The German word for jump or leap is der Sprung.
You’ll hear it when talking about physical jumps, breakthroughs, broken objects, and figurative leaps in progress. Sprung in German is a high-energy word with lots of real-life uses.

It’s also one of the 1000 most frequently used nouns in German (get the free illustrated PDF to collect them all).

Gender and Pronunciation

It’s a masculine noun: der Sprung.
Want a shortcut for remembering noun gender? This video lesson gives you effective, pattern-based strategies.

Pronunciation:
Sprung is pronounced [shproong]

• Like “shpr” as in “shpritz” + “oong” as in “boon”
  One syllable: SHPROONG

Example sentences

Sie machte einen großen Sprung ins Wasser.

She made a big jump into the water.

Das war ein Sprung in der Entwicklung.

That was a leap in development.

Die Tasse hat einen Sprung.

The cup has a crack.

How does this word come up in real conversations?

"Er hat in der Technik einen großen Sprung gemacht."

He made a big leap in his technique.

"Vorsicht, da ist ein Sprung im Boden."

Careful, there’s a crack in the floor.

"Der Sprung von A2 auf B1 ist gar nicht so leicht."

The jump from A2 to B1 isn’t easy at all.

Sample Dialogue (Beginner Level)

Lina: Hast du den Sprung gesehen?
Tobi: Ja! Der war fast drei Meter weit!
Lina: Wahnsinn. Ich hätte mich das nie getraut.
Tobi: Ich bin auch nur knapp gelandet…

Translation:
Lina: Did you see the jump?
Tobi: Yes! It was almost three meters long!
Lina: Wow. I never would’ve dared.
Tobi: I barely landed it, too…

Grammatical case examples

Nominative:
Der Sprung war perfekt ausgeführt.

The jump was executed perfectly.

Accusative:
Ich habe den Sprung verpasst.

I missed the jump.

Dative:
Mit dem Sprung begann sein Erfolg.

With that jump, his success began.

Genitive:
Die Ursache des Sprungs ist unklar.

The cause of the crack is unclear.

Other ways to say jump in German

While Sprung is the primary noun for jump in German, other forms are used in specific contexts. In casual speech, Hüpfer (little hop) or Satz (leap, in older literary style) might appear. If you're describing someone who’s energetic, you might say er macht ständig Sprünge (he’s always jumping around). In sports like figure skating or gymnastics, you’ll also see words like Absprung (take-off), but Sprung remains the neutral and versatile term.

Word variations and tidbits

The noun Sprung is found in compounds like Weitsprung (long jump), Hochsprung (high jump), Sprungbrett (springboard), Sprunggelenk (ankle joint), and Quantensprung (quantum leap—used both literally and metaphorically). It also appears in idioms like einen Sprung wagen (to take a leap), einen Sprung im Kopf haben (to be a bit crazy—used humorously), or mit einem Sprung ins kalte Wasser (a sudden plunge into something new).

🧠 Fun fact: The phrase Quantensprung in German is often misunderstood—it originally meant an extremely tiny leap in physics, but in modern speech it means a major breakthrough or leap forward!

📘 Duden entry for Sprung
🎥 Want to take a bold leap in your vocabulary? Our free video course teaches the top 1000 German nouns—with examples, visuals, and a printable illustrated PDF that gives your learning a solid push.

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