The verb dienen translates as "to serve." But like in English, there are many contexts for this verb that don't have to do with relationships between people. Very often, dienen is used to describe how something serves a certain purpose:

Sie dienen dazu, in Häusern böse Geister zu vertreiben.

They serve to drive evil spirits out of houses.

Caption 27, Cettina erklärt: Pfingsten

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Sie dienen vielen Tieren als Futter.

They serve as fodder for many animals.

Caption 50, Deutsch mit Eylin: Bäume

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banner5 PLACEHOLDER

The verb bedienen is related, but actually has a couple of different meanings. It can relate to waiting tables, though the actual act of serving food, whether at home or in a restaurant, is servieren. The reflexive verb sich bedienen means "to help oneself." Below, you'll see the formal and informal versions:

Dann bedienen Sie sich einfach. Komm! -Komm!

Then just help yourself. Come on! -Come on!

Caption 24, Großstadtrevier: Von Monstern und Mördern

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Viel Spaß! Da hinten steht was zu Trinken. Bedient euch. -Ja.

Have fun! There's stuff to drink back there. Help yourselves. -Yeah.

Caption 52, Die Pfefferkörner: Alles auf Anfang

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The noun die Selbstbedienung, a word that you might find at a café or gas station, means "self-service." But this doesn't necessarily mean you can help yourself!

An important meaning of bedienen is "to operate," as in to operate a device or machine. A user's manual is called die Bedienungsanleitung.

Wenn ihr diesen Wendehammer richtig bedient, könnt ihr die Mauer einreißen.

If you operate this turning area correctly, you can break down the wall.

Captions 73-74, Es war einmal … Entdecker und Erfinder: Archimedes

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Further Learning
You'll find many examples of these nouns and verbs used in context on German Yabla. Just do a quick search!

That is actually the title of a classic detective novel by Raymond Chandler, but the long and short of it is that there are a number of ways to say goodbye in German – some of them longer than others! Let's start with what you probably already know:

Ja, damit sind wir fertig. Auf Wiedersehen!

Yes, with that we are finished. Goodbye!

Caption 77, Das 1. Newtonsche Gesetz - erklärt am Beispiel des Dodomobils

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BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Ich sehe Sie dann morgen. Auf Wiederhören.

I'll see you tomorrow then. Goodbye.

Caption 52, Berufsleben - das Vorstellungsgespräch

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Because of the -sehen in Wiedersehen ("see you again") and -hören in Wiederhören ("hear from you again"), auf Wiederhören is the proper form to use on the telephone.

Wiedersehen, vielen Dank! -Tschüss. -Tschüss.

Goodbye, many thanks! -Bye. -Bye.

Caption 25, Großstadtrevier - Von Monstern und Mördern

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Tschüss is an informal waym of saying goodbye that originally stems from the Spanish word for goodbye, adios.

Bis morgen. Ciao.

See you tomorrow. Ciao.

Caption 40, Bäppi im Fernsehstudio - Bäppis best model by Hilde Klump

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"Ciao" is actually from the Italian and can, depending upon the context, be used for hello or goodbye. It is not even translated as "bye" here as it has been adopted into English by most American and British dictionaries. It's usage in German is very informal.

Sie wissen schon, was wir meinen. Adieu.

You do know what we mean. Adieu.

Captions 64-65, Die Pfefferkörner - Endspurt

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The French word for goodbye, adieu, has also been adopted by English and is thus generally not translated.

Ich hab was vergessen. -Aha. -Wir sehen uns.

I forgot something. -Aha. -See you.

Caption 66, Die Pfefferkörner - Eigentor

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It is also common to say Wir sehen uns morgen ("We'll see each other tomorrow" or "See you tomorrow"), or Wir sehen uns wieder ("We'll see each other again"), and so forth. It sounds a bit impersonal to the ears of an English speaker, but you can also say man sieht sich, which translates as "We'll see each other" or simply "See you." 

Mir hat's super gefallen. Bis dann!

I really enjoyed it. Until then!

Caption 93, Frisbee - Karlsruher Weihnachtsturnier

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Hast du die Mathehausaufgaben denn schon fertig? -Ja, bis später.

Have you finished the math homework already? -Yes, see you later.

