Today's words · 🕔 German work culture
How Germans work, in 10 words
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At five o'clock, your colleagues start standing up and saying the same thing — and that's today's first word.
Your first day at a German company. Your manager says ‘let's just use du’, and in the late afternoon everyone says ‘Schönen Feierabend!’ and leaves right on time. You're the only one still at your desk, feeling a bit awkward.
Today's ten words show how work life in Germany ticks: saying goodbye for the day, taking holiday, calling in sick and working from home. They'll make small talk with colleagues much easier. 🕔
📋 The ten words at a glance
- der Feierabend — end of the working day; evening off
- der Urlaub — holiday, vacation (from work)
- die Überstunde — hour of overtime
- das Homeoffice — working from home, home office
- sich krankmelden — to call in sick
- die Mittagspause — lunch break
- die Gleitzeit — flexitime, flextime
- die Hierarchie — hierarchy
- duzen — to address sb. as du, be on first-name terms
- der Betriebsrat — works council
🧠 Words, examples and memory tricks
der Feierabend
[FY-er-ah-bent]end of the working day; evening off(Pl. die Feierabende)
📌 Schönen Feierabend!
→ Have a nice evening!
💡 Feier (party) + Abend (evening) = the end of work is a little celebration 🎉
Bonus to finish for the day = Feierabend machen: Ich mache jetzt Feierabend!
der Urlaub
[OOR-lowp]holiday, vacation (from work)(Pl. die Urlaube)
📌 Ich nehme nächste Woche Urlaub.
→ I'm taking a holiday next week.
💡 Same root as erlauben (to allow) 🏖️ Urlaub is permission to leave.
⚠ Time off work is Urlaub; school holidays are die Ferien.
die Überstunde
[UE-ber-shtoon-duh]hour of overtime(Pl. die Überstunden)
📌 Diese Woche habe ich viele Überstunden gemacht.
→ I did a lot of overtime this week.
💡 über (over) + Stunde (hour) = hours over the limit 🌙
⚠ Usually plural: Überstunden machen = to do overtime
das Homeoffice
[HOHM-of-iss]working from home, home office((plural rare))
📌 Heute arbeite ich im Homeoffice.
→ I'm working from home today.
💡 Looks English, but it's German-made English 🏠 It means working from home, not a room.
Bonus Use im: Ich bin heute im Homeoffice.
sich krankmelden
[zikh KRANK-mel-den]to call in sick(meldet sich krank – hat sich krankgemeldet)
📌 Ich habe Fieber und muss mich heute krankmelden.
→ I have a fever and have to call in sick today.
💡 krank (sick) + melden (report) = report that you're sick 📞
⚠ Separable: Ich melde mich krank. – hat sich krankgemeldet.
die Mittagspause
[MIT-tahks-pow-zuh]lunch break(Pl. die Mittagspausen)
📌 In der Mittagspause gehe ich kurz spazieren.
→ In my lunch break I go for a short walk.
💡 Mittag (midday) + Pause (break) 🥪 The -s- in the middle is just glue.
Bonus In many workplaces people greet each other at lunchtime with Mahlzeit!
die Gleitzeit
[GLITE-tsite]flexitime, flextime(Sg.)
📌 Dank Gleitzeit kann ich meine Kinder morgens zur Schule bringen.
→ Thanks to flexitime I can take my children to school in the morning.
💡 gleiten = to glide 🛝 Your start time glides earlier or later.
Bonus The hours you must be there: die Kernarbeitszeit (core hours)
die Hierarchie
[hee-er-ar-KHEE]hierarchy(Pl. die Hierarchien)
📌 In Start-ups sind die Hierarchien oft sehr flach.
→ In start-ups hierarchies are often very flat.
💡 Most nouns ending in -ie are die 🏢 Stress the very end: -CHIE.
Bonus flat hierarchies = flache Hierarchien
duzen
[DOO-tsen]to address sb. as du, be on first-name terms(duzt – hat geduzt)
📌 Bei uns im Team duzen sich alle.
→ In our team everyone uses du with each other.
💡 Saying du is duzen, saying Sie is siezen 🙂 Easy!
⚠ The more senior or older person usually offers du first: Wollen wir uns duzen?
der Betriebsrat
[buh-TREEPS-raht]works council(Pl. die Betriebsräte (f: die Betriebsrätin))
📌 Der Betriebsrat spricht mit dem Chef über die Arbeitszeiten.
→ The works council is talking to the boss about working hours.
💡 Betrieb (company) + Rat (council) = the staff's elected voice 🤝 Rat makes it der.
🇩🇪 A spoonful of German culture
Feierabend is taken seriously in Germany. Leaving on time is normal, and in many workplaces nobody expects you to answer emails in the evening or at weekends — though it depends on the job and the employer.
By law, full-time employees get at least four weeks' paid holiday a year, and many employers give more. On holiday, people set an out-of-office reply (Abwesenheitsnotiz) and really switch off.
And one sweet custom: on your birthday, you're the one who brings cake or snacks to the office for your colleagues. 🎂
✅ Quick quiz
Q. It's five o'clock and a colleague is heading home. What do you say?
- ① Schönen Feierabend!
- ② Mahlzeit!
- ③ Ich melde mich krank.
Show the answer
① Schönen Feierabend!
Schönen Feierabend! = Enjoy your evening! It's the standard goodbye at the end of the working day.
When you finish work or study today, tell yourself out loud: ‘Ich mache jetzt Feierabend!’ You've earned it! 🍻
🔜 Tomorrow's topic: 📑 Contracts & pay