German Language Blog

German Idioms are part of everyday language use and a great way to articulate something that often cannot be summed up with a hundred words. This article examines some commonly used German idioms, sayings and proverbs around items of clothing which lend themselves perfectly to form metaphors. We’ll illustrate their meanings, give examples and delve […]

Prefabs in construction are relatively new, having been used since the middle of the twentieth century. Prefabricated components in language, on the other hand, have been in use for centuries in the form of idioms and expressions. Like other languages, German has a large spectrum of phrases at its disposal, and new phrases are regularly […]

With the UK’s exit from the European Union, London businesses are now operating in a new economic landscape. One of the challenges businesses face is communicating with their European counterparts in new ways. Germany is Europe’s largest economy and an important trading partner for the UK. As such, understanding German is becoming increasingly important for […]

Inspired by a recent question from one of their freelance translators about inclusive/gender-neutral language in German (below—feel free to skip past it if you don’t read German), German Language Services would like to delve into the topic of “Gendern” as it’s become known. Translator: …ich frage mich, wie dieser Kunde es (inzwischen) mit dem Gendern hält. […]

German Speakers and German-speaking countries Standard German is the official form typically taught in schools in German-speaking countries. We also teach Standard German in our German courses, which is widely understood and an official language in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. Note the term an official language as opposed to the official language: Standard […]

With offices returning to almost normality in London, in-person German language lessons are back on the agenda for many businesses. We have all spent the last 19 months online, our eyes watery and kaput, with patience wearing thin. Why would you not want in-person language training with a German tutor delivering lessons at your office? […]

Learning German is very fulfilling; it opens horizons and a new world with an entirely different culture. German is the most spoken language in Europe, with over 110 million native speakers in many countries. British citizens wanting to move to Germany or Austria post-Brexit are now required to speak German when settling for work or […]

The general view is that in Germany, people only speak German. Not directly related to learning German but an interesting aspect of German culture are Germany’s minority languages, three of which recently gained protected status: the Danish language, the North Frisian language and Low German in the State of Schleswig Holstein. Probably the most well-known […]

My students often ask during their German lessons if they can replace ß with double ss. The answer is NEIN unless you are learning Swiss German where the letter ß does not exist and is replaced with a double ss. How do you know when it is ß and when double ss? Quite simple: when […]

All languages have peculiarities with some expressions that are difficult to translate into other languages and, even when translated, don’t make a great deal of sense. When you do choose to learn German in the City of London you might not necessarily be taught these phrases, but you could well come across them when you […]

During your German studies, you have come across the letter ‘ß’ which your German teacher calls SZ or sharp S. The letter was introduced in 1903 because the double S in Roman typography looked similar to SZ in old German typography. It came out of fashion in Switzerland but is still used in Standard German […]

Often during German lessons, I get asked if there are words in German that are of Indo-Aryan or Austronesian origin. Many words covering religion and philosophy originate in Hindi, Arabic, Malay and Tamil. They made their way into German via the English language. There is der Bambus, which originates from Malay. From Bangla, we have der […]

Do you know what Gallicism are? Gallicisms are words from French that have found use in another language. When learning German, you will come across a lot of Gallicisms. They found their way into the German language during the reign of Louis XIV, who was revered across the German aristocracy. Amusement, fashion, cuisine, and the […]

When taking German lessons or attending a German course, you’ll come across many German words of foreign origin. German, like other languages, borrows words typically from Latin, Greek, English and French. Less well known are Russian words that have made their way into the German language, often through the linguistic development of the part of […]

Only 1.571% of the world speaks German. Why learn German, you may ask? Please read on. There are about 7,000 languages worldwide. Many languages are threatened by extinction, especially languages natives speak in Asia and America. Only a handful of people speak some languages. More than 50% of languages have less than 10,000 speakers; more […]

German is a very useful language to learn, but you might confuse some words for others, especially when they sound very similar, or if there’s only an umlaut’s worth of difference between them! Here are a few examples where German words get a little confusing: ‘Gift’ and ‘Geschenk’ – Your German friends might be a […]

In an increasingly interconnected world, where businesses are outsourced and partnerships are vital to expanding businesses globally, being fluent in English alone is not enough. You work in a dynamic, multi-cultural environment even if you are not running your own business. With that come issues like bonding well with co-workers of different nationalities and avoiding […]

Why learn German, you may ask? Please read on … There are about 7,000 languages worldwide. Many languages are threatened by extinction, especially languages spoken by natives in Asia and America. Some languages are spoken by only a couple of people. More than 50% of languages have less than 10,000 speakers; more than 25% have […]

‘Denglisch’ is a combination of Deutsch (German) and English. Introduced to Germany by the American way of life, it has crept’ into German, according to the German Language Society. The German Language Society is not against Anglicism per se but against the readiness of Germans who can’t speak English to use ‘Denglisch’ to impress others. […]

