Say Coordinates in German - And Get Oriented

If you’ve ever tried to read a map, enter a GPS location, or describe something in math class, you’ve already worked with coordinates. And the German word for this useful concept is every bit as international - with a few important twists.

The word is Koordinaten, pronounced roughly “ko-or-di-NAH-ten,” with stress on the long a. Use Koordinaten when referring to more than one coordinate.

The singular form is Koordinate and it’s feminine. Not sure what that means? Watch my short video explaining German gender here! Koordinaten is part of the 1000 most frequently used nouns in German, which makes it worth learning early.

Examples in the four cases (plural):

Nominative:Die Koordinaten sind korrekt.The coordinates are correct.

Accusative:Ich habe die Koordinaten eingegeben.I entered the coordinates.

Dative:Mit den Koordinaten kannst du den Ort finden.With the coordinates, you can find the place.

Genitive:Die Genauigkeit der Koordinaten ist entscheidend.The precision of the coordinates is crucial.

Real-World Tips for Learners

In daily life, Koordinaten show up in all kinds of situations - from using your smartphone to navigating a city, to watching crime shows, or learning geometry in school.

Some useful phrases include:

• GPS-Koordinaten - GPS coordinates
• Koordinaten eingeben - enter coordinates
• die genauen Koordinaten - the exact coordinates
• sich an den Koordinaten orientieren - to orient yourself using coordinates

You’ll also find Koordinaten in math class, paired with x-Achse (x-axis) and y-Achse (y-axis). A typical sentence might be:Der Punkt hat die Koordinaten (3|4) - The point has coordinates (3, 4).