Reading Signs & Notices

Schilder und Hinweise lesen

German public spaces are full of short, formal notices - "no smoking," "under construction," "closed" - that don't follow the sentence patterns you've been building (Ich + verb). This lesson is pure pattern-recognition: you don't need to produce these forms, just recognize them instantly.

verboten: "forbidden"

Rauchen verboten (No smoking - literally "smoking forbidden")
Parken verboten (No parking)
Eintritt verboten (No entry)

Pattern: [verb-as-noun, capitalized] + verboten. You don't need to conjugate anything here - it's a fixed notice format, not a full sentence.

geschlossen / geöffnet: "closed" / "open"

Heute geschlossen (Closed today)
Montag - Freitag geöffnet (Open Monday - Friday)

These are the past participles you already recognize from the Perfekt (Lesson 16), used here as simple adjectives.

bitte + imperative: polite instructions

Bitte nicht berühren. (Please do not touch. - imperative without "Sie," a common shortened sign form)
Bitte anschnallen. (Please buckle up.)

Passive-style notices (recognize, don't worry about producing)

Hier wird gebaut. (Construction happening here - literally "here is being built")
Vorsicht, frisch gestrichen! (Caution, wet paint!)

These use the passive voice, which is beyond this course's current scope - but recognizing "wird + participle" as roughly "is being [verb]ed" is enough to understand the sign without needing to produce this grammar yourself.

Quick recall check

Primary source

Sign patterns cross-checked against the reading-comprehension style used in the official Goethe A1 Modellsatz, whose Lesen section includes short notice-style texts.

Come across a specific real sign you're unsure how to read? Ask your teaching agent.