Lesson 39: Months and Dates

In this lesson, you’ll learn the months in German and how to talk about simple dates. This helps you talk about birthdays, appointments, plans, and important days.

What you’ll learn

• The months in German
• How to say in January, in February, and so on
• How to ask for the date using ordinal numbers
• How to talk about birthdays and simple calendar dates

The months in German

Many German months look similar to English, so they are easier to recognize than some other vocabulary.

Talking about months

To say in January, in February, and so on, use:

im + month

Examples:

im Januar = in January
im März = in March
im August = in August
im Dezember = in December

You can use this pattern when talking about birthdays, plans, or events.

Examples:

Mein Geburtstag ist im März.
My birthday is in March.

Der Termin ist im August.
The appointment is in August.

Ich lerne Deutsch im Dezember.
I study German in December.

A small grammar point: im

im means in the or in in many time phrases.

For now, learn these as chunks:

• im Januar
• im Sommer
• im Dezember

You do not need to understand the full grammar behind im yet. Just remember that German uses im with months.

Saying dates with ordinal numbers

When you say a date in German, the number becomes an ordinal number.

In English, this means words like:

• first
• second
• third
• fourth
• fifth

In German, these words are:

For now, you do not need to memorize every ordinal number. Just learn the most common ones and notice the pattern.

Most numbers add -te:

• vier → vierte
• fünf → fünfte
• zehn → zehnte

Some are a little different:

• eins → erste
• zwei → zweite
• drei → dritte

These first ones are the most important, but similar to their English counterparts.

20 and above use -ste

Examples:

Saying a full date

When you say a date like der 5. März, you read it as:

der fünfte März
the fifth of March

More examples:

der 1. Januar = der erste Januar
January 1st

der 2. Februar = der zweite Februar
February 2nd

der 3. März = der dritte März
March 3rd

der 10. Mai = der zehnte Mai
May 10th

Using am with dates

When you say your birthday is on a date, use am.

The ending changes slightly after am:

am 1. Januar = am ersten Januar
on January 1st

am 2. Februar = am zweiten Februar
on February 2nd

am 3. März = am dritten März
on March 3rd

am 10. Mai = am zehnten Mai
on May 10th

For beginners, learn these in chunks:

• der erste Januar = January 1st
• am ersten Januar = on January 1st
• der fünfte März = March 5th
• am fünften März = on March 5th

Asking for the date

A useful question is:

Welches Datum ist heute?
What is today’s date?

A simple answer is:

Heute ist der 5. März.
Today is March 5th.

Simple date examples

In German, write the date in the format: day/month/year. Notice how the day and month swap positions compared to English.

der 1. Januar = January 1st
der 5. März = March 5th

Talking about birthdays

A useful question is:

Wann hast du Geburtstag?
When is your birthday?

A simple answer is:

Ich habe im März Geburtstag.
My birthday is in March.

You can also give a full date:

Ich habe am 5. März Geburtstag.
My birthday is on March 5th.

A small grammar point: am with dates

Use am when you talk about a specific date.

Examples:

am 5. März = on March 5th
am 10. Mai = on May 10th

You already saw am with days:

am Montag = on Monday

Now you can also use it with dates:

am 5. März

Useful date phrases

im Januar = in January
im April = in April
am 1. Januar = on January 1st
am 5. März = on March 5th
heute = today
der Geburtstag = the birthday
der Termin = the appointment

Mini dialogue

Anna: Wann hast du Geburtstag?
Ben: Ich habe im Juli Geburtstag. Und du?
Anna: Ich habe am 5. März Geburtstag.
Ben: Sehr schön!

Drag and Drop: Match the Months

Drag and Drop: Match the date words

Fill in the Missing Words