fall dabei!
casualI'd love to, I'm definitely in!
Enthusiastic and informal; perfect for friends.
Sehr gerne, ich habe an dem Tag noch nichts vor.
neutralI'd like that very much, I don't have any plans for that day yet.
Polite and balanced response suitable for any setting.
Klingt gut, aber ich müsste spätestens um acht wieder los.
neutralSounds good, but I would have to leave by eight at the latest.
Uses 'müsste' (Konjunktiv II) to state a time limit politely.
Schade, aber da bin ich leider schon verabredet.
neutralThat's a shame, but unfortunately I already have plans then.
'Verabredet sein' is the most natural way to say you have prior plans.
Vielen Dank für die Einladung, aber es klappt diesmal leider nicht.
politeThank you very much for the invitation, but unfortunately it won't work out this time.
Courteous refusal without needing to share private details.
Wie sieht's denn stattdessen am Sonntag bei dir aus?
casualHow does Sunday look for you instead?
Conversational question to reschedule with someone you know well.
Würde es dir an einem anderen Tag vielleicht besser passen?
neutralWould another day perhaps suit you better?
Softens the counter-proposal politely using 'würde'.
Sagen wir einfach gegen drei Uhr bei mir?
casualShall we just say around three o'clock at my place?
'Sagen wir...' is the standard spoken formula to suggest a specific hour.
Wollen wir uns dann um halb sieben direkt am Bahnhof treffen?
neutralShall we meet directly at the train station around six thirty then?
Clear, direct proposal specifying both time and location.
Hast du schon eine Idee, wo wir hingehen könnten?
neutralDo you already have an idea of where we could go?
Useful for asking the other person to pick a venue.
Alles klar, dann halten wir das erst mal so fest!
casualAll right, let's lock that in for now!
'Festhalten' idiomatically means to fix or agree on a preliminary plan.
Wunderbar, dann sehen wir uns am Freitag wie vereinbart.
politeWonderful, then I will see you on Friday as agreed.
'Wie vereinbart' provides a reliable, courteous closing confirmation.