Today's words · 🌭 Sausages & meat
10 meaty words for the land of sausages
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No more pointing silently at the butcher's counter.
Stand at a German meat counter and you'll see dozens of sausages. There's a queue behind you, the assistant asks “Was darf's sein?” — and you can't remember the word for mince or how to ask for ham.
Today's ten words help you buy meat and sausages and read menus. With them, you can order at the butcher's with confidence. 🌭
📋 The ten words at a glance
- die Wurst — sausage; cold cuts
- das Fleisch — meat
- der Schinken — ham
- das Würstchen — small sausage, frankfurter
- das Schweinefleisch — pork
- das Rindfleisch — beef
- das Hähnchen — chicken
- der Metzger — butcher; butcher's (shop)
- das Hackfleisch — mince, ground meat
- der Aufschnitt — cold cuts, sliced meats and cheese
🧠 Words, examples and memory tricks
die Wurst
[VOORST]sausage; cold cuts(Pl. die Würste)
📌 In Deutschland gibt es viele Sorten Wurst.
→ There are many kinds of sausage in Germany.
💡 Wurst case scenario: you can't decide which sausage to pick 🌭
Bonus Das ist mir Wurst. = I really don't mind. (People say it all the time!)
⚠ The plural gets an umlaut: die Würste.
das Fleisch
[FLYSH]meat(no pl.)
📌 Ich esse kein Fleisch, ich bin Vegetarier.
→ I don't eat meat, I'm a vegetarian.
💡 Same root as English flesh 🥩 Every type of meat is ___fleisch.
Bonus Ich esse kein Fleisch. = I don't eat meat.
der Schinken
[SHING-ken]ham(Pl. die Schinken)
📌 Ein Brötchen mit Schinken, bitte.
→ A bread roll with ham, please.
💡 Originally ‘thigh’, related to English shin 🍖 Ham comes from the leg!
das Würstchen
[VÜRST-khen]small sausage, frankfurter(Pl. die Würstchen)
📌 Die Kinder essen Würstchen mit Kartoffelsalat.
→ The children are eating sausages with potato salad.
💡 Wurst + -chen (little) = a little sausage 🌭 -chen always means das.
⚠ The u becomes ü: die Wurst → das Würstchen.
das Schweinefleisch
[SHVY-nuh-flysh]pork(Sg.)
📌 Ich esse kein Schweinefleisch.
→ I don't eat pork.
💡 Schwein (think swine) + Fleisch = pork 🐷
Bonus “Ist da Schweinefleisch drin?” = Is there pork in it?
das Rindfleisch
[RINT-flysh]beef(Sg.)
📌 Für die Suppe brauchen wir 500 Gramm Rindfleisch.
→ We need 500 grams of beef for the soup.
💡 Rind (cattle) + Fleisch = beef 🐄 Think of the rind on a steak.
das Hähnchen
[HAIN-khen]chicken(Pl. die Hähnchen · Austrian: das Hendl · Austrian: das Hendel · Swiss: das Poulet)
📌 Ich nehme das Hähnchen mit Reis.
→ I'll have the chicken with rice.
💡 Hahn (cockerel) + -chen = chicken 🍗 -chen, so it's das.
Bonus A live hen is usually das Huhn.
der Metzger
[METS-ger]butcher; butcher's (shop)(Pl. die Metzger · Austrian: der Fleischhauer (f: die Fleischhauerin))
📌 Beim Metzger kaufe ich frische Wurst.
→ I buy fresh sausage at the butcher's.
💡 Imagine a butcher called Mets who never forgets your order 🔪
⚠ It's regional: Metzger in the south and west, Fleischer or Schlachter in the north.
das Hackfleisch
[HAK-flysh]mince, ground meat(Sg. · Austrian: das Faschierte)
📌 Für die Soße brauche ich 500 Gramm Hackfleisch.
→ I need 500 grams of ground meat for the sauce.
💡 hacken (to chop — English hack) + Fleisch = mince 🍝
Bonus Often just Hack · gemischtes Hack = mixed beef and pork
der Aufschnitt
[OWF-shnit]cold cuts, sliced meats and cheese(Sg.)
📌 Zum Abendbrot gibt es Brot mit Aufschnitt.
→ For supper there's bread with cold cuts.
💡 auf + schneiden (to cut) = slices to put on your bread 🥪
🇩🇪 A spoonful of German culture
Every region has its own sausage: Thüringer Rostbratwurst, small Nürnberger, white Bavarian Weißwurst, and Currywurst in Berlin and the Ruhr. Trying the local one is half the fun of travelling.
In many homes, dinner is a cold meal called Abendbrot: bread with Aufschnitt and cheese. Simple and quick.
At the meat counter (Fleischtheke) you order by weight: “200 Gramm Aufschnitt, bitte.” If you have a child with you, the assistant often hands them a free slice of sausage. 🥩
✅ Quick quiz
Q. You want minced meat for a Bolognese sauce. What do you say at the butcher's?
- ① Eine Bratwurst, bitte.
- ② 500 Gramm Hackfleisch, bitte.
- ③ Das ist mir Wurst.
Show the answer
② 500 Gramm Hackfleisch, bitte.
Hackfleisch is mince; just say the weight + Hackfleisch, bitte.
Next time you're at the supermarket, read the labels at the meat counter. And when someone asks what you want for dinner, try “Das ist mir Wurst!” 😄
🔜 Tomorrow's topic: 🍰 Cakes & desserts