Greetings
Grüezi
GROO-et-si — Swiss German, not Hochdeutsch
Hello, formal. The default greeting to strangers, shopkeepers and colleagues.
Grüezi mitenand
GROO-et-si MIT-en-and
Hello, to a group. Using it correctly marks you as someone who's paying attention.
Social
Merci vielmal
MER-si FEEL-mal — French borrowing in a German dialect
Thank you very much. Swiss German borrows freely from French.
Daily life
Hochdeutsch vs Schwiizerdütsch
The written vs the spoken language
Standard German is written and taught; Swiss German is spoken. Your German classes will not prepare you for the street.
Anmeldung
AN-mel-doong
Registering your address at the Kreisbüro — legally required within 14 days and the trigger for everything else.
Gemeinde / Kreis
ge-MYNE-de / kryce
Municipality / city district. Zurich has 12 Kreise and much of your admin is district-level.
ZVV
tset-fau-fau
The Zurich transport network — trams, buses, S-Bahn and lake boats on one integrated ticket.
Serviceabo / Halbtax
HALB-taks
The half-fare travel card. Almost every resident has one; it halves rail fares nationwide.
Ruhezeit
ROO-e-tsyte
Quiet hours — typically nights and all of Sunday. Enforced socially and sometimes contractually.
Work
Feierabend
FY-er-ah-bent
The end of the working day, treated as a real boundary. People leave on time and mean it.
Food
Znüni / Zvieri
TSNOO-nee / TSFEE-ri
The nine-o'clock and four-o'clock snacks. Small rituals that structure the Swiss day.
Emergency
144 / 117 / 118
Ambulance / police / fire
Switzerland's emergency numbers. 112 also works.
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.