Learn the Days of the Week in German

Whether you are booking a hotel in Berlin, scheduling a business call with a German colleague, or simply planning your week in a language course, knowing the days of the week in German is one of the first and most useful skills you can build.

Before we dive in, two words worth knowing right away: die Woche means the week, and der Tag means the day. Together, they form der Wochentag — the weekday. Keep those building blocks in mind as you work through the full list. In this guide, you will learn how to pronounce all seven German days of the week, how to remember them with etymology-based memory tricks, the grammar rules you need to use them correctly in sentences, and practical vocabulary for talking about your weekly routine.

German Days of the Week: Quick-Reference Table

Before diving into pronunciation and grammar, here is a complete overview of all seven German days of the week — including their English translations, phonetic pronunciations, grammatical gender, adverb forms, and standard abbreviations.

German Day	English	Pronunciation	Article	Adverb (-s)	Abbreviation
Montag	Monday	[MOHN-tahk]	der	montags	Mo
Dienstag	Tuesday	[DEENS-tahk]	der	dienstags	Di
Mittwoch	Wednesday	[MITT-vohkh]	der	mittwochs	Mi
Donnerstag	Thursday	[DON-uhs-tahk]	der	donnerstags	Do
Freitag	Friday	[FRY-tahk]	der	freitags	Fr
Samstag	Saturday	[ZAHM-stahk]	der	samstags	Sa
Sonntag	Sunday	[ZON-tahk]	der	sonntags	So

You will encounter these abbreviations on German calendars, train timetables, and scheduling apps, so it is worth memorizing them alongside the full names.

How to Pronounce the German Days of the Week

First, you need to learn how to pronounce them. Here are the days of the week in German, along with their English translations and pronunciations:

• Montag (Monday) – [MOHN-tahk]
• Dienstag (Tuesday) – [DEENS-tahk]
• Mittwoch (Wednesday) – [MITT-vohkh]
• Donnerstag (Thursday) – [DON-uhs-tahk]
• Freitag (Friday) – [FRY-tahk]
• Samstag (Saturday) – [ZAHM-stahk] or [SAM-stahk]
• Sonntag (Sunday) – [ZON-tahk]

Also you should know that der Tag means “the day”. Although there’s a “G” at the end, it’s pronounced like a “K”, so it sounds like “Tag” [TAHK]. The plural is die Tage. You’ll also encounter the word der Wochentag (the weekday), which is a compound word formed from die Woche (the week) and der Tag (the day). The plural is die Wochentage.

Pronunciation is key to being understood in any language. To help with your learning, try to repeat each day out loud while looking at the written form. This helps with pronunciation and reinforces the connection between the sound and the spelling of the words. You can also watch the following pronunciation video to hear the correct pronunciation.

Memory Tricks and Etymology: Why German Days of the Week Are Named That Way

Remembering the German days of the week is much easier once you understand where the names actually come from. Most are rooted in Norse and Roman mythology or named after celestial bodies — and many of those roots are shared with their English equivalents, giving you a built-in memory advantage.

• Montag: The word Mond means moon in German, so Montag is literally “Moon Day” — the same origin as the English “Monday” and the Latin dies Lunae. Picture the moon rising on the first day of the German working week.
• Dienstag: This day is named after Tyr (known as Ziu in Old High German), the Germanic god of single combat and justice. This is the exact same root as the English “Tuesday.” If you remember Tyr, you will remember Dienstag.
• Mittwoch: Mittwoch literally means “mid-week,” formed from Mitte (middle) and Woche (week). It is the only German day of the week not named after a deity or celestial body, which actually makes it the easiest to remember once you know its meaning.
• Donnerstag: Donner means thunder in German, and this day is named after Thor, the Norse god of thunder — the same root as the English “Thursday.” Picture Thor hurling his hammer on a stormy Thursday.
• Freitag: Freitag is named after Freya (also known as Frigg), the Norse goddess of love and fertility — the same origin as the English “Friday.” The word frei also means “free,” which makes it easy to associate with the end of the working week.
• Samstag: This name derives from the Old High German sambatztag, which itself comes from the Greek Sabbaton (Sabbath), meaning a day of rest. In northeastern Germany, you may also hear Sonnabend used instead of Samstag. Sonnabend means “the eve before Sunday” (Sonne + Abend), reflecting an older church tradition of the week culminating at Sunday. Both words mean Saturday, but Samstag is the more widely understood form across Germany.
• Sonntag: Sonne means sun, so Sonntag is literally “Sun Day” — matching the English “Sunday” and the Latin dies Solis. A bright, restful end to the week.

