The German word for snow is der Schnee.
Schnee in German is used in weather reports, winter fun, and idioms about newness or cold. Whether you love it or hate it, Schnee is part of life in German-speaking countries.
It’s also part of the 1000 most frequently used nouns in German (and included in our free illustrated PDF).
Gender and Pronunciation
It’s a masculine noun: der Schnee.
Need help with gender intuition? This video lesson makes it memorable.
Pronunciation:
Schnee is pronounced [shnay]
- Rhymes with “day”
- One syllable: SHNAY
Example sentences
Es hat über Nacht geschneit – überall liegt Schnee!
It snowed overnight—snow is everywhere!
Die Kinder spielen im Schnee.
The kids are playing in the snow.
Ich liebe frischen Schnee.
I love fresh snow.
How does this word come up in real conversations?
"Kommt heute Schnee?"
Is snow coming today?
"Schon wieder Schnee? Ich hab genug!"
Snow again? I’ve had enough!
"Der Schnee sieht wunderschön aus."
The snow looks beautiful.
Sample Dialogue (Beginner Level)
Mira: Schau mal, es schneit!
Ben: Endlich! Ich will einen Schneemann bauen.
Mira: Ich hol den Schal!
Ben: Und ich bring Karotte und Hut!
Translation:
Mira: Look, it’s snowing!
Ben: Finally! I want to build a snowman.
Mira: I’ll grab the scarf!
Ben: And I’ll bring a carrot and a hat!
Grammatical case examples
Nominative:
Der Schnee liegt auf dem Dach.
The snow is on the roof.
Accusative:
Ich hasse den Schnee auf der Straße.
I hate the snow on the road.
Dative:
Mit dem Schnee kann man viel Spaß haben.
You can have a lot of fun with snow.
Genitive:
Die Farbe des Schnees ist blendend weiß.
The color of the snow is dazzling white.
Other ways to say snow in German
For snow in German, Schnee is the one and only basic noun. Other terms include Pulverschnee (powder snow), Schneefall (snowfall), Schneeflocke (snowflake), and Schneeschmelze (snowmelt).
Word variations and tidbits
You’ll find Schneemann (snowman), Schneeball (snowball), Schneesturm (snowstorm), Schneekette (snow chain), and Schneepflug (snow plow). Idioms include wie Schnee von gestern (“like yesterday’s snow” = no longer relevant) and unter einer Schneedecke (under a blanket of snow).
Der Schnee is masculine, like most weather words (der Regen, der Wind, der Nebel). Tiny gender clusters like this are gold — pin them down with a bit of regular practice German articles and a huge chunk of vocab stops being a coin flip.
🎥 Want to chill with great vocabulary? Our free video course teaches the top 1000 German nouns—step by step, with a printable PDF.
Ready for more German Words of the Day?
Do you know what Schnauze means? Watch out—it might be covered in Schnee.
And what about Schluss? It's what happens when winter is over.