SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

GERMAN WORD OF THE DAY

German word of the day: Jammern

If you think someone is complaining too much, you might respond with a bit of typically German directness and tell them to stop doing this.

German word of the day: Jammern
Photo credit: Francesco Ungaro / Unsplash + Nicolas Raymond / flickr

What does it mean and how do you say it?

Jammern is a much stronger verb for “complain”. Unlike beschweren, which is the more benign version of “complain,” jammern means to whine or moan about something, often to the point of annoying others who may think you’re making a bigger deal out of your grievance than what’s necessary.

Its pronunciation sounds a bit like the English “yammer”. But since “yammer” means to talk foolishly or incessantly in general, jammern doesn’t necessarily mean the same thing.

“Yammer” is a more general English term that might refer to someone who over-talks because they’re full of themselves, for example. But jammern tends to be used specifically in German for “whining”.

READ ALSO: German word of the day: Schweigen

How do you use it or where might you see it?

Veteran German CDU politician Wolfgang Schäuble, who served as both Bundestag President and federal Finance Minister over his long political career, encouraged Germans to stop “whining” or jammern, about the country’s energy crisis last winter. 

“Put on a sweater, Or maybe even a second sweater,” he told Bild-TV.

He then said:

Darüber muss man nicht jammern, sondern muss man erkennen: Vieles ist nicht selbstversändlich – “One must not whine about it. Instead, one must recognize that a lot of things are taken for granted.”

To use jammern yourself, just conjugate it like you would most verbs. For example, you can say: du jammerst zu viel! –  or “You whine too much!”

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

GERMAN WORD OF THE DAY

German word of the day: Sommersonnenwende

This German word marks the changing of seasons, and the longest day of the year.

German word of the day: Sommersonnenwende

Die Sommersonnenwende, pronounced like this, is the German term for the summer solstice, which is the day that marks the meteorological beginning of summer in Germany and the northern hemisphere.

Alternative names for the day are Sommer Solstitium, which comes from the Latin term, and Mittsommer.

Like so many great German words, the term for the summer solstice is a compound noun which translates quite literally. It’s made up of three simple words: Sommer (summer), Sonnen (sun) and Wende (turn or turnaround).

So the name for the summer solstice in German is meant to remind you that this is the day that the sun ends its journey northward in the sky, and turns around.

As you can probably guess, the winter solstice is called die Wintersonnenwende.

You might recognise the term Wende from another compound noun that got a fair amount of attention in recent years – Energiewende, which means energy transition, has also been used to describe Germany’s big picture plans to phase out fossil fuel use.

The summer solstice usually falls on June 21st or 22nd. But it fell on June 20th this year, due to 2024 being a leap year.

How is ‘die Sommersonnenwende’ observed in Germany

Humans have taken note of, and celebrated, the summer solstice for thousands of years.

Archaeologists suggest that Stone Age cultures were already able to determine the day. Evidence of this was uncovered in 2004 at the site of a 7000-year-old solar observatory found in Goseck in Saxony-Anhalt.

Among Germanic tribes, the summer solstice was celebrated with pagan folk festivals that often included fire rituals.

After Christianization of the region, the Catholic Church tried to abolish the pagan solstice traditions – eventually designating the day for a memorial day for John the Baptist (June 24th), and adopting the fire as a symbol for Jesus Christ. 

Most of the original solstice traditions have been lost, but some are being reinvigorated for tourism, especially on the Baltic Sea coast.

More broadly, the long daylight hours experienced in the weeks before and after the summer solstice, offer a chance to stay out or do outdoor activities late into the evening. There are also a number of music festivals around Germany at this time of year.

READ ALSO: How to make the most of Germany’s long summer days

Use it like this:

Die Sonne geht so spät unter, es muss die Sommersonnenwende sein.

The sun is setting so late, it must be the summer solstice!

Haben Sie dieses Jahr Pläne, die Sommersonnenwende zu feiern?

Do you have plans to celebrate the summer soltice this year?

SHOW COMMENTS