Welcome back. In our last lesson, you learned how to construct a self-introduction, covering your name, origin, and, importantly, your field of study with phrases like Ich studiere Finanzen. This was a major step in building your ability to communicate your personal and academic identity in German.
Today, we will build on that foundation by learning how to situate events and plans in time. This lesson covers the German names for the days of the week, the months of the year, and the seasons. Mastering this vocabulary is essential not just for everyday conversations, but also for understanding university schedules, appointment setting, and eventually, discussing timelines relevant to your finance and economics studies, such as fiscal quarters and reporting deadlines.
The Days of the Week: Die Wochentage
Let's start with the seven days of the week, or die Tage der Woche. A key feature of German grammar is that all nouns have a grammatical gender. For the days of the week, this is very simple: they are all masculine, so they all use the article der.
To hear the correct pronunciation for each day, this video from the channel "Get Germanized" provides a clear and concise overview.
Days, Months, Seasons and Holidays | Learn German for Beginners | Lesson 6
This video presents the basic time-related vocabulary you'll need. Please watch the first part, which introduces the days of the week.
Focus on the section from the beginning of the lesson up to the end of the days of the week. Listen carefully to the pronunciation of each day, from der Montag to der Sonntag.
Now, let's review and expand on what you've heard. The article from ThoughtCo, "Learn the Months, Seasons, Days, and Dates in German," provides a helpful table and some important cultural context.
Learn the Months, Seasons, Days, and Dates in German
This article provides a written list of the days and explains some important usage points.
Please read the section titled The German Days of the Week. Pay attention to the table, the English parallels (like Sonntag for "Sunday"), and the explanation of Samstag versus Sonnabend for Saturday.
As you've read, the German week officially starts on Monday (Montag). Here is the complete list for your reference:
- der Montag (Monday)
- der Dienstag (Tuesday)
- der Mittwoch (Wednesday)
- der Donnerstag (Thursday)
- der Freitag (Friday)
- der Samstag (Saturday)
- der Sonntag (Sunday)
The days from Monday to Friday are called die Wochentage (the weekdays), while Saturday and Sunday form das Wochenende (the weekend).
To say you are doing something on a certain day, you use the preposition am, which is a contraction of an dem. For example: Am Montag lerne ich Deutsch. (On Monday, I learn German.)
The Months of the Year: Die Monate
Next, we move to the months, die Monate. You will be pleased to find that, due to their shared Latin roots, the German months are very similar to their English counterparts. Just like the days of the week, there is a simple rule for their gender: all twelve months are masculine and use the article der.
Let's return to the "Get Germanized" video to hear the pronunciation for all twelve months.
Days, Months, Seasons and Holidays | Learn German for Beginners | Lesson 6
Now, watch the segment on the months.
The video covers the months from Januar to Dezember. The similarity to English should make these easy to recognize.
For a detailed written reference, the Berlitz guide provides an excellent table that includes phonetic spellings to help with pronunciation.
A delightfully easy guide to the months of the year in German - Berlitz
This guide offers a clear table of the months and answers some key grammatical questions.
Read the table under the heading Months of the year. Then, review the first FAQ point, "Are months capitalized?", which reinforces an important rule: all German nouns, including months, are capitalized.
To say something happens in a particular month, you use the preposition im, a contraction of in dem. For example: Mein Geburtstag ist im Januar. (My birthday is in January.)
The Seasons: Die Jahreszeiten
Finally, let's learn the four seasons, die Jahreszeiten. As with days and months, the seasons are also masculine and use the article der.
Sommer (summer) and Winter (winter) are almost identical to English. You will need to learn two new words: Frühling (spring) and Herbst (autumn/fall).
The "Get Germanized" video will give you the pronunciation.
Days, Months, Seasons and Holidays | Learn German for Beginners | Lesson 6
The video also covers the seasons and provides a very helpful summary of the grammar.
Watch the short section on the seasons, followed by the grammar recap at this point, which confirms that all days, months, and seasons use the masculine article der.
Just like with months, we use im to say something happens in a season. For example: Im Winter ist es in Deutschland kalt. (In winter, it is cold in Germany.)
Here are the four seasons:
- der Frühling (Spring)
- der Sommer (Summer)
- der Herbst (Autumn / Fall)
- der Winter (Winter)
Using Time Expressions in Sentences
Now you have the vocabulary to talk about time. Let's see some of it in action. Pay attention to how am and im are used.
Days, Months, Seasons and Holidays | Learn German for Beginners | Lesson 6
This final clip from the video shows how to use this vocabulary to form complete sentences.
Watch from this point to see some examples. The presenter also asks, Wann ist dein Geburtstag? (When is your birthday?), a very common question.
Here are a few more examples, including one that might be relevant to your future studies:
Am Freitag habe ich keine Vorlesungen.(On Friday I have no lectures.)Die Prüfung ist im Dezember.(The exam is in December.)Im Herbst beginnt das Wintersemester.(The winter semester begins in the fall.)
Key Takeaways
- Days, Months, and Seasons are Masculine: A simple and powerful rule to remember is that all days (
der Montag), months (der Januar), and seasons (der Sommer) use the masculine articleder. This simplifies a part of German grammar that can often be tricky. - Capitalization: As nouns, the names of days, months, and seasons are always capitalized in German.
- Key Prepositions: Use
amfor days (am Dienstag- on Tuesday) andimfor months and seasons (im Juli- in July;im Herbst- in the fall).
You have now learned the fundamental vocabulary for organizing time in German. This skill is crucial for everything from making simple plans to understanding academic and professional schedules.
In our next lesson, we will broaden our understanding of German nouns and their articles. You've already had a great introduction to the masculine article der today. We will now explore the other two articles, die (feminine) and das (neuter), and learn how to assign them to common nouns, including some initial finance-related terms.