How do you say Newspaper in German?

Whether you’re reading the headlines over coffee or scanning for job ads-Germans call it a Zeitung. It’s the word for both information and ink-stained fingertips.

The noun Zeitung means newspaper, and it’s one of the 1000 most frequently used nouns in German. It shows up in households, kiosks, online subscriptions, and political conversations.

It’s a feminine noun, so we say die Zeitung.

Pronunciation

Zeitung is pronounced [TSY-tung].

• Zei rhymes with eye,
• tung has a short u as in “put” and ng as in “sing,”
• Stress is on the first syllable: ZEI-tung

It’s punchy and rhythmic - like flipping pages or scrolling through headlines.

Example sentences:

• Ich lese jeden Morgen die Zeitung beim Frühstück.I read the newspaper every morning at breakfast.
• In der Zeitung stand ein interessanter Artikel über KI.There was an interesting article about AI in the newspaper.

Nuance and usage tips

Zeitung originally meant news or tidings and later came to mean a newspaper. The noun is historically related to Zeit; -ung remains a productive German suffix.

Common uses include:

1. Printed newspapers
   • Tageszeitung - daily newspaper
   • Sonntagszeitung - Sunday edition
   • Zeitungsverkäufer - newspaper vendor
2. Media and journalism
   • Zeitungsartikel - newspaper article
   • Zeitungsbericht - newspaper report
   • Zeitungsente - false news story (“newspaper duck” - German idiom!)
3. Regional or major publications
   • Die Zeit - weekly newspaper
   • Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ)
   • Süddeutsche Zeitung - national daily

Related words: Funkstille means radio silence, Unwissenheit means ignorance and Gerücht means rumor. They are not antonyms of Zeitung.