Whether you’re planning a getaway, catching up on sleep, or just avoiding emails—Germans call it the Wochenende. It’s the pause button after five days of work and school, and one of the most beloved words in any language.
The noun Wochenende means weekend, and it’s one of the 1000 most frequently used nouns in German. You’ll hear it everywhere—from workplace chats and radio ads to family plans and road trip dreams.
It’s a neuter noun, so we say das Wochenende.
Pronunciation
Wochenende is pronounced [VOH-chen-en-duh].
- Woch sounds like “voch” with the German ch as in Bach,
- en is short, like “uhn,”
- de is a soft “duh,”
- Stress is on the first syllable: WOCH-en-en-de
It rolls out like a countdown to freedom.
Example sentences:
- Am Wochenende fahren wir zu meinen Eltern.
We’re going to my parents’ place for the weekend. - Ich habe das ganze Wochenende durchgeschlafen.
I slept through the whole weekend.
Nuance and usage tips
Wochenende is a compound noun:
- Woche = week
- Ende = end
Put them together and you get “end of the week”—but culturally, it means Saturday and Sunday, the traditional days off for most Germans.
- Common phrases
- schönes Wochenende! – Have a nice weekend!
- am Wochenende – on the weekend
- Wochenendtrip – weekend trip
- verlängertes Wochenende – long weekend
- Cultural note
- Many stores in Germany are closed on Sundays, so Samstag (Saturday) is when most errands happen.
Its antonym? Not a true opposite, but Wochenbeginn (start of the week) or just Montag (Monday) might fill that role.
Grammatical case examples:
- Nominative:
Das Wochenende war viel zu kurz.
The weekend was far too short. - Accusative:
Ich habe das Wochenende bei Freunden verbracht.
I spent the weekend at friends’ place. - Dative:
Mit dem Wochenende beginnt die Entspannung.
With the weekend comes relaxation. - Genitive:
Wegen des Wochenendes war der Verkehr schlimm.
Because of the weekend, traffic was bad.
Neuter case pattern: das, das, dem, des
Word variations and language tidbits
Variation Station:
- Wochenendhaus – weekend cottage
- Wochenendarbeit – weekend work
- Wochenendticket – weekend train pass (Deutsche Bahn used to offer these)
- Wochenendbeziehung – long-distance relationship where you only meet on weekends
- Wochenendverkehr – weekend traffic
Fun idiomatic note:
The phrase schönes Wochenende! is the standard Friday farewell in Germany. You’ll hear it in emails, at the bakery, or shouted across offices around 3pm Friday.
📘 Duden entry: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Wochenende
🎥 Learn Wochenende and the rest of the top 1000 German nouns in our free online video course:
https://deutschable.com/nouns/
Alternate translations note:
There really isn’t a better word for the weekend—Wochenende is the term in German. For Sunday only, use Sonntag. But if you’re looking forward to that relaxing two-day stretch, Wochenende is your golden word.
Ready for more German words of the day? Do you know what Wohnung means? How about Wolf? Find out!