Months in German

Welcome to language-easy.org! In this article I’d like to talk about something really essential in nearly every language all over to world: The name of the months. Well, we will also add add the of the four seasons of the year and some more important vocabulary you will need to express the part of the year you are in.

The Months in German

So, let’s start right ahead and have a look at the following list with the names of the months in German. Of course, many of the will be quite familiar to you. Nevertheless, there are little differences you should be aware of. After the German name of the month, you can see the corresponding pronunciation.

January Januar yah-noo-ahr
(Austria) Jänner yeh-ner
February Februar fay-broo-ahr
March März mehrts
April April ah-pril
May Mai my
June Juni yoo-nee
July Juli yoo-lee
August August ow-goost
September September zehp-tehm-ber
October Oktober ok-toh-ber
November November no-vehm-ber
December Dezember deh-tsem-ber
month der Monat (-e) moh-naht
year das Jahr (-e) yaar
monthly monatlich moh-naht-likh
yearly jährlich jehr-likh

So, in addition to the German name of the months, it can be quite useful to know the names of the different seasons of the year in German.

spring Frühling
summer Sommer
fall/autumn Herbst
winter Winter

In addition to the names of the seasons in German, I’d like to add some useful vocabulary for each season.

Der Sommer

  1. die Sonne – sun
  2. die Sonnenbrille – sunglasses
  3. die Hängematte – hammock
  4. der Liegestuhl – deck chair
  5. die Palme – palm tree
  6. das Picknick – picknick
  7. die Sonnencreme – sun cream
  8. das Eis – ice cream
  9. der Wasserball – water ball
  10. der Schwimmreifen – floating tire

Der Herbst

  1. der Drachen – dragon
  2. das Eichhörnchen – squirrel
  3. das Laub – leaves
  4. der Laubbesen – grate
  5. der Kürbis – pumpkin
  6. die Weintraube – grape
  7. der Mais – corn
  8. die Pfütze – puddle
  9. der Igel – hedgehog
  10. der Regenschirm – umbrella

Der Winter

  1. der Schneemann – snowman
  2. der Schlitten – sled
  3. der Eiszapfen – icicle
  4. der Schnee – snow
  5. der Schneeball – snowball
  6. der Sessellift – chairlift
  7. der Schlittschuh – skate
  8. das Snowboard – snowboard
  9. der Eisbär – ice bear
  10. der Ski – Ski
German months

German months

Der Frühling/Das Frühjahr

  1. der Schmetterling – butterfly
  2. der Frosch – frog
  3. das Nest – nest
  4. das Ei – egg
  5. das Küken – chick
  6. die Tulpe – tulip
  7. die Osterglocke – daffodil
  8. der Hase – rabbit
  9. der Marienkäfer – ladybug
  10. das Lamm – lamb

Well, as we have cleared up the seasons and the names of the months in German, I think we can add the expression of the date in the German language. Unfortunately, there are slight differences between the way you say the date in the English and the German language – and can lead to confusions in day-to-day situations.

Writing the Date

When we write the date in German, we can write the day and the month as ordinal numbers. But we can also write the month out as a word, a method which is particularly preferred when we are also mentioning the day of the week. So, just have a look at the following examples:
  • 5.10.2011
  • 5. Oktober 2011
  • Dienstag, 5. Oktober 2011

Endings of the Ordinal Numbers

When we write or say the date, the ending changes, depending on whether we are using the date with a preposition or with or without an article. Well, here are some examples:
  • fünfter Oktober zweitausendelf (no article → er)
  • Es war ein fünfter Oktober. (indefinite article → er)
  • der fünfte Oktober zweitausendelf (definite article → e)
  • am fünften Oktober zweitausendelf (preposition and article → en)

Saying the Years

Up to the year 1999, the years are spoken as hundreds. Starting with 2000, though, we use normal cardinal numbers. In the following, you will see some examples that will illustrate what I mean:
  • 1813 – achtzehnhundertdreizehn
  • 1999 – neunzehnhundertneunundneunzig
  • 2000 – zweitausend
  • 2010 – zweitausendzehn