Today's words · 🎭 Carnival
Carnival in Cologne: 10 German words to join the party
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One Thursday in February, your colleague turns up to work dressed as a pirate — what's going on?
Your first February in Germany, and the streets of Cologne are full of clowns, pirates and bumblebees. The man next to you on the tram is dressed as a lion, and strangers are shouting "Alaaf!" at each other. What on earth is happening?
Today's ten words are for enjoying German carnival properly. With them you can talk about costumes, follow the parades and party like a local. 🎭
📋 The ten words at a glance
- der Karneval — carnival
- das Kostüm — costume, fancy dress; (women's) suit
- sich verkleiden — to dress up (as), to disguise oneself
- die Maske — mask; face mask
- der Umzug — move (house), relocation; parade
- die Parade — parade; (goalkeeper's) save
- der Clown — clown
- der Spaß — fun
- die Süßigkeit — sweet, candy (pl. sweets)
- der Jeck — (Rhineland) carnival reveller; joker
🧠 Words, examples and memory tricks
der Karneval
[KAR-neh-vahl]carnival(Pl. die Karnevale · = der Fasching · Swiss: die Fasnacht)
📌 In Köln feiert man Karneval auf der Straße.
→ In Cologne people celebrate carnival in the streets.
💡 From Italian carne (meat) + vale (farewell) = goodbye, meat 🍖 One last big party before Lent.
Bonus In southern Germany and Austria it's called der Fasching.
das Kostüm
[kos-TUEM]costume, fancy dress; (women's) suit(Pl. die Kostüme)
📌 Zu Karneval trägt mein Sohn ein Piratenkostüm.
→ My son is wearing a pirate costume for carnival.
💡 The same word as costume 🦸 Round your lips for the ü.
⚠ It can also mean a woman's skirt suit.
sich verkleiden
[zikh fair-KLY-den]to dress up (as), to disguise oneself(verkleidet sich – hat sich verkleidet)
📌 Zum Karneval hat sie sich als Hexe verkleidet.
→ For carnival she dressed up as a witch.
💡 ver- (change) + Kleid (clothes) = to change your clothes into someone else 🧙
Bonus to dress up as = sich als … verkleiden: Ich verkleide mich als Hexe.
die Maske
[MAS-kuh]mask; face mask(Pl. die Masken)
📌 Im Krankenhaus muss man manchmal eine Maske tragen.
→ In hospital you sometimes have to wear a mask.
💡 English mask with an -e on the end 🎭 Don't forget to say the final e.
Bonus to wear a mask = eine Maske tragen
der Umzug
[OOM-tsook]move (house), relocation; parade(Pl. die Umzüge)
📌 Kannst du mir beim Umzug helfen?
→ Can you help me with the move?
💡 um (around) + Zug (procession) = a procession around town 🎺 Moving house is a procession of boxes, so that's Umzug too!
⚠ Day to day it usually means moving house. A carnival parade is der Karnevalsumzug.
die Parade
[pa-RAH-duh]parade; (goalkeeper's) save(Pl. die Paraden)
📌 Zu Karneval zieht eine bunte Parade durch die Stadt.
→ At carnival a colorful parade moves through the city.
💡 The same as English parade 🥁 Stress the middle syllable.
Bonus In football, a goalkeeper's save is also a Parade.
der Clown
[KLOWN]clown(Pl. die Clowns)
📌 Die Kinder lachen über den Clown im Zirkus.
→ The children laugh at the clown in the circus.
💡 Straight from English clown 🤡 Even the pronunciation matches.
Bonus A carnival fool is also called der Narr.
der Spaß
[SHPAHS]fun((pl.: die Späße))
📌 Viel Spaß!
→ Have fun!
💡 s+p at the start sounds like ‘shp’ 🥳 SHPAHS — fun with a splash.
Bonus That's fun! = Das macht Spaß! · Have fun! = Viel Spaß!
die Süßigkeit
[ZUE-sikh-kite]sweet, candy (pl. sweets)(Pl. die Süßigkeiten)
📌 Kinder lieben Süßigkeiten.
→ Children love sweets.
💡 süß (sweet) + -igkeit 🍬 Nouns ending in -keit are always die.
⚠ Usually plural: Süßigkeiten = sweets
der Jeck
[YECK](Rhineland) carnival reveller; joker(Pl. die Jecken (f: die Jeckin))
📌 Am Elften im Elften strömen die Jecken in die Kölner Altstadt.
→ On 11 November, carnival revellers pour into Cologne's old town.
💡 Cologne dialect for Geck (fool) 🃏 During carnival, everyone is a proud Jeck.
Bonus Cologne saying: Jeder Jeck ist anders. = Everyone's different.
🇩🇪 A spoonful of German culture
The carnival season is said to start on 11 November at 11:11. But the real highlight comes a few months later, in the days just before Ash Wednesday (Aschermittwoch). The dates change every year because they depend on Easter.
On the Thursday, Weiberfastnacht, women traditionally snip off men's ties with scissors. If you work in the Rhineland that day, leave your favourite tie at home! On Rosenmontag, the Monday, there are big parades in Cologne, Düsseldorf and Mainz.
Sweets and chocolates (Kamelle in Cologne) rain down from the parade floats. In Cologne people shout "Alaaf!", in Düsseldorf and Mainz it's "Helau!". Mix them up and everyone will laugh! 🍬
✅ Quick quiz
Q. At carnival, how do you say "I dressed up as a pirate"?
- ① Ich habe mich als Pirat verkleidet.
- ② Ich habe einen Piraten verkleidet.
- ③ Ich bin als Pirat umgezogen.
Show the answer
① Ich habe mich als Pirat verkleidet.
sich als … verkleiden = to dress up as, and it needs the reflexive mich.
Say in German what you'd dress up as this carnival. Ich verkleide mich als …! 🎉
🔜 Tomorrow's topic: 🍻 Oktoberfest