Learn Days, Months & Dates in German

Sonntag is Sunday, the day when - in German - all the stores are closed. Look at the German names for the days of the week in the following table. 
German
Pronunciation
English
der Tag
deyR tahk
Day
die Woche
dee vo-CHuh
Week
Montag
mon-tahk
Monday
Dienstag
dee-uhnts-tahk
Tuesday
Mittwoch
mit-voCH
Wednesday
Donnerstag
do-nuhRs-tahk
Thursday
Freitag
fRay-tahk
Friday
Samstag
sAms-tahk
Saturday
Sonntag
son-tahk
Sunday

  • German: "Am Montag gehe ich in die Stadt."
    • Pronunciation: "Am mohn-tahk gey-huh iH in dee shtAt."
      • English: "On Monday I go downtown."
To express the word on when talking about a certain day, Germans use the contraction am , a combination of the preposition an and dem dem being the form the definite article der takes in the dative case):

To express that you do something on a specific day every week, simply add an -s , just as you do in English, to the end of the day:

  • German: "Montags gehe ich in die Stadt."
    • Pronunciation: "Mohn-tahks gey-huh iH in dee shtAt."
      • English: "On Monday's I go downtown."

The Months In German

The table below lists the months of the year in German:

German
Pronunciation
English
der Monat
deyR moh-nAt
Month
das Jahr
dAs yahR
Year
Januar
yah-new-ahR
January
Februar
feb-Rew-ahR
February
März
marts
March
April
A-pRil
April
Mai
mahee
May
Juni
yew-nee
June
Juli
yew-lee
July
August
ou-goost
August
September
sep-tem-buhR
September
Oktober
ok-toh-buhR
October
November
noh-vem-buhR
November
Dezember
dey-tsem-buhR
December

To express that something is expected to happen in a specific month, use the contraction im , a combination of the preposition in and dem (which is the form der takes in the dative case):

  • Proper German: "In Köln, regnet es am stärksten im März."
    • Pronunciation: "In köln reyk-nuht es Am shtäRks-tuhn im marts."
      • English: "In Köln, it rains hardest in March."

Proper Usage Of Dates In German

The fourth of July, your own birthday and Christmas: What do these things have in common? Well, if you want to chat about them, you've got to learn a few words that deal with dates. The following table has some general terms dealing with chunks of time, like years and days:

German
Pronunciation
English
eine Stunde
ay-nuh shtoon-duh
An hour
ein Tag
ayn tahk
A day
eine Woche
ay-nuh vo-CHuh
A week
ein Monat
ayn moh-naht
A month
ein Jahr
ayn yahR
A year
zwei Jahre
tsvay yah-Ruh
Two years
einige Jahre
ay-nee-guh yah-Ruh
Some years
nächstes Jahr
näH-stuhs yahR
Next year
letztes Jahr
lets-tuhs yahR
Last year


Whether you have a dentist appointment of a romantic rendezvous, you will have to learn to express the date of the appointment differently than you do in the United States.

The Days Of The Week In German
  • German: "Montag, der dritte März 1997."
    • Pronunciation: "Mohn-tahk, deyR dRi-tuh mäRts 1997."
      • English: "Monday, the third of March 1997."
Note: The days of the week, months of the year and the four seasons all take the masculine definite article der.
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