Before the cameras roll and the actors speak, there’s a Drehbuch. It’s the blueprint of a film or series—the written story that becomes a moving picture.
The noun Drehbuch means screenplay or script, and it’s one of the 1000 most frequently used nouns in German. You’ll hear it in film production, media studies, writer’s rooms, and award shows.
It’s a neuter noun, so we say das Drehbuch.
Pronunciation
Drehbuch is pronounced [DRAY-booch].
- The “Dreh” rhymes with “gray,”
- The “buch” has a soft ch, like in Bach or the Scottish “loch.”
It’s a smooth yet structured word—much like a well-written script.
Example sentences:
- Das Drehbuch wurde von einem berühmten Autor geschrieben.
The screenplay was written by a famous author. - Ohne ein gutes Drehbuch kann kein Film funktionieren.
No film can work without a good script.
Nuance and usage tips
Drehbuch is a compound of:
- drehen – to film / shoot (literally: to turn or spin)
- Buch – book
So it literally means “shooting book”—a document designed for a shoot.
Use Drehbuch for:
- Movie and TV scripts
- Drehbuchautor(in) – screenwriter
- Drehbuchfassung – script version
- ein verfilmtes Drehbuch – an adapted screenplay
- Scripted content (fictional)
- Not used for theater plays (that’s Theaterstück or Stück)
- Not used for speech scripts (that’s Rede or Manuskript)
Its antonym? Not exactly, but Improvisation (feminine) would be the opposite in a creative context.
Grammatical case examples:
- Nominative:
Das Drehbuch gewann einen Preis.
The screenplay won an award. - Accusative:
Sie liest das Drehbuch zum dritten Mal.
She’s reading the script for the third time. - Dative:
Mit dem Drehbuch hatten sie große Probleme.
They had major problems with the script. - Genitive:
Wegen des Drehbuchs wurde die Szene geändert.
Because of the script, the scene was changed.
Neuter case pattern: das, das, dem, des
Word variations and language tidbits
Variation Station:
- Drehbuchautor(in) – screenwriter
- Drehbuchpreis – screenplay award
- Drehbucharbeit – scriptwriting
- Originaldrehbuch – original screenplay
- verfilmtes Drehbuch – adapted screenplay
Fun film note:
German screenwriting follows its own conventions, though international structures like the Three-Act Structure or Hero’s Journey are also widely taught. German films, especially dramas and arthouse cinema, often focus more on atmosphere, psychology, or social critique—reflected in their Drehbücher.
📘 Duden entry: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Drehbuch
🎥 Learn Drehbuch and the rest of the top 1000 German nouns in our free online video course:
https://deutschable.com/nouns/
Alternate translations note:
For theater scripts, the correct word is Stück or Theaterstück. For document formatting or computer scripts, Germans use Skript. But for anything involving film or TV storytelling, Drehbuch is the definitive word.
Ready for more German words of the day? Do you know what Botschafter means? How about Fehler? Find out!