Today's words · 🦷 Dentist & eye doctor
Open wide: 10 German words for the dentist and the optician
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Learn these before you sit in the chair, because it's hard to ask questions with your mouth wide open.
A back tooth is aching and the words on your screen are getting blurry. You've booked an appointment, but what if you can't understand what the dentist asks you? With your mouth open, you can't exactly ask them to repeat it.
Today's ten words come up again and again at the dentist and the eye doctor. With them you can say where it hurts, ask for an anaesthetic and talk about new glasses. 🦷
📋 The ten words at a glance
- der Zahnarzt — dentist
- der Zahn — tooth
- die Füllung — filling, stuffing; (dental) filling
- bohren — to drill, bore
- die Betäubung — anaesthesia; numbness
- die Zahnspange — (dental) brace, braces
- das Auge — eye
- die Brille — glasses, spectacles
- die Kontaktlinse — contact lens
- kurzsichtig — short-sighted (also figurative)
🧠 Words, examples and memory tricks
der Zahnarzt
[TSAHN-artst]dentist(Pl. die Zahnärzte (f: die Zahnärztin))
📌 Ich habe morgen einen Termin beim Zahnarzt.
→ I have an appointment at the dentist tomorrow.
💡 Zahn (tooth) + Arzt (doctor) = tooth doctor 🦷 Just glue the words together.
Bonus to go to the dentist = zum Zahnarzt gehen · a female dentist = die Zahnärztin
der Zahn
[TSAHN]tooth(Pl. die Zähne)
📌 Ich muss zum Zahnarzt, mir tut ein Zahn weh.
→ I have to go to the dentist, one of my teeth hurts.
💡 Zahn and tooth are long-lost cousins 😁 Say it with a big grin.
Bonus to brush your teeth = Zähne putzen · toothbrush = die Zahnbürste
⚠ The plural gets an umlaut: die Zähne
die Füllung
[FUEL-oong]filling, stuffing; (dental) filling(Pl. die Füllungen)
📌 Die Füllung der Maultaschen besteht aus Spinat und Fleisch.
→ The filling of the Maultaschen is spinach and meat.
💡 füllen (to fill) + -ung = the stuff you fill with 🥟 Dumpling filling or tooth filling, both are Füllung.
⚠ Words ending in -ung are always die.
bohren
[BOR-en]to drill, bore(bohrt – hat gebohrt)
📌 Für das Regal müssen wir vier Löcher in die Wand bohren.
→ We need to drill four holes in the wall for the shelf.
💡 Same root as English bore 🔩 The sound nobody wants to hear at the dentist.
Bonus a drill = die Bohrmaschine · perfect tense: hat gebohrt
die Betäubung
[buh-TOY-boong]anaesthesia; numbness(Pl. die Betäubungen)
📌 Der Zahnarzt bohrte erst nach der Betäubung.
→ The dentist only drilled after the anaesthetic.
💡 taub means deaf or numb, so Betäubung makes you numb 💉
Bonus local anaesthetic = örtliche Betäubung · general anaesthetic = die Narkose
die Zahnspange
[TSAHN-shpang-uh](dental) brace, braces(Pl. die Zahnspangen)
📌 Als Jugendlicher musste ich drei Jahre lang eine Zahnspange tragen.
→ As a teenager I had to wear a brace for three years.
💡 Zahn + Spange (clip) = a clip for your teeth 😬
Bonus The same Spange gives you die Haarspange = hair clip.
das Auge
[OW-guh]eye(Pl. die Augen)
📌 Sie hat blaue Augen.
→ She has blue eyes.
💡 A distant cousin of eye 👀 Open your eyes wide and say ‘OW-guh!’
Bonus unter vier Augen = in private (literally ‘under four eyes’)
die Brille
[BRIL-uh]glasses, spectacles(Pl. die Brillen)
📌 Ohne Brille sehe ich nichts.
→ Without my glasses I can't see a thing.
💡 A Brille makes the world look brilliant 👓
⚠ It's singular in German: eine Brille = a pair of glasses.
die Kontaktlinse
[kon-TAKT-lin-zuh]contact lens(Pl. die Kontaktlinsen)
📌 Beim Sport trage ich lieber Kontaktlinsen als eine Brille.
→ For sport I prefer contact lenses to glasses.
💡 Kontakt + Linse = a lens in direct contact with your eye 👁️
Bonus die Linse also means lentil, so Linsensuppe is lentil soup!
kurzsichtig
[KOORTS-zikh-tikh]short-sighted (also figurative)📌 Es wäre kurzsichtig, nur an den schnellen Gewinn zu denken.
→ It would be short-sighted to think only of quick profit.
💡 kurz (short) + Sicht (sight) = short sight 🔍 Almost word for word.
Bonus The opposite: weitsichtig = long-sighted. Both work figuratively too.
🇩🇪 A spoonful of German culture
Most people in Germany see the dentist for a check-up (Kontrolle) once or twice a year. Many keep a little booklet called a Bonusheft to record their visits, because regular check-ups can mean more help from the insurer if they ever need crowns or bridges.
A professional clean (professionelle Zahnreinigung) is often not part of basic public insurance, so many people pay for it themselves. Some insurers cover part of it, so it's worth asking.
You don't always need an eye doctor (Augenarzt) for new glasses. Many opticians (Optiker) will do an eye test (Sehtest) for you in the shop. 👓
✅ Quick quiz
Q. The dentist picks up the drill and asks if you'd like something so it won't hurt. What do you want?
- ① die Füllung
- ② die Betäubung
- ③ die Zahnspange
Show the answer
② die Betäubung
die Betäubung is the anaesthetic: it numbs the area so you don't feel pain.
Stand in front of the mirror and point to your Zahn, your Auge and your Brille, saying each word out loud. Next time, try booking your dentist appointment in German! 🪥
🔜 Tomorrow's topic: 🏦 At the bank