Today's words · 🧹 Housework
Cleaning day: 10 German housework words
A2B1
That cleaning rota on your German flatshare fridge is about to make sense.
On your first day in a German WG (flatshare), there's a chart on the kitchen wall. Putzen, Müll, Bad… and your name is next to one of them this week. But which job is it?
Today's ten words cover cleaning, tidying, washing up and taking out the rubbish. With them you can sort out the rota with your flatmates and know exactly what you've signed up for. Sleeves up! 🧹
📋 The ten words at a glance
- putzen — to clean; to polish, to brush
- aufräumen — to tidy up, to clear up
- staubsaugen — to vacuum, to hoover
- der Staubsauger — vacuum cleaner, hoover
- abwaschen — to wash up, to do the dishes; to wash off
- das Geschirr — dishes, crockery
- die Spülmaschine — dishwasher
- der Müll — rubbish, garbage, trash
- sauber — clean
- schmutzig — dirty
🧠 Words, examples and memory tricks
putzen
[POOT-sen]to clean; to polish, to brush(putzt – hat geputzt)
📌 Am Samstag putze ich die Wohnung.
→ On Saturdays I clean the apartment.
💡 Blow the dust off — ‘poot!’ — then scrub 🧽 Brushing your teeth is Zähne putzen too!
Bonus a cleaner = die Putzkraft · a big spring clean = der Großputz
aufräumen
[OWF-roy-men]to tidy up, to clear up(räumt auf – hat aufgeräumt)
📌 Räum bitte dein Zimmer auf!
→ Please tidy your room!
💡 Raum means room — tidying up literally makes room 📦
⚠ Separable verb: Ich räume auf. · Perfect: hat aufgeräumt.
staubsaugen
[SHTOWP-zow-gen]to vacuum, to hoover(staubsaugt – hat gestaubsaugt)
📌 Am Samstag staubsauge ich die Wohnung.
→ On Saturday I vacuum the apartment.
💡 Staub (dust) + saugen (to suck) = suck up the dust 🌪️
Bonus You can say Ich staubsauge. or Ich sauge Staub. — both are fine.
der Staubsauger
[SHTOWP-zow-ger]vacuum cleaner, hoover(Pl. die Staubsauger)
📌 Der Staubsauger ist so laut, dass ich nichts höre.
→ The vacuum cleaner is so loud I can't hear anything.
💡 Dust-sucker: the -er turns the verb into a machine 🤖 A robot vacuum is der Saugroboter.
Bonus Plural stays the same: die Staubsauger.
abwaschen
[AP-vash-en]to wash up, to do the dishes; to wash off(wäscht ab – wusch ab – hat abgewaschen)
📌 Nach dem Essen wasche ich immer ab.
→ I always do the dishes after eating.
💡 ab (off) + waschen (wash) = wash the dirt off the plates 🍽️
⚠ Separable and irregular: Er wäscht ab. · Ich habe abgewaschen.
das Geschirr
[geh-SHEER]dishes, crockery(sg.)
📌 Wer spült heute das Geschirr?
→ Who's doing the dishes today?
💡 Sounds like plates clinking in the sink — ‘ge-SHIRR’ 🫖 It means all your crockery together.
⚠ Uncountable singular. One plate is der Teller, a cup is die Tasse.
die Spülmaschine
[SHPÜL-ma-shee-nuh]dishwasher(Pl. die Spülmaschinen)
📌 Kannst du bitte die Spülmaschine ausräumen?
→ Can you empty the dishwasher, please?
💡 spülen (rinse) + Maschine = rinsing machine 🫧 The name is its own manual.
Bonus load / unload it = einräumen / ausräumen
der Müll
[MÜL]rubbish, garbage, trash(no pl.)
📌 Bitte bring den Müll runter.
→ Please take the rubbish down.
💡 Make a face and say ‘müll’ — that's how rubbish smells 🗑️ The bin is der Mülleimer.
Bonus to sort your rubbish = den Müll trennen
sauber
[ZOW-ber]clean(sauber – sauberer – am saubersten)
📌 Die Küche ist wieder sauber.
→ The kitchen is clean again.
💡 Distantly related to English sober — clean and clear-headed ✨ In the south, Sauber! also means Nice one!
Bonus Its opposite is the next word: schmutzig.
schmutzig
[SHMOOT-sikh]dirty(schmutzig – schmutziger – am schmutzigsten)
📌 Deine Schuhe sind ganz schmutzig.
→ Your shoes are really dirty.
💡 Schmutz is related to English smut — grimy stuff + -ig 🥾
Bonus The noun der Schmutz = dirt, grime
🇩🇪 A spoonful of German culture
Most German flatshares have a Putzplan (cleaning rota). Kitchen, bathroom and rubbish rotate week by week, and ignoring it is one of the fastest ways to fall out with your flatmates.
Rubbish is sorted carefully. Usually there's paper, food waste (Bio), packaging (Gelber Sack or Gelbe Tonne) and general waste (Restmüll), though colours and rules vary from city to city. Glass goes into bottle banks by colour, and bottles with a deposit (Pfand) go back to the shop.
And keep Sundays quiet! Many buildings' house rules (Hausordnung) ask you not to make noise on Sundays and late at night, so the big vacuuming session usually happens on Saturday. 🤫
✅ Quick quiz
Q. After dinner in your flatshare, the sink is full of dirty plates. What do you offer?
- ① Ich sauge Staub.
- ② Ich wasche ab.
- ③ Ich bringe den Müll runter.
Show the answer
② Ich wasche ab.
Ich wasche ab. = I'll do the washing-up — abwaschen is for dishes.
Every time you do a chore today, say it in German. Shout ‘Ich räume auf!’ while you tidy, and you've done two jobs at once! 🧽
🔜 Tomorrow's topic: 🛋️ Home & furniture