Caption 2, Knallerfrauen - Mathehausaufgaben

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Mach's gut, Herbert. Bis bald.

Take care, Herbert. See you soon.

Caption 4, Nicos Weg - A1 Folge 3: Tschüss!

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Bis zum nächsten Mal.

Until next time.

Caption 21, Berlin - Domäne Dahlem

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Many of the ways to say goodbye using bis and some point in the future may be translated, depending upon the context, as either "till," "until," or "see you..." So if somebody says bis morgen, you could translate it as "till tomorrow," "until tomorrow," or "see you tomorrow."

Note that macht's gut, which could be literally translated as "fare well" or "farewell," is used as an informal way to say goodbye in some German regional dialects. Another good equivalent translation could be "have a good one."

But how do you say "to say goodbye" as in "to take leave" of somebody? The most common ways are Abschied nehmen and the reflexive verb sich verabschieden:

Aber als Flüchtling muss man eben oft Abschied nehmen.

But as a refugee, you often have to say goodbye.

Caption 35, Filmtrailer - Als Hitler das rosa Kaninchen stahl

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Und hier verabschieden wir uns auch von euch.

And we will say goodbye to you here.

Caption 39, 48 h in Innsbruck - Sehenswürdigkeiten & Tipps

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Further Learning
I hope that learning about goodbye didn't take too long—this is a lesson and not a novel, after all! Look for some of the ways of saying goodbye on Yabla German, and take special note of how some are used in formal contexts and others in more casual situations. So until next time, mach's gut and stay healthy!

The German adjective and adverb dicht sounds a lot like the English word "thick," and while there are cases where it can be translated as "thick," it's the exception rather than the rule. Let's take a look today at the different ways that dicht can be translated in formal and informal contexts.

Dicht is often translated into English as "dense" or "densely," or in the case of dichter, "denser":

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Er sollte dehnbar sein, und je dichter, desto besser.

It should be stretchy, and the denser, the better.

Caption 79, Coronavirus - Schutzmasken zum Selbermachen

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Die Kaimauer des Südhafens ist dicht mit Seescheiden besiedelt.

The quay wall of the south harbor is densely populated with sea squirts.

Caption 13, Abenteuer Nordsee - Unter Riesenhaien und Tintenfischen

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It's also common to see dicht translated as the adjective "close" or the adverb "closely":

Die kommen ganz dicht dran.

They come very close.

Sie beachtet die Leute überhaupt nicht, die Besucher.

She doesn't pay attention to the people, the visitors at all.

Caption 43, Für Tierfreunde - Geparden

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Darin warten etwa 3.600 kleine Zähne,

Inside await roughly 3600 little teeth

die in mehr als 300 dicht zusammenstehenden Reihen angeordnet sind.

that are arranged in more than 300 closely set rows.

Captions 66-67, Evolution - Meeresbewohner

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In slang usage, dicht machen can mean "to close": 

Komm, wir machen hier dicht.

Come on, let's close up here.

Caption 15, Die Pfefferkörner - Alles auf Anfang

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Frau Korff kann dicht machen, ich verliere meinen Job,

Ms. Korff will have to close the business, I'll lose my job,

Caption 2, Großstadtrevier - Von Monstern und Mördern

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A rather unexpected formal usage of dicht conveys that something is sealed, in the sense of "not leaking": 

Das Boot ist dicht.
The boat is sealed.

Das Fass hält nicht mehr dicht.
The barrel is no longer sealed.

Probably related to dicht halten as “to keep sealed,” dichthalten is a slang way of referring to keeping a secret, in a similar sense to "my lips are sealed":

Bitte halte dicht, psst...

Please keep it a secret, shhh...

Caption 7, JoNaLu - Wo ist Rosalie?

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When you rather rudely call somebody "thick" in English, you're saying that they are slightly crazy or stupid. But in German slang, you'd say nicht ganz dicht, the suggestion being that thoughts are "leaking" out of someone's head:

Johannes ist nicht ganz dicht.
Johannes is a crazy.

Last but not least, dicht may be formally translated in certain contexts as "thick": 

Das Wetter heute: Vormittags dichter Nebel, nachmittags sonnig.
Today's weather: morning thick fog, afternoon sunny.

Further Learning
Go to Yabla German and search for dicht to see the many different ways it is used in a variety of real-world contexts.