How to describe your bike in German Posted by Larissa on Sep 4, 2018 in Language, Sports
Servus, one of the things I love most about living in Munich is that there are cycle paths everywhere. I find cycling so much quicker than taking the bus or the U bahn, and it gives you some fresh air and exercise too! One thing that might get annoying is when your bicycle breaks (I have had four flat tyres in the space of two months), so here is a vocabulary post to help you describe every part of your bicycle.
The basics:
das Fahrrad/die Fahrräder the bicycle/the bicycles
der Reifen/die Reifen the tyre/the tyres
die Bremse/die Bremsen the break/the breaks
das Pedal/die Pedale the pedal/the pedals
die Gangschaltung/die Gangschaltungen the gear/the gears
die Kette the chain
der Sattel the saddle
das Fahrradlicht the bicycle light
das Lenkrad oder der Lenker the handlebar
Types of bicycles:
Mountainbike Mountain bike – yes, the German’s use the english word!
Citybike City bike
Kinderfahrrad Children’s bike
E-Bike Electric bike
Adjectives to describe the problem:
Rostig rusty
Alt old
Kaputt broken
Unstabil unstable
Unbequem uncomfortable
Platt flat
How to describe the problem:
Mein Fahrrad ist kaputt my bicycle is broken
Meine Bremsen funktionieren nicht mehr my breaks don’t work anymore
Mein Sattel ist unstabil my saddle is unstable
Mein Sattel ist unbequem my saddle is uncomfortable
Meine Pedale sind zu alt my pedals are too old
Meine Kette ist rostig my chain is rusty
Meine Reifen sind platt my tyres are flat
Meine vordere Reifen ist platt my front tyre is flat
Ich kann den Gang nicht mehr schalten I can’t change gears
Do you like to ride your bike? If you’ve had any problems with it then try and describe it in the comments below. Let me also know if you’re one of those brave people who cycle in all seasons – Winter is too cold and icy for me!
Thanks for reading,
Larissa
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Comments:
Shaik Ahmed Kabir:
Your passion is comfortable with others concerning German Language.
Mein Reifen (m) ist platt:
Mein Reifen ist platt ( NICHT Meine Reifen ist platt)
oder besser: Meine Reifen sind platt
Volker Zinser:
Just noticed “meine Reife”, bedeutet nicht my tube, vielmehr “meine maturity”,
Please corrtect
Larissa:
@Volker Zinser Hi Volker,
Reife does mean maturity, Reifen means tyre, whether that’s from a bicycle or a car you can use it for everything.
Thanks for your comment!
Larissa