Today we will tell you about quite interesting topic, such as days of the week. On German their name and etymology are different from ours native language, and it’s quite funny, so let’s talk a little about that too.
After all, something influenced the primary name of these very days, and the names invented by someone once stuck and reached the present moment.
So, first, let's just list the days of the week in German:
der Montag - Monday,
der Dienstag – Tuesday
der Mittwoch – Wednesday
der Donnerstag – Thursday
der Freitag – Friday
der Samstag/Sonnabend – Saturday
der Sonntag – Sunday
I will say right away that each of the names of any day of the week in German will male, since they end in –tag. By itself, the word tag means day.
And you probably noticed that the name of Saturday can be variable and has several different names. However, only the first of them belongs to the official version and, by the way, is used much more often.
Now let's talk about the etymology itself and the differences in it between German and Russian languages.
Let's start it all days of the week in German at first.
So, Monday. If in Russian this means next week, then our German the analogue comes from the name of the goddess der Mond, who was the goddess of the Moon.
Wednesday, according to the etymology of the word in these languages, is the same and means the middle of the week, although, in theory, the middle day of the week is Thursday.
And the etymology of the word Thursday is again different and the Russian language uses the numeral “four” in its name, and German does not disdain the name Donnar, who is similar to the god Jupiter.
Friday - everything is simple here, from the word fifth in Russian, and the loving Scandinavian goddess, who was also a symbol of fertility - Freya.
For the sixth day of the week - Saturday, there is something in common between our languages, and more specifically, both Russian and German name The word comes from the word Shabbat, which originally came and spread from the Jews.
Initially, this word is of Hebrew origin and is based on a combination of the words star of Saturn. However, there is another name for this word. Sonnabend is the same day off that comes before Sunday. In the GDR this was the recognized name for the Sabbath. As for Sunday, it is formed from the word “resurrect”, and in German, the analogue name follows from the name of the Sun God.
You should start learning any language from the basics. If you miss something important at the beginning, then difficulties will arise later that will not allow you to move forward. For example, if you do not master pronunciation properly, then oral speech will be difficult to understand. Without excellent knowledge of grammar, you will not be able to write even the simplest letter.
A basic set of words will help you navigate a conversation with strangers in a country where German is the main language. Learn a new subject step by step, do not get ahead of yourself - this way you will master it one hundred percent.
Days of the week
All days of the week in German have a masculine gender and an article. der. Every word has an ending - tag:
- Monday: Montag (montag);
- Tuesday: Dienstag (dienstag);
- Wednesday: Mittwoch (mitvokh);
- Thursday: Donnerstag (donerstag);
- Friday: Freitag (freitag);
- Saturday: Samstag/Sonnabend
- Sunday: Sonntag.
Saturday has two translations and pronunciations. The first one is more formal and is used more often.
The easiest day of the week to remember is Wednesday - it literally translates as “middle of the week” - Mitte der Woche = der Mittwoch.
In sentences, days of the week are used together with the preposition am. Eg: Am Montag besuchte ich meinen Vater - “On Monday I visited my father.” Am Donnerstag ging Helga zum Arzt - “Olga went to the doctor on Thursday.”
Some actions may be permanent - they are expressed using the day of the week expressed in plural and without an excuse. For example: For example, Ich treibe Montags und Freitags Sport - “I train on Mondays and Fridays.”
A certain time period is emphasized using the design von... bis. Articles are also omitted here: Ich war in Moskau von Mittwoch bis Sonntag - “I was in Moscow from Wednesday to Sunday.” Wirst du bist daheim von 5 bis 7 morgen? - “Will you be home tomorrow from 5 to 7”?
How can a child quickly learn the days of the week?
Most suitable for children game uniform memorizing one or another section of the German language. In order to quickly remember the days of the week, you can learn a funny rhyme with your baby:
Am Sonntag scheint die Sonne.
Am Montag trifft er Herrn Mon.
Am Dienstag hat er Dienst.
Am Mittwoch ist Mitte der Woche.
Am Donnerstag donnert es.
Am Freitag hat er frei.
Und am Samstag kommt das Sams.
“The sun is shining on Sunday.
On Monday he will meet Mr. Mon (Ponedelkus).
On Tuesday for his service.
Wednesday is the middle of the week.
There's thunder on Thursday
He is free on Friday.
And (then) Sams (Subastic) will come on Saturday.”
In this simple poem you will find new words:
- scheinen / schien / geschienen – to shine, to shine;
- die Sonne – sun;
- treffen / traf / getroffen – to meet;
- der Dienst / die Dienste – service;
- die Mitte / die Mitten – middle;
- donnern / donnerte / gedonnert – to thunder;
- es donnert - thunder roars;
- frei – free;
- kommen / kam / gekommen – to come.
If your child is studying German at school or with a private teacher, he will probably be asked to learn this rhyme. The parents' task is to support the child and be sure to praise him when he tells it correctly.
Related words
The theme of the week and its days includes a few more basic words:
- day: der Tag (der Tag);
- week: die Woche (di Woche);
- days of the week: die Wochentage (di Wochentage);
- day of the week: der Wochentag (der Wochentag);
- the day before yesterday: vorgestern (forgestern);
- yesterday: gestern (gestern);
- today: heute (hoite);
- tomorrow: morgen (morgen);
- the day after tomorrow: übermorgen (ubermorgen);
- das Wochenende – weekend;
- der Feiertag – a day off due to a holiday.
