{"id":9693,"date":"2018-03-28T16:41:54","date_gmt":"2018-03-28T16:41:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=9693"},"modified":"2018-03-28T16:41:54","modified_gmt":"2018-03-28T16:41:54","slug":"days-of-the-week-in-german","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/days-of-the-week-in-german\/","title":{"rendered":"Days Of The Week In German"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guten Tag! One of the first things you will learn in your German lessons are the names of the days of the week. One thing people are sometimes quite interested in is the differences between the names \u2013 why do they all end in \u2018Tag\u2019 apart from Mittwoch, for example, and what does that mean? I did a little digging and found out some very interesting facts about the etymology behind the days of the week in German! So let\u2019s go.<\/p>\n

Firstly, all days of the week end in the German word for day<\/strong> \u2013 Tag<\/strong>. This is with the exception of Wednesday, which ends in woch \u2013 from die Woche<\/strong>, the German word for week<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"moon!\"<\/a>

Moon – der Mond. Photo by David DeHetre on flickr.com under a CC license (CC BY 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

Montag \u2013 Monday<\/b><\/p>\n

The \u2018Mon\u2019 part of this word comes from the German word der Mond<\/strong> \u2013 the moon. Montag\/Monday actually means \u2018the day of the moon\u2019 (anyone who speaks French will know that Monday is Lundi in French \u2013 this comes from the Latin word for moon: Luna).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dienstag \u2013 Tuesday
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

This one is a little heavy, but stay with me. The word you see immediately in the word Dienstag is Dienst. Der Dienst<\/strong> means service, duty, work (examples include der Gottesdienst<\/em> \u2013 church service, and der Milit\u00e4rdienst<\/em> \u2013 military service). Its related verb is dienen \u2013 to serve. Dienstag, therefore, is usually translated as the \u2018day of service\u2019. But in Middle Low German it was called Dingesdach<\/strong>, which roughly translates to \u2018Day of Thingsus\u2019 – Thingsus being a Germanic god also known as Tiw. This explains Tiw\u2019s Day (Tuesday).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mittwoch \u2013 Wednesday
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

This one is very simple. Mittwoch literally means \u2018mid week\u2019. Mitt comes from die Mitte<\/strong> \u2013 the middle. Woch comes from die Woche<\/strong> \u2013 the week. However! Pre-10th Century, Mittwoch was actually called Wodenstag<\/strong> \u2013 Woden\u2019s Day (hence English \u2018Wednesday\u2019), after the Germanic god Woden.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Donnerstag \u2013 Thursday<\/b><\/p>\n

The word Donner<\/strong> is the German word for thunder.<\/strong> This day is named after Thor, the God of thunder.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Freitag \u2013 Friday<\/b><\/p>\n

Like the word for Tuesday, what you see here immediately is not necessarily where the word originates! The word frei<\/strong> means free<\/strong>. Free Day. This makes sense, as it\u2019s the end of the traditional working week and therefore the day you are \u2018free\u2019 from work. However, it is actually named after the goddess Frija<\/strong> (Old High German), also known as Frigg (Old Norse).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Samstag \u2013 Saturday<\/b>
\nThe word Samstag has its origins in the Old High German Sambatztag<\/strong> meaning Sabbath day \u2013 the day of rest. It is also related to the god Saturn, hence Saturday in English. You may also see Samstag called Sonnabend<\/strong> in German. This is rare, and mostly used by the older generation in the former East Germany, as this was their standard word for Saturday. Sonnabend literally means \u2018Sunday eve\u2019.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Sunflower.\"<\/a>

Sonntag. Photo by skyseeker on flickr.com under a CC license (CC BY 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

Sonntag \u2013 Sunday<\/b><\/p>\n

From Sonnabend<\/strong> to Sonntag<\/strong>! The Sonn<\/em> part of Sonntag comes from die Sonne<\/strong> \u2013 the German word for sun.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I hope this has been interesting, and that you\u2019ve learnt a couple of new facts about the German language! Did anything on this list surprise you?<\/p>\n

Bis bald!<\/p>\n

Constanze<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Guten Tag! One of the first things you will learn in your German lessons are the names of the days of the week. One thing people are sometimes quite interested in is the differences between the names \u2013 why do they all end in \u2018Tag\u2019 apart from Mittwoch, for example, and what does that mean?…<\/p>\n

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