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Days of the week

GermanEnglish
MontagMonday
DienstagTuesday
MittwochWednesday
DonnerstagThursday
FreitagFriday
SamstagSaturday
SonntagSunday

Tag (day) is masculine, so all of the days of the week are masculine too.

Months of the year

GermanEnglish
JanuarJanuary
FebruarFebruary
äMarch
AprilApril
MaiMay
JuniJune
JuliJuly
AugustAugust
SeptemberSeptember
OktoberOctober
NovemberNovember
DezemberDecember

Asking the date

To ask what the date is, you can say:

  • Welches Datum ist heute? - What is the date today?
  • Heute ist der … - Today is the …

Forming the date: numbers

1st - 3rd

To say what the date is in German, you need to know how to say words like first, second, third, and so on.

1sterstefirst
2ndzweitesecond
3rddrittethird

Heute ist Montag, der dritte April - Today is Monday the 3rd of April.

4th - 19th

For 4th - 19th, add -te to the end of the number. 7th is an exception.

4thviertefourth
7thsiebteseventh
10thzehntetenth
13thdreizehntethirteenth

Heute ist Donnerstag, der siebte ä - Today is Thursday, the 7th March.

Heute ist Montag, der üԴڳԳٱ Juni - Today is Monday, the 15th June.

20th - 31st

For 20 and above, add -ste to the end of the number. Remember that numbers over 20 are the ‘other way round’ to English:

  • üԴڳܲԻɲԳ - five and twenty - 25
  • 𾱲ԳܲԻß - one and thirty - 31
20thzwanzigstetwentieth
25thüԴڳܲԻɲԲٱtwenty-fifth
30thßٱthirtieth
31st𾱲ԳܲԻßstethirty-first

Heute ist Freitag, der ßٱ Juni - Today is Friday, the 30th June.

Heute ist Sonntag, der üԴڳܲԻɲԲٱ Oktober - Today is Sunday, the 25th October.

Birthdays

To say when your birthday is in English, you say ‘my birthday is’. In German, you have to use haben (to have). The word Geburtstag (birthday) has to be at the end of the sentence. You have to add an -n to the number: ersten, zweiten, dritten, siebten, ßٱn (first, second, third, seventh, thirtieth etc).

  • Wann hast du Geburtstag? - When is your birthday? (literally ‘when do you have a birthday?’)
  • Ich habe am zwölften Februar Geburtstag - My birthday is the 12th February.
  • Ich habe am zweiundzwanzigsten Mai Geburtstag - My birthday is the 22nd May.

A photo of a birthday cake with candles.
Image caption,
Alles Gute zum Geburtstag! - Happy Birthday!

To talk about someone else’s birthday, you have to change the verb from ich habe (I have) to er/sie hat (he/she has). The possessive adjective (mein/dein - my/your) will change depending on whether the person is masculine or feminine.

  • Wann hat dein Papa Geburtstag? - When is your dad’s birthday?

  • Er hat am vierzehnten November Geburtstag - His birthday is the 14th November.

  • Wann hat deine Mama Geburtstag? - When is your mum’s birthday?

  • Sie hat am elften August Geburtstag - Her birthday is the 11th August.

A photo of a birthday cake with candles.
Image caption,
Alles Gute zum Geburtstag! - Happy Birthday!

For more vocabulary about numbers and dates, click on the downloadable below.

Days, months and numbers 1-31

Quiz

Find out how much you know about days and months in German in this short quiz!

Game - FestiLingo: German. game

Visit the festival and practise German language skills in this game

Game - FestiLingo: German

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