Dates and Time in German
Annotated English-German Glossary M-Z
The clock, calendar, seasons, weeks, days,
dates and other time-related vocabulary
Noun genders: r (der, masc.), e (die, fem.), s (das, neu.)
Abbreviations: adj. (adjective), adv. (adverb), n. (noun), pl. (plural), v. (verb)
Also see these related pages:
• Lesson 12: German for Beginners
• It's About (German) Time
• How to Tell Time in German
• Latin in German
• World Time Clock
• More Glossaries
A-L | M-Z
M
minute (n.) e Minute (meh-NOOH-ta)
See: How to Tell Time in German
minute hand r Minutenzeiger, r große Zeiger
Monday r Montag
(on) Mondays montags
Montag, like English "Monday," is named for the moon (der Mond), i.e., "moon-day." On German (European) calendars, the week begins with Montag, not Sonntag (the last day of the week): Montag, Dienstag, Mittwoch, Donnerstag, Freitag, Samstag (Sonnabend), Sonntag. This has the benefit of putting the two weekend days together rather than separated, as on Anglo-American calendars.
month(s) r Monat (die Monate)
Months in German: (all der) Januar, Februar, März, April, Mai, Juni, Juli, August, September, Oktober, November, Dezember.Also see Lektion 12: German for Beginners (the calendar and setting appointments) and Months: Latein-Deutsch-Englisch.
morning r Morgen, r Vormittag
this morning heute Morgen
tomorrow morning morgen früh, morgen Vormittag
yesterday morning gestern früh, gestern Vormittag
N
next (adv.) nächst
next week nächste Woche
next weekend nächstes Wochenende
night(s) e Nacht (Nächte)
at night nachts, in der Nacht
by night bei Nacht
number(s) e Zahl (Zahlen), e Ziffer(n) (on clock face), e Nummer(n)
See German Numbers for an English-German guide to calendar dates, numbers (Zahlen) and counting (zählen).
O
oversleep sich verschlafen
P
past, after (clock time) nach
quarter past five viertel nach fünf
five past ten fünf nach zehn
pendulum s Pendel
pendulum clock e Pendeluhr
PM abends, nachmittags
Note: German schedules and timetables use 24-hour time rather than AM or PM.
pocket watch e Taschenuhr
Q
quarter (one fourth) (n., adv.) s Viertel
quarter to/past viertel vor/nach
quarter past five viertel sechs
See: How to Tell Time in German
S
sand glass, hour glass s Stundenglas, e Sanduhr
Saturday r Samstag, r Sonnabend
(on) Saturdays samstags, sonnabends
See: Lektion 12: German for Beginners
season (of year) e Jahreszeit
the four seasons die vier Jahreszeiten
See: Lektion 12B: German for Beginners
second (n.) e Sekunde (say-KOON-da)
second (adj.) zweit-
second-largest zweitgrößte
the second car das zweite Auto
the second door die zweite Tür
See German Numbers for an English-German guide to ordinal (1st, 2nd, 3rd...) and cardinal numbers (1, 2, 3, 4...).
second hand r Sekundenzeiger
slow (clock, watch) (adv.) nach
My watch is running slow. Meine Uhr geht nach.
spring (n.) e Feder, e Zugfeder
spring (season) r Frühling, s Frühjahr
in (the) spring im Frühling/Frühjahr
spring balance e Federwaage
standard time e Standardzeit, e Winterzeit
daylight saving time (n.) e Sommerzeit
summer r Sommer
in (the) summer im Sommer
Sunday r Sonntag
(on) Sundays sonntags
sun dial e Sonnenuhr
T
third (adj.) dritt-
third-largest drittgrößte
the third car das dritte Auto
the third door die dritte Tür
See German Numbers for an English-German guide to ordinal (1st, 2nd, 3rd...) and cardinal numbers (1, 2, 3, 4...).
time e Zeit (pron. TSYTE)
See: How to Tell Time in German
time clock e Stempeluhr
time zone e Zeitzone
The world's official 24 time zones were created in October 1884 (1893 in Prussia) by an international conference in Washington, D.C. in response to the needs of railroads, shipping companies and increasing international travel. Each hour's zone is 15 degrees in width (15 Längengraden) with Greenwich as the prime (zero) meridian (Nullmeridian) and the International Date line at 180º. In practice, most time zone boundaries are adjusted to conform to various political and geographic considerations. There are even some half-hour time zones. (See our Time Links page and our Weltzeituhr for more.)
