Days of the Week

Learning the Days of the Week in German#

Every week has seven days, and in German, each day has its own special name! The German word for "week" is die Woche (dee vokh-eh), and the word for "weekdays" is die Wochentage (dee vokh-en-tah-geh) — literally "week-days".

Learning the days of the week is incredibly useful because you will use them every single day when you talk about school schedules, plans, birthdays, and activities!

The Seven Days in German#

Here are all seven days of the week in German, starting with Monday:

Did You Notice the Pattern?#

Look at the end of many days — they end in "-tag" (tahk), which means "day" in German! So:

• Mon-tag = Mon-day
• Diens-tag = Tüs-day
• Donners-tag = Thurs-day
• Frei-tag = Fri-day
• Sams-tag = Satur-day
• Sonn-tag = Sun-day

The only exception is Mittwoch, which means "midweek" — it is in the exact middle of the week!

Interesting Origins#

Some German day names have interesting origins just like in English:

• Sonntag comes from the word Sonne (sun) — Sunday is the sun's day!
• Montag comes from the word Mond (moon) — Monday is the moon's day!
• Donnerstag comes from the word Donner (thunder) — Thursday is the thunder god's day (like Thor's day in English)!
• Freitag comes from Freya, a goddess — just like Friday in English!

Learning these origins makes it much easier to remember the words. Languages are like detective stories — there are clues hidden everywhere!