Vocabulary for the city covers both buildings and public places. Nouns include das Zentrum (city centre), das Gebäude (building), die Kirche (church), das Museum, die Bank, die Post (post office), der Markt (market), der Platz (square), die Ecke (corner), die Brücke (bridge), and das Viertel (neighbourhood). You might say "Wir wohnen im Zentrum" (We live in the city centre), describe a landmark with "Das Gebäude ist sehr hoch" (The building is very tall), or pick a meeting point: "Wir treffen uns auf dem Platz" (We'll meet in the square). Note that several of these require specific cases in prepositional phrases, such as "Ich gehe zur Post" (I'm going to the post office), where "zur" is a contraction of "zu der."
Moving through the city uses direction verbs and expressions. Überqueren means to cross, as in "Überqueren Sie die Straße" (Cross the street), while abbiegen means to turn, as in "Biegen Sie links ab" (Turn left). Distance is described with the phrases in der Nähe (near) and weit (far): "Gibt es eine Apotheke in der Nähe?" (Is there a pharmacy nearby?) or "Der Bahnhof ist nicht weit" (The station isn't far). Opening hours can be confirmed with vocabulary you already know: "Das Museum ist montags geschlossen" (The museum is closed on Mondays), and locations can be combined as in "Die Bank ist neben der Post" (The bank is next to the post office).
Travel and nature vocabulary includes der Urlaub (holiday), das Meer (sea), der Strand (beach), der Wald (forest), der See (lake), das Feld (field), die Insel (island), das Tier (animal), der Vogel (bird), and die Umwelt (environment). Sentences include "Wir fahren im Sommer in den Urlaub" (We go on holiday in summer), "Wir gehen im Wald spazieren" (We go for a walk in the forest), and "Die Insel ist klein und ruhig" (The island is small and quiet). The verb wandern (to hike) is especially popular in German-speaking countries: "Im Urlaub wandern wir gern" (We like to hike on holiday). The adjective frisch (fresh) describes clean air as in "Die Luft ist hier sehr frisch" (The air is very fresh here), and the noun die Wettervorhersage (weather forecast) helps you plan: "Die Wettervorhersage verspricht Sonne" (The forecast promises sun). Finally, schützen (to protect) reminds us of environmental responsibility: "Wir müssen die Umwelt schützen" (We must protect the environment).