Thursday r Donnerstag
(on) Thursdays donnerstags
today (adv.) heute
today's newspaper die heutige Zeitung, die Zeitung von heute
a week/month from today heute in einer Woche/einem Monat
tomorrow (adv.) morgen (not capitalized)
tomorrow afternoon morgen Nachmittag
tomorrow evening morgen Abend
tomorrow morning morgen früh, morgen Vormittag
tomorrow night morgen Nacht
a week/month/year ago tomorrow morgen vor einer Woche/einem Monat/einem Jahr
Also see Day by Day: Day Expressions in German
Tuesday r Dienstag
(on) Tuesdays dienstags
U
UTC UTC (Coordinated Universal Time, Universel Temps Coordonné) - Also see GMT.)
UTC was introduced in 1964 and is headquartered at the Paris Observatory (but calculated from the prime meridian at Greenwich). Since 1972 UTC has been based on atomic clocks. A UTC radio time signal (Zeitzeichen) is broadcast around the world. UTC is coordinated with solar time (UT1). Because of irregularities in the earth's rotation, a leap second must be introduced from time to time in December or June. (See our Time Links page and our Weltzeituhr for more.)
W
watch, clock e Uhr, e Armbanduhr (wristwatch)
See: How to Tell Time in German
Wednesday r Mittwoch
(on) Wednesdays mittwochs
Ash Wednesday Aschermittwoch
See our Feiertag-Kalender for more
about holidays such as Ash Wednesday.
week(s) e Woche (die Wochen)
a week ago vor einer Woche
for a week (für) eine Woche
in a week in einer Woche
two weeks, fortnight (n.) vierzehn Tage (14 days)
in two weeks/a fortnight in vierzehn Tagen
this/next/last week diese/nächste/vorige Woche
days of the week die Tage der Woche
Days of the Week with Abbreviations: Montag (Mo), Dienstag (Di), Mittwoch (Mi), Donnerstag (Do), Freitag (Fr), Samstag (Sa), Sonntag (So).Also see Lesson 12: German for Beginners
weekday (Mon.-Fri.) r Wochentag, r Werktag (Mo-Fr)
(on) weekdays wochentags, werktags
weekend s Wochenende
a long weekend ein verlängertes Wochenende
at/on the weekend am Wochenende
at/on weekends an Wochenenden
for/over the weekend übers Wochenende
weekly (adj./adv.) wöchentlich, Wochen- (prefix)
weekly newspaper Wochenzeitung
winter r Winter
in (the) winter im Winter
wristwatch e Armbanduhr
Y
year(s) s Jahr (YAHR) (e Jahre)
for years seit Jahren
in the year 2006 im Jahr(e) 2006
For more about how to say years in German, see German Numbers.
yesterday (adv.) gestern
Also see German for Beginners
BACK > A-L
Related Pages
Part One: A-L
The first part of this glossary.
Day by Day: Day Expressions in German
A detailed look at day-to-day vocabulary. From your Guide.
How to Tell Time in German
A step-by-step how-to on telling time auf Deutsch.
Lektion 12: German for Beginners
Lesson 12 of our free online German course covers the calendar and setting appointments.
Latin in German
Includes the days of the week, the months and other Latin-based German vocabulary. From your Guide.
It's About (German) Time
A related article from your Guide.
German Numbers
An English-German guide to calendar dates, numbers (Zahlen) and counting (zählen).
Days: Latin-Deutsch-English
An annotated glossary comparing day names in the three languages.
Months: Latin-Deutsch-English
An annotated glossary comparing the names of the months in the three languages.
World Time Clock
See the current time in Germany and other locations around the globe. From your Guide.
More Glossaries
English-German glossaries on a variety of topics, from your Guide.
Online Dictionaries
Links for dictionaries and glossaries online and in print.
Wort des Tages
What's today's German word of the day?
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