Today's words · 🍳 Breakfast
Guten Morgen! 10 German words for the breakfast table
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A German breakfast is much more than bread, and knowing the words makes it taste even better.
It's Sunday morning and you've been invited to a German friend's place. The table is full: fresh rolls, boiled eggs in little cups, jam and cheese. You'd love to ask someone to pass the butter, but the words just won't come.
Today's ten words are the ones you'll find on almost every German breakfast table. With them you can order breakfast in a café and chat easily at a friend's table. 🍳
📋 The ten words at a glance
🧠 Words, examples and memory tricks
das Frühstück
[FROO-shtook]breakfast(Pl. die Frühstücke)
📌 Was isst du zum Frühstück?
→ What do you have for breakfast?
💡 früh (early) + Stück (piece) = an early piece of bread 🥐
Bonus The verb frühstücken = to have breakfast: Wir frühstücken um acht.
der Orangensaft
[oh-RAHN-zhen-zahft]orange juice(Pl. die Orangensäfte)
📌 Ich trinke morgens gern Orangensaft.
→ I like drinking orange juice in the morning.
💡 Orange + Saft (juice) — no surprises here 🍊
Bonus People often shorten it to O-Saft · apple juice = Apfelsaft
das Ei
[EYE]egg(Pl. die Eier)
📌 Zum Frühstück esse ich ein Ei.
→ I eat an egg for breakfast.
💡 One egg, one ‘eye’ looking up at you from the plate 🥚
Bonus scrambled eggs = das Rührei
⚠ The plural is die Eier.
die Butter
[BOO-ter]butter((no pl.))
📌 Ohne Butter, bitte.
→ Without butter, please.
💡 Looks just like butter, but rhymes with ‘hooter’ 🧈
⚠ Watch the gender: it's die Butter, not der.
die Marmelade
[mar-muh-LAH-duh]jam(Pl. die Marmeladen)
📌 Ich esse Brötchen mit Marmelade.
→ I have bread rolls with jam.
💡 Named after Portuguese quince jam, but in German any jam is Marmelade 🍓
⚠ It's not just orange marmalade — strawberry jam is Erdbeermarmelade.
der Honig
[HOH-nikh]honey((pl. rare))
📌 Tee mit Honig hilft gegen Halsschmerzen.
→ Tea with honey helps with a sore throat.
💡 Almost the same as honey 🍯
Bonus a bee = die Biene
der Käse
[KAY-zuh]cheese(Pl. die Käse)
📌 Ich esse gern Brot mit Käse.
→ I like eating bread with cheese.
💡 Say ‘KAY-zuh’ instead of ‘cheese’ for your next photo 🧀
Bonus Colloquial: Das ist Käse! = That's rubbish!
die Milch
[MILKH]milk(no pl.)
📌 Ich trinke Kaffee mit Milch.
→ I drink coffee with milk.
💡 English milk with the k softened to ch 🥛
Bonus a milky coffee = der Milchkaffee
das Müsli
[MUES-lee]muesli(Pl. die Müslis · Swiss: das Müesli)
📌 Zum Frühstück esse ich Müsli mit Joghurt.
→ For breakfast I have muesli with yoghurt.
💡 Mus (mush) + Swiss -li (little) = a little bowl of mush 🥣
Bonus rolled oats = die Haferflocken
das Spiegelei
[SHPEE-gel-eye]fried egg(Pl. die Spiegeleier)
📌 Zum Frühstück mache ich mir ein Spiegelei.
→ I make myself a fried egg for breakfast.
💡 Spiegel (mirror) + Ei = an egg whose yolk shines like a mirror 🍳
Bonus a soft-boiled egg = ein weich gekochtes Ei
🇩🇪 A spoonful of German culture
The classic German breakfast is fresh bread rolls (Brötchen) from the bakery. On weekend mornings there's often a queue, and many bakeries open for a few hours on Sunday morning too.
At a weekend breakfast, boiled eggs often come standing in a little egg cup (Eierbecher). You tap the top with your spoon and eat it straight from the shell.
Many cafés serve breakfast until well into the afternoon, so a long, slow weekend brunch with friends is a popular habit. ☕
✅ Quick quiz
Q. In a café, you'd like a fried egg with a nice round yolk. What do you order?
- ① Ein Rührei, bitte.
- ② Ein Spiegelei, bitte.
- ③ Ein Müsli, bitte.
Show the answer
② Ein Spiegelei, bitte.
das Spiegelei is a fried egg; Rührei is scrambled egg.
Tomorrow morning, name everything on your breakfast table in German. Ei, Butter and Käse already get you halfway there! 🥨
🔜 Tomorrow's topic: 🍺 Beer & wine