Tag Archives: vocabulary
Untranslatable German Words: Der Augenschmaus Posted by Constanze on Aug 12, 2019
Guten Tag! Today I’m bringing you another quirky German word that has no single-word equivalent in the English language. We call these words ‘untranslatable’ (unübersetzbar), even if there are English phrases that convey the same meaning. These ‘untranslatable’ words are fantastic at displaying the efficiency of German compound nouns. Today’s word is der Augenschmaus. What…
French Loan Words In German Posted by Constanze on Jul 31, 2019
Guten Tag! We have talked before about loanwords in the German language. There is quite a big crossover of both English words used in German, and German words used in English. However, did you know that there are many French words used in the German language, too? And many of these are everyday words we…
3 Words About Former West Germany Posted by Constanze on Jul 24, 2019
Guten Tag! I recently read a book about the history of Germany. It contained many words I hadn’t heard of before, that gave insights into specific aspects of German history. The section on the post-war/Cold War period (1945-1991), in particular, used several German words when discussing the topic of East and West Germany. We all…
The German Word ‘Zeug’ Posted by Constanze on Jun 26, 2019
Guten Tag! Today we’re looking at a very small, but very versatile German word: das Zeug. Simply put, Zeug (das) means thing, or stuff. It is quite common to hear people say things like ‘Was ist das für ein Zeug?’ (‘What kind of thing/stuff is this?’). Zeug can refer to one thing, or several things…
German Vocabulary for Politics Posted by Larissa on May 28, 2019
Last week Europe took part in the Europa Wahl (european elections). The elections are every five years and this year an important topic for the voters was deciding which party will do the most against Klimawandel (climate change). Here’s a vocabulary list to help you with all the political words in German! die Wahl …
Interesting German Places: Olympiapark, Munich Posted by Constanze on May 15, 2019
Guten Tag! It can be fascinating to learn the history behind seemingly ordinary buildings and places. Today we’ll look at one such place, namely the Olympiapark in Munich. Olympiapark The Olympiapark München (Olympic Park, Munich) is a huge venue in Oberwiesenfeld. Originally created for die Olympische Sommerspiele 1972 (1972 Summer Olympic Games), it is used…
The German Word Eselsbrücke (Mnemonic) Posted by Constanze on May 3, 2019
Guten Tag! Today we are going to look at the German word die Eselsbrücke, and what it means. Not only is it an interesting word, but an Eselsbrücke is something that might even help you with your language learning! Die Eselsbrücke literally translates to ‘the donkey bridge’. Its actual translation in English, however, is mnemonic…