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This is the most beautiful German word according to foreigners

A new vote among German language learners revealed what foreigners find to be the most pleasant - and pragmatic - words auf Deutsch.

Published: 4 October 2019 10:11 CEST
This is the most beautiful German word according to foreigners
It could be said that the most beautiful German word conveys this feeling. Photo: Depositphotos/monkeybusiness

Gemütlichkeit has been named “the most beautiful German word” of 2019, according to a vote of 850 German learners from 46 countries in the magazine “Deutsch Perfekt”.

The term roughly translates to comfort, but also coins a unique feeling which also encompasses warmth and coziness.

READ ALSO: The one German word English speakers need this winter

In second place came Schmetterling (Butterfly) and coming in third was Eichhörnchen (squirrel), despite it being notoriously difficult for English native speakers to pronounce.

The magazine received several submissions, including words created by readers themselves such as Pünktlichkeitszwanghaftigkeit (obsessiveness about punctuality) Strandkorburlaubsstimmungszeit (roughly translated to ‘beach basket holiday mood’).

Readers also sent in submissions for classic compound words such as Handschuh (glove, or literally ‘hand shoe’) and Nacktschnecke (slug, or literally ‘naked snail’).

READ ALSO: Are these the 10 most German words you can find?

“What stood out was that that many learners were fascinated by the ability of the German language to assemble words into new words,” said the magazine's editor-in-chief Jörg Walser.

The top 25 suggested words included several other uniquely German terms, such as verschlimmbessern, or making something worse by trying to make it better.

“This word shows perfectly how the German language works,” wrote a reader from Italy. “It describes what happens – and it is funny!”

READ ALSO: 12 German words you won’t find in English

Another top contender was Feierabend, or the time after work in Germany, when employees truly clock out and enjoy their free time. 

“This word only marks the end of the working day, but which other term brings with it such a positive reaction?,” wrote one reader from Costa Rica. “Everybody celebrates in their own way.”

READ ALSO: Why every country should get on board with the German Feierabend

Some readers wrote in about their favorite words, with one of the top contenders being the untranslatable word doch.

As a Mexican reader wrote to the magazine, the word can be used in a variety of contexts. It can serve as an adverb (“Er ist nett, aber doch laut“ or “He is nice but indeed loud”) or as a conjunction (“Er wollte schlafen gehen, doch dazu kam es nicht” or “He wanted to go to sleep but it just didn’t happen”).

Perhaps most commonly it’s used as a modal particle (“Mach doch eine Pause!” – “You really should take a break!”) 

READ ALSO: Das ist ja mal wichtig: The complete guide to German modal particles

Tell us: what do you find to be the most beautiful German word, and why?

This article was updated on Monday, October 7th.

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GERMAN WORD OF THE DAY

German word of the day: Grenze

From national borders to personal limitations, this German word is a great one to add to your active vocabulary.

Published: 22 February 2024 09:16 CET
Updated: 22 February 2024 11:16 CET
German word of the day: Grenze

Why do I need to know Grenze?

Because Grenze is one of those nifty words that has multiple uses beyond its most literal meaning, and which can also be used in verb form.

As with many German nouns, it also functions well as a compound noun (i.e. paired with other nouns to create a new word) so learning this word could add several new words to your vocabulary at once. 

What does it mean? 

Die Grenze (pronounced like this) can be best translated as border in English, but can also mean limit or boundary, depending on the context.

When you hear the word in a geographical sense, it’s usually used to discuss national borders, such as Germany’s borders with nine other countries.

Of course, borders don’t have to be national: a Stadtgrenze would refer to the city limits, while Bundeslandgrenzen are the borders between Germany’s federal states. Want to know where the border crossing is? In that case, you’ll need to locate the Grenzübergang (also a feminine noun). 

An Abgrenzung, meanwhile, is any kind of demarcation. 

In the list of useful compound nouns that can be made using Grenze, one particularly interesting one is Phantomgrenze. This word is used to describe borders that don’t physically exist but that take the form of cultural, political or economic divides – a prime example being the East/West divide that still exists in Germany more than three decades after reunification.

READ ALSO: How does Germany’s ‘phantom border’ still divide the country?

Less literally, you can use Grenzen to discuss physical or emotional limitations, or to talk about being pushed to the limit (an die Grenzen gestoßen sein). In a similar sense, there may be political boundaries (politische Grenzen), or scientific ones (wissenschaftliche Grenzen) that haven’t yet been crossed. 

You may have recently learned to set boundaries in your personal life, which can be described in German as “Grenzen setzen”. In that case, you may also want people to respect those boundaries (Grenzen respektieren). 

In fact, almost any well-known English phrase that refers to limits, borders or boundaries can usually be translated using Grenzen. For example, “Meine Leidenschaft kennt keine Grenzen” means “My passion knows no bounds.” 

Of course, this being German, there are countless other ways you can adapt Grenze not just into compound nouns but also into verbs or adjectives. 

Grenzen, of course, means “to border” while angrenzen means “to border on” and begrenzen means “to limit”. Speaking of which, if you’re hoping to snap up a discounted deal, you may well be warned: “Das Angebot ist stark begrenzt.” That tells you that the offer is limited, so you’d better hurry while stocks last!

Where does it come from?

Interestingly enough, the word Grenze has Slavic roots and stems from the Polish word granica, which also means border.

Geography buffs may well observe that Germany shares a fairly long border with Poland (along with eight other countries), so the etymology of the German word seems incredibly fitting. 

READ ALSO: Five German words that come from Polish

Use it like this: 

Es ist wichtig, die Grenzen anderer Menschen zu respektieren.

It’s important to respect other people’s boundaries. 

Wie viele Länder grenzen an Deutschland? 

How many countries border Germany?

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