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Days of the week and months in German

Most German months look like the English ones, and several days give away their meaning once you know it. Here are all seven days, all twelve months and the four seasons, each with audio and a respelling, plus the small words that go with them: am, im and the handy -s ending.

The days of the week

The German week starts on Monday. Every day except Mittwoch ends in -tag, which is simply 'day'.

  • Montag

    Say it: MOHN-tahk

    Monday

    literally moon day

  • Dienstag

    Say it: DEENS-tahk

    Tuesday

  • Mittwoch

    Say it: MIT-vokh

    Wednesday

    literally mid-week

  • Donnerstag

    Say it: DON-ners-tahk

    Thursday

    literally Donar's day (Thor's day)

  • Freitag

    Say it: FRAI-tahk

    Friday

  • Samstag

    Say it: ZAMS-tahk

    Saturday

    In northern and eastern Germany you will also hear Sonnabend (ZON-ah-bent).

  • Sonntag

    Say it: ZON-tahk

    Sunday

    literally sun day

On Monday, every Monday

To say something happens on a day, use am (short for an dem): am Montag, on Monday; am Wochenende, at the weekend. For something that happens every week, add -s and drop the capital: montags, on Mondays; sonntags, on Sundays. Parts of the day follow the same patterns: am Morgen, am Abend, abends (in the evenings).

Days can join the parts of the day in one word: Montagmorgen is Monday morning and Freitagabend is Friday evening.

The months of the year

Close to English, but the vowels are German: Juni is 'YOO-nee', not 'June'. In Austria a few have their own forms.

  • Januar

    Say it: YA-noo-ar

    January

    Austrians say Jänner.

  • Februar

    Say it: FAY-broo-ar

    February

    Austrians often say Feber.

  • März

    Say it: MERTS

    March

  • April

    Say it: ah-PRIL

    April

  • Mai

    Say it: MAI

    May

  • Juni

    Say it: YOO-nee

    June

    Juni and Juli sound alike, so on the phone people often say Juno and Julei.

  • Juli

    Say it: YOO-lee

    July

  • August

    Say it: ow-GOOST

    August

  • September

    Say it: zep-TEM-ber

    September

  • Oktober

    Say it: ok-TOH-ber

    October

  • November

    Say it: no-VEM-ber

    November

  • Dezember

    Say it: day-TSEM-ber

    December

In May, on the 3rd of October

Months and seasons take im (short for in dem): im Mai, in May; im Winter, in winter. A full date takes am and an ordinal number: am dritten Oktober, on the 3rd of October. Germans write it day first, with full stops: 3.10.2026 or 3. Oktober 2026.

Ordinal numbers (erste, zweite, dritte) and saying the date are covered in the lesson German dates and ordinal numbers.

The seasons

All four are masculine, like the days and months, so it is always der and im.

  • der Frühling

    Say it: dayr FREW-ling

    spring

  • der Sommer

    Say it: dayr ZOM-mer

    summer

  • der Herbst

    Say it: dayr HERPST

    autumn, fall

  • der Winter

    Say it: dayr VIN-ter

    winter

Yesterday, today, tomorrow

The words you need to place the days around today.

  • vorgestern

    Say it: FOR-ges-tern

    the day before yesterday

  • gestern

    Say it: GES-tern

    yesterday

  • heute

    Say it: HOY-tuh

    today

  • morgen

    Say it: MOR-gen

    tomorrow

    der Morgen (capital M) is the morning, so morgen früh is tomorrow morning.

  • übermorgen

    Say it: EW-ber-mor-gen

    the day after tomorrow

  • das Wochenende

    Say it: das VO-khen-en-duh

    the weekend

Questions

Are the days of the week capitalised in German?

Yes. Montag, Dienstag and the rest are nouns, and every German noun starts with a capital letter. The exception is the -s form meaning 'every': montags (on Mondays) is an adverb and is written in lower case.

Are German days and months masculine or feminine?

All days, months and seasons are masculine: der Montag, der Januar, der Sommer. That is why you say am Montag (an dem) and im Januar (in dem).

Do you say 'am' or 'im' with days and months?

Am with days and parts of the day (am Montag, am Wochenende, am Abend), im with months and seasons (im Mai, im Winter). The exception is die Nacht: in der Nacht, at night.

What is the German word for Saturday?

Samstag is used everywhere. Sonnabend means the same day and is common in northern and eastern Germany.

How do Germans write dates?

Day, then month, then year, separated by full stops: 3.10.2026 is the 3rd of October, not the 10th of March. Read aloud it is der dritte Oktober, and 'on' a date is am dritten Oktober.

What day does the German week start on?

Monday. German calendars list Montag first, and the weekend (das Wochenende) is Samstag and Sonntag.

Keep going

Days, months and telling the time are lesson 8 of the course, with a dialogue, flashcards and a quiz. The first three lessons are free.