Days, Months & Dates

Knowing the days of the week, months of the year, and how to express dates is essential for everyday life in German-speaking countries. German dates follow a different format from English, and the vocabulary has fascinating historical origins.

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Days of the Week (Wochentage)

All German days of the week are masculine (der) and end in -tag (day), except for Mittwoch.

Day	German	Pronunciation	Origin
Monday	Montag	mohn-tahk	Mond (moon) + Tag — "Moon day"
Tuesday	Dienstag	deens-tahk	Named after Tyr/Ziu (Norse god)
Wednesday	Mittwoch	mit-vokh	Mitte (middle) + Woche (week) — "Mid-week"
Thursday	Donnerstag	don-ners-tahk	Donner (thunder) + Tag — "Thunder day" (Thor)
Friday	Freitag	frai-tahk	Named after Freya (Norse goddess)
Saturday	Samstag	zams-tahk	From Sabbat — "Sabbath day"
Sunday	Sonntag	zon-tahk	Sonne (sun) + Tag — "Sun day"

Note: In northern Germany, Saturday is sometimes called Sonnabend (literally "Sunday eve"). Both Samstag and Sonnabend are correct.

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Using Days of the Week

Saying "On Monday" etc.

In German, you use am (short for "an dem") before the day:

English	German
on Monday	am Montag
on Tuesday	am Dienstag
on Friday	am Freitag
on the weekend	am Wochenende

Saying "Every Monday" etc.

Add an -s to the day to mean "every [day]":

English	German
every Monday / on Mondays	montags
every Tuesday / on Tuesdays	dienstags
every Friday / on Fridays	freitags
every day	jeden Tag

Note: When used as adverbs (montags, dienstags, etc.), the days are written in lowercase.

Other Useful Time Phrases

German	English
heute	today
morgen	tomorrow
gestern	yesterday
übermorgen	the day after tomorrow
vorgestern	the day before yesterday
diese Woche	this week
nächste Woche	next week
letzte Woche	last week

Warning: "morgen" means "tomorrow" but "der Morgen" (capitalised, with article) means "the morning". "Morgen früh" means "tomorrow morning".

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Months of the Year (Monate)

Good news: German months are very similar to English! They are all masculine (der).

Month	German	Pronunciation
January	Januar	yah-noo-ahr
February	Februar	fay-broo-ahr
March	März	mairts
April	April	ah-pril
May	Mai	my
June	Juni	yoo-nee
July	Juli	yoo-lee
August	August	ow-goost
September	September	zep-tem-ber
October	Oktober	ok-toh-ber
November	November	no-vem-ber
December	Dezember	deh-tsem-ber

Note: In Austria, January is often called Jänner instead of Januar.

Using Months

English	German
in January	im Januar
in March	im März
in December	im Dezember
since May	seit Mai
until October	bis Oktober

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Ordinal Numbers (for Dates)

To say dates in German, you need ordinal numbers ("first", "second", "third" etc.). German forms ordinals by adding -te (1st–19th) or -ste (20th+) to the cardinal number.