Today's words · 🧚 Grimm's fairy tales
Once upon a time: 10 German words from Grimm's fairy tales
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You know Snow White and Hansel and Gretel — but do you know how they begin in the original German?
You've offered to read a bedtime story to a German friend's child. The first line: ‘Es war einmal ein König…’ Kings, princesses, witches and wolves — stories you've known since childhood suddenly feel brand new in German.
Today's ten words are the stars of Grimm's fairy tales. With them you can read a German storybook and recognise the fairy-tale phrases Germans still use in everyday life. 🧚
📋 The ten words at a glance
🧠 Words, examples and memory tricks
das Märchen
[MAIR-khen]fairy tale(Pl. die Märchen)
📌 Meine Oma hat mir oft Märchen erzählt.
→ My grandma often told me fairy tales.
💡 old Mär (tale) + -chen (little) = a little tale 📖 -chen is always das.
Bonus Erzähl keine Märchen! = Don't tell fibs!
der König
[KUR-nikh]king(Pl. die Könige (f: die Königin))
📌 Der König lebte in einem großen Schloss.
→ The king lived in a big castle.
💡 Same root as English king 👑 The final -ig sounds like ‘ikh’.
Bonus Add -in for queen: die Königin
die Prinzessin
[prin-TSESS-in]princess(Pl. die Prinzessinnen)
📌 Die kleine Lena will sich als Prinzessin verkleiden.
→ Little Lena wants to dress up as a princess.
💡 Prinz + -essin = princess 👸 Almost the same as English.
⚠ The plural doubles the n: die Prinzessinnen
der Prinz
[PRINTS]prince(Pl. die Prinzen)
📌 Der Prinz heiratet eine Bürgerliche.
→ The prince is marrying a commoner.
💡 From Latin princeps (first) 🤴 A twin of English prince.
⚠ Weak noun: den Prinzen, dem Prinzen, des Prinzen
die Hexe
[HEK-suh]witch(Pl. die Hexen)
📌 Im Märchen wohnt die böse Hexe in einem Haus aus Lebkuchen.
→ In the fairy tale, the wicked witch lives in a gingerbread house.
💡 Related to English hag 🧙♀️ A witch who casts a hex!
Bonus der Hexenschuss = a sudden back spasm (lit. ‘witch's shot’)
der Wolf
[VOLF]wolf(Pl. die Wölfe)
📌 Vor gut zwanzig Jahren ist der Wolf nach Deutschland zurückgekehrt.
→ The wolf returned to Germany a good twenty years ago.
💡 Spelled just like English 🐺 Only the W sounds like a V.
⚠ The plural has an umlaut: die Wölfe
der Wald
[VALT]forest, woods(Pl. die Wälder)
📌 Am Wochenende gehen wir im Wald spazieren.
→ At the weekend we go for a walk in the forest.
💡 Where Hansel and Gretel got lost 🌲 The Wald in Schwarzwald (Black Forest)!
⚠ Plural with umlaut and -er: die Wälder
der Zwerg
[TSVAIRK]dwarf; midget(Pl. die Zwerge)
📌 Schneewittchen wohnt bei den sieben Zwergen.
→ Snow White lives with the seven dwarfs.
💡 A cousin of English dwarf 🍄 A garden gnome is a Gartenzwerg!
Bonus The opposite = der Riese (giant)
der Zauberer
[TSOW-ber-er]wizard, magician; conjurer(Pl. die Zauberer)
📌 Der Zauberer zieht ein Kaninchen aus dem Hut.
→ The magician pulls a rabbit out of the hat.
💡 zaubern (to do magic) + -er (person) = wizard 🪄
Bonus a magic spell = der Zauberspruch
verwandeln
[fer-VAN-deln]to transform, to turn (into) (in + acc.); (sich) to change(verwandelt – hat verwandelt)
📌 Im Märchen wird der Prinz in einen Frosch verwandelt.
→ In the fairy tale, the prince is turned into a frog.
💡 ver- (completely) + wandeln (change) = poof, you're a frog 🐸
Bonus What you turn into takes in + accusative: in einen Frosch verwandeln
🇩🇪 A spoonful of German culture
The Brothers Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm, collected folk tales that people told each other and published them in the early 19th century. Many of the original versions are much darker and more gruesome than the ones we know from films.
The German Fairy Tale Route (Deutsche Märchenstraße) is a tourist route linking towns connected to the tales, from the brothers' birthplace, Hanau, all the way to Bremen — where a statue of the Town Musicians stands.
German fairy tales usually start with ‘Es war einmal…’ (Once upon a time) and often end with ‘Und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind, dann leben sie noch heute.’ — ‘And if they haven't died, they're still alive today.’ 🏰
✅ Quick quiz
Q. In Hansel and Gretel, who lives in the gingerbread house?
- ① die Prinzessin
- ② die Königin
- ③ die Hexe
Show the answer
③ die Hexe
The gingerbread house (Lebkuchenhaus) belongs to the wicked witch, die Hexe.
Tonight, start your favourite fairy tale in German with ‘Es war einmal…’ and see how far you get. Gute Nacht! 🌙
🔜 Tomorrow's topic: 🎻 Classical music