Taking the German theory test in English — what is translated, and what is not
TÜV and DEKRA offer the Klasse B Theorieprüfung in about a dozen languages including English, but not Hindi, Urdu or Bengali. The question text is translated; the signs, the text plates and the legal vocabulary stay German. Here is exactly which German words you still have to know.
English gets you the question. Not the sign.
You can sit the Klasse B theory exam in English at most TÜV and DEKRA centres. What English does not do is remove German from the test — the signs are German pictures with German words on them, and roughly forty legal terms have no translation on screen.
Offered for the Klasse B theory exam, English among them
~12 languages
The published set is German plus around eleven others — English, French, Greek, Italian, Croatian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Turkish. For Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi candidates that makes English the only realistic option, and it is chosen on the registration form, not on exam day.
What the English version actually gives you
The full question stem and every answer option are translated. The scoring, the error-point weights and the time allowance are identical — there is no easier or harder English paper, and no examiner has ever been impressed by someone sitting it in German out of pride. Take it in the language you read fastest.
Pros
- Question text, all answer options and typed-number prompts are in English.
- Videofragen — the short clips — have no spoken commentary to miss; the question around them is translated like any other.
Cons
- Signs are images, so any German word printed on a sign stays German. "Anlieger frei", "Umleitung", "Einbahnstraße" appear exactly as they do on the road.
- Place-name and direction plates (Ortstafel, Wegweiser) are German by definition.
The English wording is a translation of a German legal text, and it reads like one. Sentences such as "You must expect to be endangered" are literal renderings of Sie müssen mit einer Gefährdung rechnen. Read the question twice — most "trick questions" are simply dense legal German wearing an English coat.
The German you still have to know
These are the words the picture cannot translate for you. Learn the term first, the gloss second — that is the order the exam uses.
| Provider | What it means | Where it bites you |
|---|---|---|
Vorfahrt | Right of way — the priority itself | The whole §8 StVO block, the biggest cluster of 5-point questions |
Vorfahrt gewähren | Give way (literally 'grant priority') | Zeichen 205, the upside-down triangle |
Halten / Parken Halten is not the same word as anhalten. | Stopping (up to 3 min, driver stays) vs parking | Two different prohibition signs, two different fines |
Anlieger frei | Residents and their visitors only | A white supplementary plate that flips a prohibition into a permission |
Schrittgeschwindigkeit | Walking pace | Verkehrsberuhigter Bereich, buses at stops, level crossings |
Gefahrbremsung | Emergency braking | The braking-distance formulas, where it halves your Bremsweg |
Einbahnstraße | One-way street | Blue rectangle with a white arrow — and the cycling exception plate |
Umleitung | Diversion | Yellow signs that override the ones underneath them |
Verkehrsberuhigter Bereich | Home zone / shared space | Children may play in the road; you drive at walking pace and yield to them |
Sichtfahrgebot | Drive only as fast as you can see to stop | §3 StVO, the rule behind fog, night and blind-crest questions |
- What it means
- Right of way — the priority itself
- Where it bites you
- The whole §8 StVO block, the biggest cluster of 5-point questions
- What it means
- Give way (literally 'grant priority')
- Where it bites you
- Zeichen 205, the upside-down triangle
Halten is not the same word as anhalten.
- What it means
- Stopping (up to 3 min, driver stays) vs parking
- Where it bites you
- Two different prohibition signs, two different fines
- What it means
- Residents and their visitors only
- Where it bites you
- A white supplementary plate that flips a prohibition into a permission
- What it means
- Walking pace
- Where it bites you
- Verkehrsberuhigter Bereich, buses at stops, level crossings
- What it means
- Emergency braking
- Where it bites you
- The braking-distance formulas, where it halves your Bremsweg
- What it means
- One-way street
- Where it bites you
- Blue rectangle with a white arrow — and the cycling exception plate
- What it means
- Diversion
- Where it bites you
- Yellow signs that override the ones underneath them
- What it means
- Home zone / shared space
- Where it bites you
- Children may play in the road; you drive at walking pace and yield to them
- What it means
- Drive only as fast as you can see to stop
- Where it bites you
- §3 StVO, the rule behind fog, night and blind-crest questions
Every practice question in our trainer carries the German term inline with its English gloss for exactly this reason — the goal is that you recognise Vorfahrt gewähren on a sign, not that you memorise "yield".
Should you take it in English?
Almost certainly yes, with one honest caveat.
Pros
- You read faster. 30 questions, many of them multi-part, inside 45 minutes. Reading speed is a real variable.
- Fewer misreadings. A German negation you skim past (nicht, kein, darf nicht) costs the same as not knowing the rule.
Cons
- Your practical exam is in German. The examiner sitting beside you gives instructions in German: rechts abbiegen, am rechten Fahrbahnrand halten, wenden. Some centres tolerate an interpreter at your cost; do not assume it.
- Fahrschule lessons are usually in German unless you pay for an English-speaking instructor, which is common in Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich and rare elsewhere.
The sensible plan: sit the theory in English, and spend the same weeks learning the twenty instruction phrases your examiner will use. Our learning stack and the Führerschein vocabulary pages cover both halves.
Practical details worth knowing before the day
Language is chosen at registration
Not on exam dayYour Fahrschule enters it on the exam mandate. Ask for the confirmation in writing.
Bring photo ID
Every centre, no exceptionsPassport or German residence permit. No ID, no exam, and the fee is gone.
No phone, no smartwatch
Anywhere near youDevices go into a locker. A phone found on you is treated as an attempted Täuschung — the attempt is voided.
Result on the spot
ImmediatelyThe tablet scores as you submit. A fail can be repeated after two weeks; the fee is charged again.
Train the way the exam actually asks
- Drill with the German term visible → 350 practice questions with explanations
- Learn signs by shape and colour before pictogram → the sign catalogue
- The 5-point cluster you cannot bluff → the right-of-way trainer
- A real-format paper, timed → the mock exam
- How the scoring works → the theory test explained
Last updated: 2026-08-03
Original practice questions — not the amtlicher Fragenkatalog. Language availability is published by TÜV and DEKRA and can differ by test centre; confirm yours with the Fahrschule before the exam is booked. Rules checked against StVO and FeV on 2026-08-03.