Tag Archives: German language
At A Petrol Station: German Vocab Posted by Constanze on Jun 23, 2017

Guten Tag! Inspired by this post on the Greek blog, I thought it would be handy to look at German vocabulary related to petrol stations and driving – as this is something practical, important, and which you will use in day-to-day life in Germany. This is the German road sign for a petrol station…
German(s) At The Beach Posted by Constanze on Jun 12, 2017

Guten Tag! Summer is coming, and so this is the time when a lot of people start to plan their holidays. What better way to get you in the mindset for a holiday than by learning some German vocabulary ideal for a trip to the beach? Here is a collection of words you’ll need. I’ve…
10 Cute German Words About Pregnancy Posted by Constanze on May 15, 2017

I had intended this post to be a straight-forward post on handy German vocabulary related to pregnancies. What I did not anticipate was how many pregnancy-related words are incredibly cute, or incredibly interesting in German. We’ll start with some basic vocabulary before moving onto the fun stuff! Basic German pregnancy vocabulary: die Schwangerschaft –…
Separable And Inseparable German Prefixes Posted by Constanze on May 10, 2017

I wrote a post recently about verbs that change their meanings when you add prefixes to them. These can be very confusing for language learners, as they think they recognise a verb when it actually means something totally different. The post led to a question about whether a particular prefix made the verb separable or…
The Curiosity of the German Word “Weg” Posted by Sten on May 4, 2017
Wegisweg. That is the Dutch word for Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley. Weg means “lane”, but also “away”. They sound exactly identical, though. The same word, weg, means the same both things in German. But they are pronounced differently. Why? This is what weg sounds like: This is what der Weg sounds like: Ok, I already hear you say: But Sten, there is a…
Sayings + Expressions 12 – Butter! Posted by Sten on May 2, 2017

In this long series of Sprichwörter (sayings) and Ausdrücke or Redewendungen (expressions), it is time for yet another. Today, we will discuss… Butter. Yeah, butter with its smooth consistency and easily melting nature is a popular subject in language. Also for Sprichwörter and Ausdrücke. Check these two out! Alles in Butter! Everything in butter! (Everything’s ok!) This Sprichwort is short, but pretty much has the…
Untranslatable German Words: das Anstandsstück Posted by Constanze on Apr 26, 2017

Hello and welcome to another edition of untranslatable German words, where I bring you the quirkiest, funniest, most unusual words the German language has to offer – and ones that are difficult to find a direct translation for! Today’s word is das Anstandsstück. What does das Anstandsstück mean? Das Anstandsstück refers to the last…