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
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.
