person-writing-on-a-calendar

Days of the Week in German: How to Use, Pronounce and Remember Them

There are seven important words in the German language, can you guess which words these are? The days of the week!

With this handy guide, you’ll not only learn the days of the week in German, but how to practice them, a few must-know grammatical points and interesting cultural info.

Ready to learn? All right: Heute (today), let’s learn the Wochentage  (days of the week). 

Contents

German Days of the Week German days of the week Infographic V2

Here are the seven days of the week in German along with their pronunciations as well. 

EnglishGermanPronunciation
Monday Montag Mon-tahk
Tuesday Dienstag Deens-tahk
Wednesday Mittwoch Mit-vokh
Thursday Donnerstag Dohn-ners-tahk
Friday Freitag Fry-tahk
Saturday Samstag Zahm-stahk
Sunday Sonntag Zon-tahk

Let’s look at each day in detail!

1. Montag — Monday

Abbreviation: Mo.

In German, Mond means “moon,” so Montag literally means “moon-day.”

As with most languages, the German days tend to correspond with celestial bodies or mythological beings. As you could probably guess by the look and sound of it, Montag is Monday and the first day of the workweek.

2. Dienstag — Tuesday

Abbreviation: Di.

The name for German’s Tuesday comes from an old Germanic god, Tyr. Tyr was actually the Germanic name for Mars, the Roman god of war. 

It’s interesting to note that while the name was different, the patron god of Tuesday is the same being as many other languages and cultures such as Italian, French and Spanish. 

3. Mittwoch  — Wednesday

Abbreviation: Mi.

Wednesday in German is interesting because it breaks the pattern. Notice that it doesn’t end in -tag, which means “day.” 

Instead, it ends in -woch, or “week.” That’s because the direct translation for this word is actually “mid-week.”

4. Donnerstag — Thursday

Abbreviation: Do.

In English, Thursday comes from “Thor’s-day,” which is a day dedicated to the Norse god of thunder, Thor. 

In German, the name for this same god is Donar, so once again we see the parallels between English and German.

5. Freitag — Friday

Abbreviation: Fr.

Another day that originates from a Norse god, Freitag is in honor of the goddess Frigg, otherwise known as Freya. 

Frigg was the goddess of fertility, marriage, motherhood and the home. Her name is used for both Freitag and Friday.

6. Samstag — Saturday

Abbreviation: Sa.

Samstag originates from a Greek word that means “sabbath.” Sonnabend means “sun-evening” and is in reference to the fact that Saturday comes before Sunday. 

While Samstag is the universal name for Saturday in German, you may also hear it be referred to as Sonnabend in northern and western Germany. 

7. Sonntag  — Sunday

Abbreviation: So.

Just as the English word for Sunday includes “sun,” so does the German word. Sonne is “sun” in German, so Sonntag is a variation of this. 

Sunday in Germany is regarded very highly, as the culture cherishes reserving this day for spending time with family.

Almost all stores are closed on Sundays and most German families will spend the day in cafes, taking a stroll and decidedly not shopping or working.

German Grammar with the Days of the Week

There are a few grammatical rules you need to know to use the German days of the week correctly.

Gender

All the days of the week are masculine, which means they take the masculine articles der (the) and ein (a) in the nominative case. But as you’ll see below, the article is rarely ever needed for the weekdays, just like in English. 

A little trick to remember this is that the German word der Tag (the day) is masculine. German compound words take the gender of the word at the end. Mittwoch (Wednesday) is an exception, but you can just memorize that it’s masculine, too. 

Prepositions

Use am (on) to denote that something is happening on a particular day.

Am Samstag habe ich mich mit meinen Freunden getroffen. (On Saturday, I met up with my friends.)

Am Donnerstag bin ich einkaufen gegangen. (On Thursday, I went shopping.)

Use von … bis … to say “from … to …”.

Von Montag bis Donnerstag bin ich in Kopenhagen. (From Monday to Thursday, I am in Copenhagen.)

Ich arbeite von Montag bis Freitag. (I work from Monday to Friday.)

Capitalization

The days of the week are always capitalized because they are nouns. But if you make them into adverbs, they lose that capital letter.

Why would you want them to be adverbs? So you can easily say you regularly do something on a certain weekday with a single word! 

Take a weekday, make the first letter lowercase and add -s: montags, dienstags, mittwochs…

Ich gehe sonntags in die Kirche. (I go to church on Sundays.)

Samstags esse ich Pfannkuchen. (I eat pancakes on Saturdays.)

Mittwochs tragen wir pink. (On Wednesdays, we wear pink.)

German Phrases Related to the Days of the Week

Now that you have the days of the week in German and some grammar, have a look at some other words and phrases you might need to talk about them.

heute — today

morgen — tomorrow

gestern — yesterday

Welchen Tag haben wir heute? — What day is it today?

Welchen Tag haben wir morgen? — What day will it be tomorrow?

das Wochenende — the weekend

der Wochentag — the weekday

nächsten Montag — next Monday

letzten Dienstag — last Tuesday

jeden Mittwoch — every Wednesday

Tips for Learning the German Days of the Week

Here are some more creative methods of learning and remembering the days of the week in German. 

  • Call on your English knowledge. German and English are very similar languages since they come from the same West Germanic branch of the linguistic family tree. Consequently, Montag, Freitag, Samstag, Sonntag sound remarkably like their English equivalents. 
  • Buy a German calendar. You may not look at it a lot, but by having it visible you’ll subconsciously be solidifying the German days in your mind.
  • Put your Gmail and Facebook in German. Once you see that someone sent you a message on Donnerstag (Thursday), for example, the word will stick in your head much faster than if you simply looked at it on a flashcard.
  • Put your phone in German. If you put your phone in German, that means you’ll see the day of the week auf Deutsch (in German) every single time you check your phone. 
  • Write practice sentences. Learn to spell the days of the week and then create sentences with them. One thing you can do is practice saying that something typically happens on a day of the week. For example, Ich gehe montags ins Fitnessstudio (I go to the gym on Mondays). 
  • Learn with German songs and videos. By finding a catchy tune, you can learn these words quickly. Check this one out to help you remember the days of the week.

Lastly, a super effective way is to use authentic content so you’ll see how the days of the week are used in context through a language program such as FluentU.

 

Knowing the German days of the week is crucial to building your core vocabulary.

Once you do, you can move on to the months, the seasons and beyond! 

And One More Thing...

Want to know the key to learning German effectively?

It's using the right content and tools, like FluentU has to offer! Browse hundreds of videos, take endless quizzes and master the German language faster than you've ever imagine!

learn-german-with-videos

Watching a fun video, but having trouble understanding it? FluentU brings native videos within reach with interactive subtitles.

learn-german-with-interactive-videos

You can tap on any word to look it up instantly. Every definition has examples that have been written to help you understand how the word is used. If you see an interesting word you don't know, you can add it to a vocabulary list.

learn-conversational-german-with-subtitled-dialogue

And FluentU isn't just for watching videos. It's a complete platform for learning. It's designed to effectively teach you all the vocabulary from any video. Swipe left or right to see more examples of the word you're on.

practice-german-with-adaptive-quizzes

The best part is that FluentU keeps track of the vocabulary that you're learning, and gives you extra practice with difficult words. It'll even remind you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned.

Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)

If you liked this post, something tells me that you'll love FluentU, the best way to learn German with real-world videos.

Experience German immersion online!

Enter your e-mail address to get your free PDF!

We hate SPAM and promise to keep your email address safe

Close