Category Archives: German language

What exactly does “Auf Wiedersehen!” mean? Auf means at, upon, or on. Sehen means to see, and wieder means again. So “Auf Wiedersehen!” means, “At our seeing each other again!” Or, in other words, “See you later!”

The other night, I was watching a television show on World War II. The number of World War II shows on television here is truly astounding! One of the subject matter experts was discussing naval warfare. After talking about U-boats … Continue reading →

The other night, as I was flipping channels, my television informed me that the title of the next show was Die Gebärdensprache. What kind of Sprache (speech)? I found out that sich gebärden means to behave or act, and die … Continue reading →

One of the interesting things about life in Germany is listening to a German-language sermon each Sunday. Last Sunday was devoted to the Holy Family–Jesus, Mary, and Joseph–and Father spoke at length about what a wonderful Vorbild that family is … Continue reading →

In my Lucky Luke comic book, the cowboy warns that he and his friend are entering the territory of a tribe that has mastered die Tarnung. What have they mastered? You can tell from the photo above. Die Tarnung means … Continue reading →

Teilen means to part, to divide into parts, or to share out in parts, so der Teil (also das Teil) is a part or a fraction. But which part is der Vorteil? That’s the part that sets itself vor — … Continue reading →

The other day, as I was idly looking through house rental listings, I came across this statement: Ein Tresor ist vorhanden. What is vorhanden — available? Treasure?! I’ve always loved the word Tresor because it sounds so exciting and important, … Continue reading →

German dictionaries list tons of words for “radio station.” But thanks to a conversation with Rainer and Heidi last night, I now know that der Radiosender is the common word to use around here when you’re talking about your favorite … Continue reading →

The other day, Joe picked up a container of milk and wanted to know what haltbar meant. Because of how it’s used on the milk container — mindestens haltbar bis — he thought it might mean “fresh.” But it doesn’t. … Continue reading →