IN lexicon Every beginner should include similar constructions:
- am Montag abend - on Monday evening (am Montag abend);
- alle Montage - every Monday (alle Montage);
- montags – on Mondays;
- den ganzen Montag hat es geregnet - it rained all Monday (der ganzen Montag hat es geregnet);
- die Nacht vom Montag zum Dienstag - the night from Monday to Tuesday (di Nacht vom Montag zum Dienstag);
- eines schönen Montags - one fine Monday, one day on Monday (eines schönen Montags).
Using associative memory
Knowing all these words and phrases, you can begin to learn how to take part in simple conversations with a clear pronunciation of each sound. It is important not to forget about accurate pronunciation, which is recommended to be practiced by repeating the words after the speaker repeatedly.
If you learn the days of the week one after another, like a poem, it may seem boring. You can add variety to teaching techniques with fun flashcards. On one side you can place the name of the day of the week in Russian and a characteristic picture. It will help you use memory, which is based on associations. On the other side there will be a hint written - how the day of the week is written in German. You can first learn how Russian days of the week will be pronounced and written in German, and then vice versa.
Today I will tell you about the days of the week in German.
This is what they are called: Montag (Monday), Dienstag (Tuesday), Mittwoch (Wednesday), Donnerstag (Thursday), Freitag (Friday), Samstag (Saturday), Sonntag (Sunday).
Remember that the days of the week in German are masculine.
The preposition we use when we want to say When action takes place - am.
Am Montag - on Monday, am Freitag - on Friday, am Sonntag - on Sunday.
Am Montag beginnt eine neue Woche.– A new week begins on Monday.
How to say Monday to Friday in German? Using prepositions von and bis: von Montag bis Freitag.
And if we need to say the phrase: the night from Monday to Tuesday, we use prepositions - vom and zum:
die Nacht vom Montag zum Dienstag– night from Monday to Tuesday
If you do something every Tuesday, every Wednesday or every other day of the week, then the ending -s is added to the day of the week: montags – on Mondays ,samstags – on Saturdays.
Was für einen Tag haben wir heute? = Was haben wir heute?- What day is today?
Heute ist Sonntag. - Today is Sunday.
Gestern war Samstag.- Yesterday was Saturday.
Morgen ist Montag.- Tomorrow is Monday.
Ab Montag bis Freitag arbeite ich.– From Monday to Friday I work.
Seit Dienstag habe ich ihn nicht mehr gesehen. “I haven’t seen him since Tuesday.”
Bis Montag! - Till Monday!
Along with the topic “days of the week”, it is also worth considering the parts of the day: Morgen - morning, Abend - evening, Vormittag - afternoon, Nachmittag - afternoon, Nacht - night. All of them are also masculine, except for the word “night” - which, like in Russian, is a feminine word.
Now attention! The following words are written together. And once upon a time, before 1996, they were written separately.
Montagvormittag– Monday before lunch
Montagabend – on Monday night
Montagnacht- Monday night
Montagvormittag wird schneien.- It will snow until noon on Monday.
I have prepared the following diagram, which looks at “Tuesday” in different phrases. Instead of Tuesday - of course - any other day of the week can be used. Use:
Days of the week in German: some idioms
The Germans made up idioms and sayings for some of the days of the week. From what we know: not everything is Maslenitsa for the cat.. Do you know this one? In the German version, it uses “Sunday”. Alle Tage ist kein Sonntag.– Not all days are Sundays.
But you can remake this saying and use it like this: Sie hat alle Tage Sonntag. – Every day is a holiday for her.
They say this about those who shirk work or play truant: Er macht blauen Montag.
If everything goes according to schedule for a German, he will say: wie der Montag auf den Sonntag klappen.
Greetings again lovers foreign languages, in particular German. It’s been a long time since there have been German collections and I decided to please, and maybe upset some readers website. Basic German vocabulary- This is probably the most important aspect for all beginning students.
At the moment I am trying to break down all the important German vocabulary in sections by topic, because I think this method of studying is more productive and effective. To be honest, I don’t know which share of site visitors is greater: or, but if you think logically, it’s probably English :), because it’s not the same educational portal for world languages. This does not prevent me from creating dictionaries, because German is exactly the language that I still need to study for a long time and productively.
Today I invite you to familiarize yourself with names of the days of the week in German plus other important words from this topic. As always, you will receive different formats of dictionaries - this is both in a regular document and in the format for Lingvo Tutor. The correct article before a word is also an important point in learning German, but here you don’t have to worry, because in German there is always an article before any day of the week DER.
I have also prepared other similar vocabulary (all in one dictionary), which is quite often missed when studying the days of the week. Words like gestern, heute, morgen, übermorgen should always be in your memory. Some will say that these are elementary words, but sorry, not everything is here "advanced" German speakers. I wish you good luck in your studies and patience in everything.
Learned words “days of the week” in German with translation:
der Montag- Monday
der Dienstag- Tuesday
der Mittwoch- Wednesday
der Donnerstag- Thursday
der Freitag- Friday
der Samstag/der Sonnabend- Saturday
der Sontag- Sunday
das Jahr- year
der Monat- month
die Woche- a week
der Tag- day
die Wochentage- days of the week
das Wochenende- weekend
der Feiertag- day off due to a holiday
vorgestern- day before yesterday
gestern- yesterday
heute- Today
morgen- Tomorrow
übermorgen- day after tomorrow