Frequently asked questions about the German driving theory test
Answers to the questions learners ask most often: how many of the 30 questions you can miss, how long to study (20 to 40 hours), what Schrittgeschwindigkeit means in km/h, whether a speed sign really ends at the next junction, and whether you can sit the exam in English. Checked 2026-08-03.
How many questions are in the German theory test and how many can I get wrong?
30 questions, and no time limit — Anlage 7 FeV fixes the questions and the points but says nothing about time, and the ADAC confirms it (2026-03-12). There is no pass mark in correct answers — you collect error points, 2 to 5 per question depending on how safety-critical it is, and you fail above 10. Exactly 10 is a pass. Separately, two wrong 5-point questions fail you even if the total is 10 or under.
How long should I study for the German theory test?
Most learners need 20 to 40 hours spread over three to six weeks. The failure mode is memorising answers instead of rules: the catalogue is large enough that recognition alone breaks down under exam pressure, and every question here therefore explains the rule rather than just marking the right box.
Is Schrittgeschwindigkeit a specific speed?
No statutory number exists. Case law puts walking pace somewhere between roughly 4 and 7 km/h and the courts have disagreed — OLG Karlsruhe settled on no more than 7 km/h, OLG Naumburg accepted up to 10 — so treat it as 'slow enough to stop instantly' rather than a speedometer reading. It applies in a verkehrsberuhigter Bereich (Zeichen 325.1), when passing a bus with hazard lights at a stop, and wherever a sign or plate imposes it.
Does a speed-limit sign end at the next junction?
No, and this is the most widespread German driving myth. A Streckenverbot such as Zeichen 274 runs until Zeichen 278 or 282 lifts it, or a new limit replaces it. Passing a junction changes nothing. A zone sign (Zeichen 274.1) is different again: it covers every street inside the area until the matching end sign. OLG Hamm has treated believing otherwise as an avoidable mistake of law, not an excuse.
Can I take the German theory test in English?
Yes. Anlage 7 FeV Nr. 1.3 lists German plus exactly 12 foreign languages — Englisch, Französisch, Griechisch, Italienisch, Polnisch, Portugiesisch, Rumänisch, Russisch, Kroatisch, Spanisch, Türkisch and Hocharabisch — and the questions are the same ones translated. It is a closed list: Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Punjabi are not on it, so English is the realistic choice. English is federal law, available at every Prüfstelle, not a big-city perk. The signs, the German terms and the sign texts stay German, which is why every rule on this page carries its German name — that vocabulary is what you actually need on the road afterwards.
Original practice questions — not the amtlicher Fragenkatalog. Every question, sign description and scenario here is written by us and covers the same StVO rules as the official Klasse B test. We are not TÜV, DEKRA or a Fahrschule, and we do not reproduce the official catalogue. Road signs themselves are amtliche Werke (StVO Anlage 1–3). Rules checked against StVO and FeV on 2026-08-03.
Last updated: 2026-08-03