Looking across the full list, you can see two clear categories: days named after celestial bodies (Montag/Moon, Sonntag/Sun) and days named after figures from Norse and Roman mythology (Dienstag/Tyr, Donnerstag/Thor, Freitag/Freya). Mittwoch stands alone as the purely descriptive day. Understanding these origins does not just help you remember the German days of the week — it also deepens your feel for the language itself.

German Grammar Rules for Using the Days of the Week Correctly

Understanding the grammar rules related to the days of the week will help you use them correctly in a German sentence. Here are some fundamental grammar rules to keep in mind:

Capitalization

In German, all nouns are capitalized, and this rule extends to the days of the week. Therefore, always write Montag, Dienstag, Mittwoch, Donnerstag, Freitag, Samstag, and Sonntag with a capital letter at the beginning. This rule is fundamental in German and helps distinguish nouns from other parts of speech.

Gender

In the German language, every noun has a gender, and the days of the week are no exception. All days of the week are masculine, and therefore, they are preceded by the masculine article “der”:

• der Montag
• der Dienstag
• der Mittwoch
• der Donnerstag
• der Freitag
• der Samstag
• der Sonntag

The Preposition “am”

Who doesn’t have a full schedule nowadays? When talking about your plans, you need to use the preposition “am” to indicate “on” a particular day. For example, to say “on Monday,” you would say am Montag. Below are examples of how this is used in German sentences:

• Am Dienstag habe ich Deutschunterricht. (On Tuesday, I have a German class.)
• Am Mittwoch gehe ich joggen. (On Wednesday, I am going jogging.)
• Am Freitag treffe ich meine Freunde. (On Friday, I am meeting up with my friends.)

You can also use the preposition “am” for other expressions like “am Wochenende” (on the weekend).

The Preposition “unter”

“Unter der Woche” refers to the workdays of the week (Monday through Friday).

• Unter der Woche arbeite ich. (On weekdays, I work.)
• Leider habe ich unter der Woche nicht so viel Zeit. (Unfortunately, I don’t have that much time during the week.)

Weekdays, Working Days, and the Weekend

In German, there are a few key terms for talking about the structure of the week that are worth knowing early on. Die Wochentage refers to all seven days of the week. Die Werktage (also called die Arbeitstage) refers to the working days, typically Monday through Friday — though in some industries Saturday is also considered a Werktag. Das Wochenende means the weekend, covering Saturday and Sunday.

Note that in Germany, the week officially begins on Monday, which is why you will always see Montag as the first day on German calendars and planners — unlike in the United States, where Sunday is often listed first. Here are three example sentences to put these terms in context:

• Unter der Woche arbeite ich von neun bis fünf. (During the week / on weekdays, I work from nine to five.)
• Am Wochenende schlafe ich länger. (On the weekend, I sleep in.)
• An Werktagen ist das Büro geöffnet. (The office is open on working days.)

Useful Adverbs

Understanding German adverbs of time can help you sound more natural when speaking German. Here are a few common expressions related to the days of the week:

Morgen: This word can be tricky because it has two meanings. When capitalized (“der Morgen”), it means “the morning.” When written in lowercase (“morgen”), it means “tomorrow.” You need to understand the context to know the meaning.

• Morgen gehe ich zur Arbeit. (Tomorrow, I’m going to work.)
• Am Morgen trinke ich Kaffee. (In the morning, I drink coffee.)

To say tomorrow morning in German, use the fixed expression Morgen früh — not morgen Morgen. For example: Morgen früh fahre ich zum Bahnhof. (Tomorrow morning, I am going to the train station.) You will also encounter am Vormittag, which refers to the late morning hours before noon — for example: Am Vormittag habe ich einen Termin. (I have an appointment in the morning / before noon.)

Übermorgen: This term means “the day after tomorrow.”

• Übermorgen ist Donnerstag. (The day after tomorrow is Thursday.)

Vorgestern: This word means “the day before yesterday.”

• Vorgestern war Sonntag. (The day before yesterday was Sunday.)

