Whether you’re falling on it, sitting on it, or being told to move it—German has a solid, slightly cheeky (hah!) word for your rear end: Hintern. It’s casual, commonly used, and pops up in everything from playground chatter to sitcoms to stern parental warnings.
The noun Hintern means butt, bottom, or rear, (literally the behind) and it’s one of the 1000 most frequently used nouns in German. It’s not vulgar, but it’s definitely informal—like saying “butt” instead of “gluteus maximus.”
It’s a masculine noun, so we say der Hintern.
Pronunciation
Hintern is pronounced [HIN-tun].
- The first syllable “Hin” is like the English word “hint” without the “t.”
- The second syllable "tun" or “tern” rhymes with "bun" or “burn.”
Example sentences:
- Er fiel direkt auf den Hintern.
He fell right on his butt. - Beweg deinen Hintern!
Move your butt!
Nuance and usage tips
Hintern is casual and harmless—suitable for jokes, instructions, or light scolding. Not crude, but not exactly polite either.
There are other ways to say “butt” in German, depending on tone:
- Po – short, child-friendly, very common
- Gesäß – formal/anatomical (used in medicine or clothing)
- Arsch – vulgar, stronger than “butt,” more like “ass”
But Hintern sits (ahem) comfortably in the middle: suitable for kids and adults, used in idioms, not rude, not clinical.
Grammatical case examples:
- Nominative:
Der Hintern tut ihm vom Sitzen weh.
His butt hurts from sitting. - Accusative:
Ich habe den Hintern auf den kalten Boden gesetzt.
I sat my butt down on the cold floor. - Dative:
Mit dem Hintern im Sand saß er stundenlang am Strand.
With his butt in the sand, he sat for hours on the beach. - Genitive:
Wegen des Hinterns konnte er kaum noch gehen.
Because of his butt, he could barely walk.
Masculine article set: der, den, dem, des
Word variations and language tidbits
Variation Station:
- den Hintern hochkriegen – to get moving (“get your butt off the couch”)
- jemandem in den Hintern treten – to kick someone’s butt (usually to make them move faster)
- Hintern zusammenkneifen – “clench your butt” → to brace yourself
- auf dem Hintern sitzen – to do nothing / be lazy
You’ll find Hintern in everything from parenting lingo to motivational rants. It’s that versatile.
📘 Duden entry: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Hintern
🎥 Learn Hintern and the rest of the top 1000 German nouns in our free online video course:
https://deutschable.com/nouns/
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