Today's words · 🔕 Sundays & holidays
Quiet Sundays: 10 words to survive them in Germany
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Your first Sunday in Germany can be a shock — unless you know these words.
It's Sunday morning and you head out to do your shopping. The supermarket is shut, the clothes shop is shut, everything is shut. The streets are quiet and every door says geschlossen.
Today's ten words help you understand German Sundays and public holidays. You'll be able to read opening signs, plan ahead, and enjoy a proper German Sunday of sleeping in and going for a walk. 😴
📋 The ten words at a glance
- der Sonntag — Sunday
- der Feiertag — public holiday
- geschlossen — closed
- geöffnet — open (shop, office)
- die Ladenöffnungszeit — shop opening hours
- die Ruhe — peace and quiet, calm; rest
- ausschlafen — to sleep in, to have a good sleep
- der Spaziergang — walk, stroll
- der Späti — late-night corner shop (esp. Berlin)
- der Ausflug — outing, excursion, day trip
🧠 Words, examples and memory tricks
der Sonntag
[ZON-tahk]Sunday(Pl. die Sonntage)
📌 Am Sonntag sind die Geschäfte zu.
→ On Sunday the shops are closed.
💡 Sonne (sun) + Tag (day) = Sunday, built exactly like the English ☀️
Bonus ‘On Sundays’ = sonntags. All days of the week are der.
der Feiertag
[FIRE-tahk]public holiday(Pl. die Feiertage)
📌 Am Feiertag sind alle Geschäfte geschlossen.
→ All the shops are closed on public holidays.
💡 feiern (to celebrate) + Tag = a day for celebrating 🎉
Bonus The opposite, a working day = der Werktag
geschlossen
[guh-SHLOSS-en]closed📌 Sonntags ist das Geschäft geschlossen.
→ The shop is closed on Sundays.
💡 From schließen (to close) 🔒 See it on the door? Try again tomorrow.
Bonus In speech people often just say zu: Der Laden ist zu.
geöffnet
[guh-ERF-net]open (shop, office)📌 Die Bank ist bis 16 Uhr geöffnet.
→ The bank is open until 4 p.m.
💡 From öffnen (to open) 🔓 The happy opposite of geschlossen.
Bonus Opening hours on the door = die Öffnungszeiten
die Ladenöffnungszeit
[LAH-den-erf-noongs-tsite]shop opening hours(Pl. die Ladenöffnungszeiten)
📌 Eine Liberalisierung der Ladenöffnungszeiten am Sonntag lehnen Kirchen und Gewerkschaften ab.
→ Churches and unions reject liberalizing shop opening hours on Sundays.
💡 Laden (shop) + Öffnung (opening) + Zeit (time) — long words are just Lego 🧱 It ends in Zeit, so die.
⚠ Usually used in the plural: die Ladenöffnungszeiten.
die Ruhe
[ROO-uh]peace and quiet, calm; rest(sg.)
📌 Ich brauche jetzt ein bisschen Ruhe.
→ I need a bit of peace and quiet now.
💡 Even the sound is relaxed: ROO-uh 🧘 Sunday is all about Ruhe.
Bonus Immer mit der Ruhe! = Take it easy!
ausschlafen
[OWSS-shlah-fen]to sleep in, to have a good sleep(schläft aus – schlief aus – hat ausgeschlafen)
📌 Am Sonntag kann ich endlich ausschlafen.
→ On Sunday I can finally sleep in.
💡 aus (to the end) + schlafen (sleep) = sleep until you're done 🛌
⚠ Separable: Ich schlafe aus. Oversleeping by accident is verschlafen.
der Spaziergang
[shpa-TSEER-gahng]walk, stroll(Pl. die Spaziergänge)
📌 Nach dem Essen machen wir einen Spaziergang.
→ After the meal we go for a walk.
💡 spazieren (stroll) + Gang (walk) 🚶♀️ The national Sunday afternoon sport.
Bonus einen Spaziergang machen = to go for a walk
der Späti
[SHPAY-tee]late-night corner shop (esp. Berlin)(Pl. die Spätis)
📌 Nach Mitternacht holen wir uns noch ein Getränk beim Späti.
→ After midnight we get another drink from the late-night shop.
💡 A cute short form of Spätkauf, ‘late shopping’ 🌙 Berlin's lifesaver.
Bonus In other regions you'll hear der Kiosk or die Trinkhalle.
der Ausflug
[OWSS-flook]outing, excursion, day trip(Pl. die Ausflüge)
📌 Am Sonntag machen wir einen Ausflug an den See.
→ On Sunday we're going on a trip to the lake.
💡 aus (out) + Flug (flight) = a little flight out of town 🪁
⚠ Umlaut in the plural: die Ausflüge.
🇩🇪 A spoonful of German culture
In Germany, Sundays and public holidays are protected days of rest, so most shops are closed. Shops in big train stations and petrol stations, and some bakeries, are often open, so that's where people go in an emergency.
Sundays are meant to be quiet. People usually avoid noisy jobs like drilling or mowing the lawn, and many bottle banks have signs asking you not to use them on Sundays. The exact rules depend on your town and your building's house rules (Hausordnung).
Public holidays also vary by state (Bundesland). Your town might have a day off while the next state is working, so doing your shopping in advance is a basic German life skill. 🛒
✅ Quick quiz
Q. It's Sunday night in Berlin, you're out of milk and the supermarket is closed. Where do you go?
- ① Ich mache einen Ausflug.
- ② Ich schlafe aus.
- ③ Ich gehe zum Späti.
Show the answer
③ Ich gehe zum Späti.
A Späti is a corner shop that's usually open late, often on Sundays too.
Say ‘Am Sonntag schlafe ich aus und mache einen Spaziergang.’ out loud — and then actually do it this weekend. 🌿
🔜 Tomorrow's topic: 🏫 School life