Today's words · 🍻 Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest in 10 words: from Prost to the morning after
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Before you lift a one-litre beer mug, pack these words.
You're in a huge beer tent in Munich. The brass band strikes up, everyone climbs onto the benches and clinks glasses, and the man next to you grins and shouts ‘Prost!’ You just smile back, not sure what to say.
Today's ten words are the ones you'll hear at Oktoberfest and other German festivals. With them you can order a beer, raise a toast and confess to a hangover the next day. 🍻
📋 The ten words at a glance
🧠 Words, examples and memory tricks
das Bier
[BEER]beer(Pl. die Biere)
📌 Zwei Bier, bitte!
→ Two beers, please!
💡 Almost exactly English beer 🍺
⚠ No plural when ordering: Zwei Bier, bitte!
Prost
[PROHST]cheers!📌 Prost, auf deinen Geburtstag!
→ Cheers – to your birthday!
💡 From Latin prosit, ‘may it do you good’ 🥂 A toast is a wish for good health.
Bonus Look the other person in the eye when you clink — it's German etiquette.
das Volksfest
[FOLKS-fest]fair, funfair, public festival(Pl. die Volksfeste)
📌 Das Oktoberfest ist das größte Volksfest der Welt.
→ Oktoberfest is the biggest folk festival in the world.
💡 Volk (people, folk) + Fest (festival) = a festival for everyone 🎡
Bonus If there are rides and food stalls, it's probably a Volksfest.
das Fest
[FEST]festival, celebration, party(Pl. die Feste)
📌 Das Fest beginnt um 18 Uhr.
→ The party starts at 6 p.m.
💡 Same root as feast and festival 🎉
Bonus At Christmas: Frohes Fest!
bayerisch
[BY-er-ish]Bavarian(= bayrisch)
📌 Weißwurst ist eine bayerische Spezialität.
→ Weißwurst is a Bavarian speciality.
💡 Bayern (Bavaria) + -isch = Bavarian 🥨 Adjectives love -isch.
Bonus Also spelt bayrisch.
die Tradition
[tra-dee-TSYOHN]tradition(Pl. die Traditionen)
📌 Weihnachtsmärkte haben in Deutschland eine lange Tradition.
→ Christmas markets have a long tradition in Germany.
💡 Spelt almost like English tradition 📜 just say it the German way.
⚠ Nouns ending in -ion are always die.
der Krug
[KROOK]jug, pitcher; (beer) tankard(Pl. die Krüge)
📌 Auf dem Tisch stand ein Krug mit Wasser.
→ There was a jug of water on the table.
💡 A relative of English crock 🍺 a heavy mug with a handle.
Bonus The one-litre mug at Oktoberfest is der Maßkrug, and a litre of beer is die Maß.
die Kapelle
[ka-PEL-uh]chapel; band (music)(Pl. die Kapellen)
📌 Im Dorf gibt es eine kleine Kapelle.
→ There's a small chapel in the village.
💡 Both a little chapel and a band 🎺 In a beer tent, it's the band!
Bonus brass band = die Blaskapelle
betrunken
[be-TROONK-en]drunk📌 Er war so betrunken, dass er nicht mehr laufen konnte.
→ He was so drunk that he couldn't walk any more.
💡 Looks like a past participle of trinken 🥴 You've drunk too much!
Bonus Just a bit tipsy? That's beschwipst.
der Kater
[KAH-ter](colloquial) hangover; tomcat(Pl. die Kater)
📌 Nach der Feier hatte ich einen fürchterlichen Kater.
→ After the party I had a terrible hangover.
💡 A hangover is a tomcat 🐈 — yowling in your head the next morning.
Bonus Ich habe einen Kater. = I've got a hangover.
🇩🇪 A spoonful of German culture
Despite its name, Oktoberfest starts in September and ends in early October. It goes back to celebrations of a Bavarian royal wedding in 1810.
In the tents, beer usually comes in a one-litre mug (Maß). Lots of people wear Dirndl and Lederhosen, and when the band plays, the whole tent sings along.
Can't make it to Munich? No problem — there are similar Volksfeste all over Germany, like the Cannstatter Wasen in Stuttgart. 🎡
✅ Quick quiz
Q. Everyone in the beer tent raises their glass. What do you say?
- ① Prost!
- ② Gute Besserung!
- ③ Ich habe einen Kater.
Show the answer
① Prost!
Prost! = Cheers! It's what you say when you clink glasses.
Say Prost! out loud with your next drink tonight. Just promise there'll be no Kater tomorrow! 🍻
🔜 Tomorrow's topic: 🎆 New Year's Eve