I have predominately applied myself to grammatical topics so far and completely – unintentionally – ignored children’s topics. Therefore, I would like to dedicate this post to all children and ageless people by focusing on German Abzählreime (counting rhymes).
Before children can begin to play a game , e.g. Verstecke (hide and seek) or Fange (tag), they often need to agree which of them may start. In order to prevent any quarrels, counting is a fun way to determine the beginner. Below you can find a selection of German counting rhymes as well as the English translations. Mind that the English versions do not always sound so nice because I focused on the literal translation rather than on well-formed transcriptions.
1. Ene, mene, miste
| Ene, mene, miste
Was rappelt in der Kiste?
Ene, mene, meck
Und Du bist weg. |
Eenie, meenie, fox
What is rattling in the box?
Eenie, meenie, won
And you are gone. |
Note: German “miste” and “meck” are nonsense words. I only used “fox” and “won” in the English translation to make it rhyme with “box” and “gone”.
2. Müllers Kuh
| Ich und Du,
Müllers Kuh
Müllers Esel das bist Du
Das bist du noch lange nicht,
Sag mir erst wie alt du bist,
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, … (counting child’s age)
6 ist kein Wort
und Du bist fort. |
I and you,
Miller’s cow
Miller’s donkey that are you
That aren’t you not by a long shot
Tell me first how old are you
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, … (counting child’s age)
6 is no word
and you are off. |
3. Amerika
| 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
wo ist nur mein Freund geblieben?
Ist nicht hier,
Ist nicht da,
Ist wohl in Amerika! |
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
where is my friend?
Is not here,
Is not there,
Must be in America! |
4. Der Storch und der Hase
| Eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf,
Der Storch hat keine Strümpf,
Der Frosch hat kein Haus
Und du musst raus! |
One, two, three, four, five
The stork has no socks
The frog has no house
And you are off! |
5. Das Ei
| Eins, zwei, drei,
Auf der Treppe liegt ein Ei
Wer darauf tritt,
Spielt nicht mit. |
One, two, three
On the stairs there is an egg
Who steps on it
Does not join in. |
6. Die Micky Maus
| Eine kleine Micky Maus
Zieht sich mal die Hose aus,
Zieht sie wieder an
Und du bist dran. |
A little, little Mickey Mouse,
Is taking off his pants
Is putting them on again
And it’s your turn. |
How often a counting rhyme has to be repeated depends, firstly, on the counting rhyme itself and, secondly, on how many children are involved. Rhymes 1, 2, 3, and 4 can be used to ‘count down’ which child may start. Rhyme 6 can be used when only two children are involved. And Rhyme 5 can be used when a game needs a kind of leader, so that the child who does not join in has to fulfill another part in a game.
What are common counting rhymes in your mother language?
Comments:
kaushik Chakraborty:
Dear Sandra,
It is really a wonderful post specially for the new learners of this language.One can learn so easily from the children’s stuffs.I am hopeful to see some posts on the children’s story,literature etc.
Thanks a lot.
Regards,
Kaushik Chakraborty
National Institute of Design
India
Allan Mahnke:
Sehr viel Spass! Vielen Dank!
Charles Laster:
Good job. Liked the depantsing of mickey mouse.
luthfi:
Can you tell me to sing that rhyme? Or you can post your voice. So, I can sing it too. Danke
Bernd:
the second game is called Fangen or more commonly referred to as Packen
Anonymous:
Eenie, meenie, miney, moe,
catch a tiger by the toe.
If he hollers
let ’em go,
eenie, meenie, miney moe.
In California, there’s a ‘my mother told me so’ line thrown in after ‘let ’em go,’ sometimes replacing the last ‘Eenie, meenie, miney moe,’ depending on who’s counting off. In some parts of Michigan, the tiger is replaced by a dragon.
Here’s another, lesser known one I’ve only heard in Michigan:
Engine engine number nine,
chugging down Chicago line,
if the train went off the track,
would you want your money back?
The kid who’s fist (or foot) was hit on the last word will say a number, and the counter will then spell or count that number and knock someone out on the last letter or number. Then the rhyme is repeated untill only one fist remains.
Bubble gum, bubble gum in a dish,
how many pieces do you wish?
This one is more common than ‘Engine engine number nine,’ but ends the same way-with a number.
Instead of counting off, sometimes for tag one kid will just shout ‘123notit,’ and the last kind to say ‘not it’ is it.
xtofu:
hello!
that’s cool and helpful, thank you.
i would just point out that ‘gone’ does not rhyme with ‘won’ in standard english!
it can do in some dialects though.
Antoinette:
Alo I am learning German and this was so cool oder Toll.
Vielen Dank.