German Days, Months & Seasons: Complete Time Vocabulary
9 min read
Knowing how to talk about days, months, and seasons is one of the first things you need in German. Whether you are making an appointment, planning a trip, or simply telling someone your birthday, german days months seasons vocabulary comes up constantly. The good news: these words are easy to learn, and most of them look or sound similar to their English equivalents.
This guide gives you every word you need, explains the grammar behind them, and shows you exactly how to use them in sentences.
All days of the week in German are masculine (der) and end in -tag (day). They are always capitalized.
| German | English | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| der Montag | Monday | MOHN-tahk |
| der Dienstag | Tuesday | DEENS-tahk |
| der Mittwoch | Wednesday | MIT-vokh |
| der Donnerstag | Thursday | DON-ers-tahk |
| der Freitag | Friday | FRY-tahk |
| der Samstag | Saturday | ZAHMS-tahk |
| der Sonntag | Sunday | ZONN-tahk |
A few things to notice:
Memory tip: Many German days share roots with English ones. Donnerstag comes from the thunder god Donar (like Thursday from Thor). Freitag is named after the goddess Freya (like Friday).
All twelve months in German are masculine (der) and look remarkably similar to English. They are always capitalized.
| German | English |
|---|---|
| der Januar | January |
| der Februar | February |
| der März | March |
| der April | April |
| der Mai | May |
| der Juni | June |
| der Juli | July |
| der August | August |
| der September | September |
| der Oktober | October |
| der November | November |
| der Dezember | December |
The months are almost identical to English, which makes them among the easiest German vocabulary to learn. The main spelling differences are:
Want to lock these words into memory? Play Memory Match to pair German months with their English translations. The visual matching format is especially effective for vocabulary that looks similar across languages.
All four seasons are masculine (der) in German. The collective term is die Jahreszeiten (literally "year-times").
| German | English | Months |
|---|---|---|
| der Frühling | Spring | März, April, Mai |
| der Sommer | Summer | Juni, Juli, August |
| der Herbst | Autumn/Fall | September, Oktober, November |
| der Winter | Winter | Dezember, Januar, Februar |
Seasons connect naturally to weather vocabulary. Once you know der Winter, you can easily build sentences like Im Winter schneit es oft (It often snows in winter).
Yes. In German, days of the week, months, and seasons are always capitalized because they are nouns. This is different from languages like French or Spanish where these words are lowercase.
German capitalizes all nouns, so this rule applies consistently:
This is actually helpful for learners — you can always spot nouns in a German sentence because they start with a capital letter.
This is where many beginners make mistakes. German uses specific prepositions with time words, and the patterns are consistent:
Use am before days of the week:
Use im before months and seasons:
Use um for specific clock times:
| Time Word | Preposition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Days | am | am Dienstag (on Tuesday) |
| Months | im | im März (in March) |
| Seasons | im | im Herbst (in autumn) |
| Clock time | um | um 10 Uhr (at 10 o'clock) |
| Year | im Jahr | im Jahr 2026 (in the year 2026) |
These prepositions use the dative case, which is why an dem contracts to am and in dem contracts to im. For more on how German cases work, see our guide on German cases explained.
German dates follow the format day.month.year, which is the opposite of the American month/day/year format:
When writing dates in full, German uses ordinal numbers with a period:
To say a date aloud, you add the ending -te (for 1-19) or -ste (for 20+) to the number:
Asking for the date:
Asking about a birthday:
The seven days are: Montag (Monday), Dienstag (Tuesday), Mittwoch (Wednesday), Donnerstag (Thursday), Freitag (Friday), Samstag (Saturday), and Sonntag (Sunday).
Each one takes the masculine article der. When talking about a recurring event, Germans add an -s to make it a general statement:
Notice the lowercase and the -s ending — this adverbial form means "every Monday" rather than "this particular Monday." It is a useful pattern for describing your daily routine in German.
Here are essential phrases that combine days, months, and seasons with everyday conversation:
| German | English |
|---|---|
| Welcher Tag ist heute? | What day is today? |
| Heute ist Mittwoch. | Today is Wednesday. |
| Gestern war Dienstag. | Yesterday was Tuesday. |
| Morgen ist Donnerstag. | Tomorrow is Thursday. |
| Welchen Monat haben wir? | What month is it? |
| Wir haben März. | It is March. |
| Letzten Monat | Last month |
| Nächsten Monat | Next month |
| Nächstes Jahr | Next year |
| Letztes Jahr | Last year |
| Vorgestern | The day before yesterday |
| Übermorgen | The day after tomorrow |
| Das ganze Jahr | The whole year |
German has two words that English lacks: vorgestern (the day before yesterday) and übermorgen (the day after tomorrow). These are used commonly in everyday speech and are worth memorizing early.
To practice typing these words quickly and build muscle memory, try Type Rush. The game throws German words at you under time pressure, which is a great way to internalize spelling.
Here is everything you need to remember about the grammar of time words in German:
Time vocabulary is something you will use every single day in German, so it pays to drill these words until they are automatic. Here are the best ways to practice:
Ready to put your time vocabulary to the test? Download the Deutschwunder app and start practicing German days, months, and seasons with free interactive games — anytime, anywhere.
Keep learning: German A1 vocabulary list · German daily routine vocabulary · German weather vocabulary · German numbers 1-100