The German word for shoe is der Schuh.
Schuh in German refers to footwear of all kinds—boots, sneakers, dress shoes, and more. You’ll find it in shopping contexts, household conversations, and of course, fairy tales involving lost shoes.
It’s also part of the 1000 most frequently used nouns in German (download the free illustrated PDF to step up your learning).
Gender and Pronunciation
It’s a masculine noun: der Schuh.
The plural is die Schuhe.
Need a better way to learn noun genders? This video lesson helps you do just that.
Pronunciation:
Schuh is pronounced [shoo]
- Rhymes with “zoo”
- One syllable: SHOO
Example sentences
Wo sind meine Schuhe?
Where are my shoes?
Dieser Schuh ist zu klein.
This shoe is too small.
Ich brauche neue Sportschuhe.
I need new sneakers.
How does this word come up in real conversations?
"Deine Schuhe gefallen mir!"
I like your shoes!
"Du hast einen Schuh verloren."
You lost a shoe.
"Zieh deine Schuhe bitte aus."
Please take off your shoes.
Sample Dialogue (Beginner Level)
Lena: Sind das neue Schuhe?
Ben: Ja – vom Flohmarkt!
Lena: Die sehen richtig cool aus.
Ben: Und sie waren super günstig.
Translation:
Lena: Are those new shoes?
Ben: Yep – from the flea market!
Lena: They look really cool.
Ben: And they were super cheap.
Grammatical case examples
Nominative:
Der Schuh ist schmutzig.
The shoe is dirty.
Accusative:
Ich ziehe den Schuh aus.
I’m taking off the shoe.
Dative:
Mit dem Schuh kannst du nicht laufen.
You can’t walk in that shoe.
Genitive:
Die Farbe des Schuhs ist ungewöhnlich.
The color of the shoe is unusual.
Other ways to say shoe in German
While Schuh is the standard word for shoe in German, specific types include Stiefel (boot), Hausschuh (slipper), Turnschuh (sneaker), and Laufschuh (running shoe). Pumps, Sandalen, and Sneaker are used as borrowed words in fashion.
Word variations and tidbits
Schuh appears in many useful terms: Schuhgeschäft (shoe store), Schuhgröße (shoe size), Schuhkarton (shoebox), Schuhlöffel (shoehorn), and Schuhregal (shoe rack). Idioms include in jemandes Schuhen stecken (to be in someone’s shoes) and Schuhe ausziehen (to remove shoes—very common in German households!).
📘 Duden entry for Schuh
🎥 Want to walk confidently through German vocabulary? Our free video course teaches the top 1000 nouns—with examples, grammar, and a printable PDF you won’t want to leave behind.
Ready for more German Words of the Day?
Do you know what Schuld means? It’s heavier than any Schuh.
And what about Schule? You’ll need good Schuhe to walk there every day.