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When you get up in the morning, what’s the first thing you do? Have coffee, brush your teeth, turn your computer on? Can you say it in German?
This article will explain the most-used German verbs for talking about your daily routine. You use them to tell someone how your day was or explain to your spouse why you were late from work. What is more, our German vocabulary for daily routine carries important grammar lessons that can improve your language skills.
Separable Verbs
| Aufwachen | to wake up |
| aufstehen | to get up |
Our first choices are both separable verbs, which play a key role in describing the beginning of your day.
Examples
| Ich wache um 7:00 Uhr auf. | I wake up at seven. |
| Ich stehe um 7:15 Uhr auf. | I get up at quarter past seven. |
| Du wachst um 8:00 Uhr auf. | You wake up at eight. |
| Er wacht um 9:00 Uhr auf. | He wakes up at nine. |
Both verbs express a transition from one state to another (ex. from asleep to awake, from lying to standing), and both form the Perfekt with auxiliary sein. Learn the auxiliary together with the verb:
| Du bist sehr früh aufgewacht. | You woke up very early. |
| Sie sind schon um 6:00 Uhr aufgestanden. | You (formal) got up as early as 6 a.m. |
Reflexive Verbs
| sich die Zähne putzen | to brush one’s teeth |
Our list goes on with reflexive verbs. These verbs act on the subject itself. They always have sich in the infinitive form. Sich rasieren (to shave oneself) is another common daily routine verb that’s reflexive. In English, we wouldn’t say, “Shave yourself!” to someone, only “shave!” but in German, it would be “Rasiere dich!”
When used in context, sich changes to mich (myself), dich (yourself, informal), sich (himself, herself, itself, themselves or yourself, formal), uns (ourselves) or euch (yourselves). Otherwise, it is conjugated normally:
| ich rasiere mich |
| du rasierst dich |
| er/sie rasiert sich |
| wir rasieren uns |
| ihr rasiert euch |
| Sie/sie rasieren sich |
Let’s go back to “sich die Zähne putzen” for a second because it’s slightly different.
| Ich putze mir die Zähne. | I brush my teeth. |
| Du putzt dir die Zähne. | You brush your teeth. |
In sich die Zähne putzen, the reflexive pronoun is dative for every person: mir, dir, sich, uns, euch, sich. Only the first- and second-person singular forms visibly differ from accusative mich and dich. Die Zähne is the accusative object.
| Er/sie/es putzt sich die Zähne. |
| Wir putzen uns die Zähne. |
| Ihr putzt euch die Zähne. |
| Sie/sie putzen sich die Zähne. |
| Likewise with sich waschen | to wash: |
| A) Ich wasche mich. | I wash. |
But:
| B). Ich wasche mir die Hände. | I wash my hands. |
In this body-part construction, die Hände is the accusative object and the reflexive pronoun is dative: Ich wasche mir die Hände. Without that separate object, Ich wasche mich uses an accusative reflexive pronoun. This is a pattern for these constructions, not a universal rule for every reflexive verb.
In addition, waschen takes the umlaut in the second and third person singular:
| Du wäschst dich. | You wash. |
| Du wäschst dir die Hände. | You wash your hands. |
| Er wäscht sich. | He washes. |
| Er wäscht sich die Hände. | He washes his hands. |
| Kaffee / Tee trinken | drink coffee/tea |
| sich anziehen | to get dressed |
This verb is extra-hard because it is both separable and reflexive. Other than that, it’s just like our previous example.
| Ich ziehe mich an. | I get dressed. |
But:
| Ich ziehe mir den Mantel an. | I put on the coat. |
With sich anziehen, the person is accusative: Ich ziehe mich an. With a named garment, the garment is accusative and the person is dative: Ich ziehe mir den Mantel an. The dative applies to all persons, even when its form looks the same as accusative: Er zieht sich den Mantel an.
Fernsehen means “to watch TV.” It is separable, not reflexive: there is no sich. Its stem has the same vowel change as sehen: du siehst, er sieht.
| Abends sehe ich fern. | I watch TV in the evening. |
| Du siehst morgens fern. | You watch TV in the morning. |
In a declarative main clause, the conjugated verb takes the second constituent position and the separable prefix goes at the end: Abends sehe ich fern. With a modal, the infinitive stays together: Ich möchte fernsehen. In a subordinate clause it also stays together: …, weil ich fernsehe. The most common prefixes in separable verbs are: an-, auf-, mit-, vor–, zu-, aus–, ab-, and ein-.