If you want to delve deeper into German adverbs of time, make sure to watch the following video which equips you with lots of useful example sentences that will come in handy in your everyday German conversations:

Talking About Recurring Events

When you want to talk about something that happens regularly on a specific weekday, you use the day of the week with an added “s” at the end, written in lowercase:

• montags: on Mondays
• dienstags: on Tuesdays
• mittwochs: on Wednesdays
• donnerstags: on Thursdays
• freitags: on Fridays
• samstags: on Saturdays
• sonntags: on Sundays

For example:

• Montags muss ich früh aufstehen. (On Mondays, I have to get up early.)
• Mittwochs gehe ich ins Fitnessstudio. (On Wednesdays, I go to the gym.)
• Sonntags ruhe ich mich aus. (On Sundays, I relax.)

This construction helps you talk about your weekly routine, making it clear that the activity repeats regularly on that specific day.

How Dates Are Written in German

In Germany, dates are written in the order day/month/year — the opposite of the American format. So the 5th of March 2025 would be written as 05.03.2025 or 5. März 2025. When speaking, Germans use ordinal numbers for the day: der fünfte März (the fifth of March).

In a full sentence, you might say: Heute ist Montag, der fünfte März. (Today is Monday, the fifth of March.) or Das Konzert ist am Freitag, dem zwölften April. (The concert is on Friday, the twelfth of April.) Being aware of this format will help you avoid confusion when reading German calendars, contracts, tickets, and official documents.

Useful Phrases for Talking About the Days of the Week

Knowing the German days of the week vocabulary is a strong start, but being able to use them in real conversation is the goal. Here are some practical phrases and short exchanges that show how the days of the week fit naturally into spoken German:

• Welcher Tag ist heute? (What day is today?) — Heute ist Montag. (Today is Monday.)
• Was machst du am Wochenende? (What are you doing on the weekend?) — Am Samstag gehe ich einkaufen. (On Saturday, I am going shopping.)
• Wann findet das Treffen statt? (When does the meeting take place?) — Das Treffen ist am Donnerstag. (The meeting is on Thursday.)

You will also need to talk about the week in relative terms. These three expressions are especially useful:

• letzte Woche (last week) — Letzte Woche war ich in München. (Last week, I was in Munich.)
• diese Woche (this week) — Diese Woche habe ich viel zu tun. (This week, I have a lot to do.)
• nächste Woche (next week) — Nächste Woche habe ich viel zu tun. (Next week, I have a lot to do.)

Try saying these phrases out loud as you read them. Practicing pronunciation alongside vocabulary helps both stick faster and prepares you for real conversations much more effectively than silent reading alone.

Frequently Asked Questions About the German Days of the Week

What is the first day of the week in Germany?

In Germany, the week officially starts on Monday (Montag), not Sunday. This is reflected in German calendars and planners, which always list Montag as the first column. This differs from the United States, where Sunday is typically shown as the first day of the week.

How do you say weekend in German?

The weekend is das Wochenende in German. To say on the weekend, use am Wochenende. For example: Am Wochenende schlafe ich länger. (On the weekend, I sleep in.)

Why is Wednesday called Mittwoch in German?

Mittwoch literally means mid-week, formed from Mitte (middle) and Woche (week). It is the only German day of the week not named after a deity or celestial body, which makes it easy to remember once you know its meaning.

Do the days of the week start with a capital letter in German?

Yes. In German, all nouns are capitalized, and the days of the week are nouns. Always write Montag, Dienstag, Mittwoch, Donnerstag, Freitag, Samstag, and Sonntag with a capital letter.

What is the difference between Samstag and Sonnabend?

Both words mean Saturday. Samstag is used throughout most of Germany, while Sonnabend is the traditional term used in northeastern Germany and parts of eastern Germany. You may encounter both, but Samstag is the more widely understood form.

Start Using the German Days of the Week Today

You now have everything you need to start using the days of the week in German confidently: the correct pronunciation, the grammar rules, the key vocabulary, and practical phrases for real conversations.

The next step is to put it all into practice. With lingoni, you can continue building your German from the ground up through structured, self-paced lessons led by native speakers. You earn points with every lesson completed, track your progress from A1 to B2, and unlock each new level by passing a Milestone Test — so you always know exactly where you stand and what comes next. Viel Erfolg! (Good luck!)