What is Plautdietch (Plattdeutsch), and do people worldwide speak that language variant? Plautdietsch or Mennonite Low German is a Low Prussian dialect. ‘Low’ refers to the plains of northern Germany, and Dietsch (Deutsch) means German. As mentioned in our previous article, Germans were invited by the Russian Empire to settle there. Amongst Germans from many […]

Each year, Germany votes for the Anglicism of the year. The Anglicism has to be an English word that was widely used in Germany throughout that year. The new word must also fill a gap in the German language by either further differentiating the meaning of a particular word or providing a new word that […]

Germans are loyal and trustworthy folks. However, some false friends in the German language may confuse the English speaker or his mind. If the German finance minister says that 2 Billionen Euros are sufficient to bail out Greece, then he’s got his figures right because he means two trillion. A billion in German is a […]

Germans, like many others worldwide, celebrate the end of the old year and the beginning of a new one with festivities and fireworks. Others opt for a quiet night by watching “Dinner for One” on TV, a British sketch from the 1920s which has become an unlikely New Year’s tradition in Germany despite being virtually […]

In an increasingly globalised world where English is more or less the undisputed international language of business, what place is there for multilingualism? Several global companies believe that foreign languages, specifically German, play an important role in helping employees integrate into today’s multicultural workplace. The software giant SAP, which has its headquarters in Walldorf, is […]

Few people can be unfamiliar with Martin Luther, the German theologian and instigator of the Reformation. The story of Luther posting his disputations of some of the doctrines and practices of Roman Catholicism, his 95 Theses, on the door of his local church in Wittenberg is exceedingly well known, even though some scholars doubt whether […]

Since 1880 one name has been the authoritative source for the correct spelling, pronunciation and usage of German words: Duden. Duden is to German, what the OED is to English. Konrad Alexander Friedrich Duden was born on 3 January 1829 in Wesel, Germany. After completing his secondary education, he studied history and philology at Bonn, […]

There is an official body regulating the German language, just as there is for many other languages. These institutions are often called language academies. In the case of German, the role is fulfilled by the Council for German Orthography, shortened to RdR from its German name, der Rat für deutsche Rechtschreibung. Der Rat comprises members […]

Like many languages, German has evolved to include words that originate from other languages; many of these surprisingly derive from Arabic. Arabic words feature commonly in many Western languages and were most often introduced centuries ago. However you prefer to drink it, ‘Kaffee’ derives from the Arabic ‘qahwa’. Coffee drinking originated in 15th century Yemen, […]

In our previous blog, we have been looking at German words used in English and now we would like to introduce you to English words used in the German language. The German language uses English words because it isn’t always easy to find a suitable German equivalent. The loaning of words eases communication and makes […]

English has been steadily adopting words from German for several centuries. I will describe a few here; the tip of the iceberg so to speak. And there we have the first word loaned from German: the iceberg. We have all heard of the über-cool word doppelganger, a German term. Doppel means double, der Gänger derives […]

Germans are loyal and trustworthy folks. However, some false friends in the German language may confuse the English speaker or his mind. If the German finance minister says that 2 Billionen Euros are sufficient to bail out Greece, then he’s got his figures right because he means two trillion. A billion in German is a […]

During my German lessons, students often ask how the German language as we speak it today came about. The modern German language, or standard German, which we know today, has evolved over centuries just as English has developed from Old English through Middle English to the tongue we speak today. Old High German probably became […]

You shouldn’t be daunted at embarking on German lessons. It’s likely you already know a lot more German than you think. Our two languages are closely related, both being West Germanic languages, so you’ll find that many words are almost identical, if not in spelling, then in pronunciation. The terms Hand and Finger for example, […]

If you’ve taken a German language course to improve your business German, a trip to the country to meet clients or colleagues is a great chance to improve your language skills. Learning German vocabulary Once all the business is done for the day, there’s the temptation to stay in your hotel and relax. This isn’t […]

Have you ever taken a plane to Zurich or Basel, expecting upon arrival that people would sound like your friends or colleagues from Germany – but then feeling somewhat puzzled when hearing them talk? The reason is that Swiss Germans have a very strong Allemanic dialect in their everyday conversation, called “Schweizerdeutsch”. This, however, should […]

You may have heard of the Common European Reference Framework for Languages. It is quite a mouthful but useful for measuring language levels. Have you ever wondered which level your German language is or what the various levels mean? The basic levels are A1 and A2. If you have achieved level A1, you should understand and use […]

What do Germans really understand when the English talk to them? The English language has many subtleties that do not exist in German. The German language is very literal, and as a result, Germans may come across as rude or off-hand to the English speaker. Of course, most Germans are not rude at all. When […]

Were you planning to relocate to Germany for professional reasons? Or perhaps you are working with Germans regularly?  The following words are taken from everyday office language. Have you come across some of them yet? Der Anhang: If you send an email from a German version of outlook and would like to also send a […]