How do you say “It's all Greek to me” in German?
The closest natural German equivalent is Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof., which literally means “I only understand train station.”. English speakers use it's all greek to me to mean that you do not understand something at all. An informal, often light-hearted admission of confusion. Register: informal. Usage frequency: common.
Closest natural German
Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof.
/ɪç fɛɐ̯ˈʃteːə nuːɐ̯ ˈbaːnhoːf/
- Literal meaning
- “I only understand train station.”
- Register
- informal
- How often it's used
- common
- Equivalence
Near-exact equivalent
94 out of 100
What a native German speaker would actually say
The odd reference to a station makes this a light, informal admission of confusion. It works for spoken explanations and written material alike.
“Ein Buch mit sieben Siegeln” is a more elaborate alternative. It often describes a whole subject that remains mysterious, rather than one explanation you failed to follow.
How close is the meaning?
- Meaning5 out of 5
- Tone5 out of 5
- Context5 out of 5
- Literal similarity1 out of 5
These ratings are editorial approximations, not measurements.
What are other ways to say it in German?
Das ist für mich ein Buch mit sieben Siegeln.
Literally: “That is a book with seven seals for me.”
More elaborate; stresses something mysterious or inaccessible.
Das ist mir völlig unverständlich.
Literally: “That is completely incomprehensible to me.”
Plain and more formal.
In context
English
Those equations are all Greek to me.
German
Bei diesen Gleichungen verstehe ich nur Bahnhof.
English
It's all Greek to me. Can you explain it more simply?
German
Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof. Kannst du es einfacher erklären?
Related expressions
- What “It's all Greek to me” means in English
- Read between the lines, Find hidden meaning in what is said
- Off the top of my head, From memory without checking facts
Last updated 2026-09-16