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When somebody agrees with a point made in conversation they often say "genau" or "stimmt" (often preceeded by "ja").

So what is the difference? Is one slang and the other standard? Or is one regional?

(I usually spend my time in Germany in Bavaria or Berlin but my friends in Berlin often moved there from some other region so I get it all mixed up in my head.)

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10  
You can even say "ja, stimmt genau". – user12889 Jun 9 '11 at 5:26
3  
Yes, that's exactly correct. Oh look, it works in English, too. – Tim Pietzcker Jun 9 '11 at 7:22
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I sometimes teach foreigners the word "genau" and tell them that's all they need to participate in a conversation with a German... – Jan Jun 9 '11 at 7:26
@Jan: xD Yeah that will work well with a lot of people... good idea! :) – ladybug Jun 9 '11 at 8:13
@user12889: Ja genau, stimmt! – user unknown Mar 22 at 22:52

5 Answers

up vote 14 down vote accepted

I personally use both words randomly to agree with what others say. Neither of these is rude or slang. In my opinion they can be used in a formal (business) discussion without any concerns.

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+1 Treffend bemerkt (just anaother related way to express my approval with the answer from Markus) – bernd_k Jun 9 '11 at 5:36
Nevertheless I think "stimmt" is more "you convinced me" while "genau" is "This is exactly what I thought all the time." – Ingo Sep 8 '11 at 15:13
up vote 9 down vote

Both words are standard German, but I think "genau" is used more often in small talk. As Jan says in his comment, if you're on the receiving end of a discission, it is quite sufficient to say "genau" at the appropriate points. To me, "stimmt" would sound less natural in this context (but that might indeed be a regional thing). For me, "stimmt" is connected with a little more thinking: If I agree without having to think, I say "genau" (or "ja, genau"), if I hesitate before agreeing, I say a little more thoughful "stimmt" (or "ja, stimmt").

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up vote 3 down vote

"Ja, genau" (Yes, exactly) is an abbreviated form of the expression "Ja, stimmt genau" (Yes, [your statement is] exactly corrent), which is a variant of "Ja, stimmt" (Yes, [your statement is] correct).

In other words: "Ja, genau" is an elliptical construction.

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up vote 1 down vote

Stimmt is relaxed, casual. If, for example, you were made aware of something that had slipped your mind and you were reminded, you would say "Stimmt." as a 'Oh yeah, true, I had forgotten about that.' or 'Of course, yes, it had slipped my mind' type of expression.

A: Don't forget to take the package to the post office!

B: Oh, ja stimmt. Danke.

Genau is really very different in the usage.

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Well, do you mind giving us some details about what is different with genau? – Em1 Mar 22 at 10:51
up vote 0 down vote

Both "genau" and "stimmt" have the meaning of "I agree." But the connotations are slightly different.

"Genau" can be translated into English as "Check" (the box).

"Stimmt" (which can mean "vote") is more like, "Yes! That's right." (It just dawned on me.) or "I get it!"

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