21 December 2025
How do you meet someone in German?
Are you meeting someone for the first time, or are you setting a date with someone you know - that is the question!
Definition and Examples
In English, the word “to meet” can mean meeting someone for the first time as well as meeting someone you’ve met before. German distinguishes getting to know someone from meeting them:
kennenlernen - to meet for the first time / to get to know
treffen - to meet someone; the person can be familiar or a stranger
So, during a formal introduction it is normal to say:
Freut mich, Sie kennenzulernen. Nice to meet you.
Es hat mich sehr gefreut, Sie kennenzulernen. It was nice meeting you.
And this is what you say when you’re meeting someone you already know:
Ich treffe heute Freunde. Today I’m meeting friends. Running into someone by chance is begegnen (with the dative): Ich bin gestern meinem Lehrer begegnet. - I ran into my teacher yesterday.
Tip
Spelling note: both kennenlernen and kennen lernen are correct, but kennenlernen is far more common.
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