Dates in German (Days, Months, Years)

In this lesson, you will learn to correctly identify and use the days of the week, the months of the year, and the years in German. You will also become familiar with the seasons of the year and how to ask and talk about dates and periods of time in everyday conversations.

Days, months, and years

Let's start with the names of the days, months, and years in German.

The days of the week

In German, the days of the week are as follows:

To say that something happens on a specific day, the preposition "am" is used, followed by the day of the week.

Examples:

• "I go to the gym on Monday" - "Am Montag gehe ich ins Fitnessstudio"
• "We have a meeting on Friday" - "Am Freitag haben wir ein Meeting"

The times of the day

It is important to know the different times of the day in German to speak accurately about daily activities:

To say that something happens at a specific time of day, the preposition "am" is used, followed by the time of day.

Examples:

• "I go jogging in the morning" - "Ich gehe am Morgen joggen"
• "We eat lunch together at noon" - "Wir essen zusammen am Mittag"
• "I work on my projects in the afternoon" - "Ich arbeite an meinen Projekten am Nachmittag"
• "We watch a movie in the evening" - "Wir sehen uns am Abend einen Film an"

The months of the year

In German, the months of the year are:

To say that something happens in a specific month, the preposition "im" is used, followed by the month.

Examples:

• "The new year begins in January" - "Im Januar beginnt das neue Jahr"
• "The holidays are in August" - "Die Ferien sind im August"

The years

To say the years in German, they are pronounced as numbers.

Examples:

• 1984 - "neunzehnhundertvierundachtzig"
• 2021 - "zweitausendeinundzwanzig"

To talk about something that happened or will happen in a specific year, the preposition "im" is used.

Examples:

• "The book was published in 1984" - "Im Jahr 1984 wurde das Buch veröffentlicht"
• "We started the project in 2021" - "Im Jahr 2021 haben wir das Projekt begonnen"

The seasons (Jahreszeiten)

In German, the seasons are known as Jahreszeiten. There are four seasons, each with its own climate and distinctive characteristics:

To say that something happens in a specific season, the preposition "im" is used, followed by the season.

Examples:

• "Flowers bloom in spring" - "Im Frühling blühen die Blumen"
• "It is hot in summer" - "Im Sommer ist es heiß"
• "Leaves fall in autumn" - "Im Herbst fallen die Blätter"
• "It snows in winter" - "Im Winter schneit es"

The seasons are an important part of German culture, with many festivities and events associated with each one.

Learning these terms will help you better understand German customs and traditions, as well as communicate more accurately about weather and seasonal activities.

Everyday conversations about dates in German

In this section, we will apply what we have learned to different everyday situations, with concrete examples of how to ask for the date of an event, plan your activities, or simply have a conversation about when certain things happened or will happen.

How to ask for dates in German

To ask for dates in German, several common structures and expressions are used. Here are some of the most important ones:

• Welches Datum ist heute? - "What date is it today?"
• Wann hast du Geburtstag? - "When is your birthday?"
• An welchem Tag findet das Treffen statt? - "On what day does the meeting take place?"

When answering these questions, it is common to use the prepositions "am" for days and "im" for months. For example:

• "Today is May 15th" - "Heute ist der fünfzehnte Mai"
• "My birthday is on June 3rd" - "Mein Geburtstag ist am dritten Juni"

Asking about periods of time

To ask about specific periods of time, you can use these common phrases:

• Wie lange dauert das? - "How long does that take?"
• Von wann bis wann? - "From when to when?"
• Seit wann bist du hier? - "How long have you been here?"

To answer, you can use common temporal expressions. For example:

• "It takes two hours" - "Es dauert zwei Stunden"
• "From March 1st to April 30th" - "Vom ersten März bis zum dreißigsten April"
• "I have been here since January" - "Ich bin seit Januar hier"

Other examples

Here are some additional examples of how to talk about dates and periods of time in German:

• "The conference is on November 20th" - "Die Konferenz ist am zwanzigsten November"
• "We are going on vacation in July" - "Wir fahren im Juli in den Urlaub"
• "The project started in 2020 and ended in 2021" - "Das Projekt begann im Jahr 2020 und endete im Jahr 2021"
• "The course lasts three months" - "Der Kurs dauert drei Monate"
• "Spring begins in March" - "Der Frühling beginnt im März"

With these examples and explanations, you should feel perfectly comfortable asking and talking about dates and periods of time in German.