Another example is frühstücken – to have breakfast. Like with fernsehen, you don’t need to use the word for breakfast (das Frühstück) to express the action. Unlike fernsehen, this verb is not separable.
| Ich frühstücke um 9:00 Uhr. | I have breakfast at nine. |
| Du frühstückst immer Eier mit Toast. | You always have eggs with toast for breakfast. |
Many daily routine verbs are a mix of reflexive and separable verbs, such as sich ausruhen (to relax). It is not reflexive in English (few English verbs are), but it is in German.
| Ich ruhe mich aus. | I relax. |
| Du ruhst dich aus. | You relax, etc. |
Other Common Daily Routine Vocab
| arbeiten | to work |
| zu Mittag essen | to have lunch |
| nach Hause kommen | to come home |
| vom Büro kommen | to come (back) from the office/work |
| zu Abend essen | to have dinner |
| den Wecker stellen | to set the alarm clock |
| sich ausziehen | to get undressed |
Example
| Ich ziehe mich aus. | I get undressed. |
| Ich ziehe mir das T-Shirt aus. | I take off my T-shirt. |
| ins Bett gehen / sich ins Bett legen | go to bed |
| Mein Mann geht um 22:00 ins Bett. | My husband goes to bed at 10 pm. |
Weekend and Free Time Vocab
Das Wochenende (the weekend) is the time to relax (sich entspannen, sich ausruhen) for people who work a lot during the week. It’s also the time when they have more things to do around the house or other chores. The following is a list of some typical activities and chores people do at the weekend.
| das Auto waschen | to wash the car |
| abwaschen | to do the dishes (separable prefix) |
| Wasch endlich ab! | Do the dishes finally! (now that you’re not at work and don’t have any other excuse) |
| einkaufen gehen | go shopping |
| Gehst du mit mir einkaufen / Kaufst du mit mir ein? | Will you go shopping with me? |
| Familie / Freunde einladen | to invite family / friends over |
| Ich lade jeden Samstagabend Freunde ein. | I invite friends over every Saturday evening. |
| faulenzen | to be lazy, lounge around doing nothing in particular (from faul – lazy) |
| die Hausarbeit machen | to do the housework |
| im Internet surfen | to surf online |
| Musik hören | to listen to music |
| kochen | to cook |
| spät aufstehen | to get up late |
| Am Wochenende stehe ich gern spät auf. | I like getting up late on weekends. |
| saubermachen, putzen | to clean up |
| Wann machen die Kinder sauber? | When will the kids clean up? |
| die Wäsche waschen | to do the laundry |
| staubsaugen | to vacuum (not a regular separable-prefix verb) |
Weekend vocabulary and local routines
For leisure activities, try Fahrrad fahren — to cycle, einen Spaziergang machen / spazieren gehen — to go for a walk, and joggen — to jog. Wir trinken am Sonntag Kaffee und essen Kuchen. means “On Sunday we have coffee and cake.” Apfelstrudel is apple strudel, rather than exactly an apple pie.
Many ordinary shops are closed on Sundays, but opening hours and exceptions vary by state and location. Shops do not generally have to close on Saturday afternoon. Check the shop’s actual hours; Berlin’s official opening-hours page gives one local example.
Die Ruhezeit means “quiet hours.” Restrictions depend on the activity, locality and applicable house rules. It is inaccurate to give one nationwide 8 p.m.–7 a.m. ban for every household activity. The German Environment Agency explains operating restrictions for powered garden equipment; check local rules for the activity you plan.
Conclusion
There you have it, a list of German words and phrases for daily routine. What about you? Can you write your routine in German and share it with us in the comments?
Put your routine into sentences
Ich stehe um sieben Uhr auf. Dann putze ich mir die Zähne. Nach dem Frühstück ziehe ich mich an und gehe zur Arbeit. — I get up at seven. Then I brush my teeth. After breakfast I get dressed and go to work.
Complete: Du putzt ___ die Zähne. / Ich ziehe ___ an. / Abends ___ ich fern.
Check the answers
dir (dative), mich (accusative), sehe (separable verb fernsehen).
