When to use it
Use it in a new city to ask whether to call, use an app or go to a taxi rank.
“How do you get a taxi here?” · The sentence in English
"How do you get a taxi here?" uses a general "you" and the light verb "get".
- How
- adverbquestion word asking about the way or manner
- do
- auxiliary verbdo · tense: present · auxiliary that makes the question
- you
- pronounpersonal pronoun used for people in general
- get
- verbget · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · here it means "take" or "find"
- a
- determinerindefinite article
- taxi
- nounnoun
- here
- adverbadverb of place
“Wie bekommt man hier ein Taxi?” · The sentence in German
"Wie bekommt man hier ein Taxi?" uses "man" and "bekommen", which means "to get", not "to become".
- Wie
- adverbquestion word: "how"
- bekommt
- verbbekommen · tense: present · mood: indicative · person: third · number: singular · "gets"; false friend: it does not mean "become"
- man
- pronounimpersonal: "one", "you" in general
- hier
- adverb"here"
- ein
- determinerindefinite article, neuter: "a"
- Taxi
- nounneuter noun: "taxi"
What changes from one language to the other · English × German
"Bekommen" looks like "become" but means "get": a classic false friend. German "man" matches the general English "you".
Example conversation
— Wie bekommt man hier ein Taxi?
— How do you get a taxi here?
— Vor dem Bahnhof ist ein Taxistand.
— There's a taxi rank in front of the station.