Whether you’re waiting, resting, or lingering—Germans call that little stretch of time a Weile. It’s a quiet, flexible word for a span of time that isn’t measured in minutes, but in mood.
The noun Weile means a while, a short time, or a brief period, and it’s one of the 1000 most frequently used nouns in German. You’ll hear it in idioms, casual conversations, and expressions of patience or nostalgia.
It’s a feminine noun, so we say die Weile.
Pronunciation
Weile is pronounced [VY-luh].
- W sounds like a V,
- ei sounds like the English word eye,
- Final -e is pronounced as a soft “uh,”
- Stress is on the first syllable: VY-luh
It’s gentle and flowing—just like the kind of time it describes.
Example sentences:
- Bleib doch noch eine Weile!
Stay a little while longer! - Ich habe schon eine ganze Weile nichts von ihm gehört.
I haven’t heard from him in quite a while.
Nuance and usage tips
Weile refers to an undefined but limited span of time—longer than a moment, shorter than forever. It’s vague on purpose, which makes it great for softening speech.
- Common expressions
- eine Weile – a little while
- seit einer Weile – for a while
- nach einer Weile – after a while
- vor einer Weile – a while ago
- Poetic, gentle tone
- It’s more tender than Zeit
- Often used in phrases about rest, memory, or subtle passing of time
- Fixed idioms
- Es hat eine Weile gedauert. – It took a while.
- Für eine Weile war alles still. – For a while, everything was quiet.
- In der Weile liegt die Heil’. – “In waiting lies healing.” (old poetic phrasing)
Its antonyms (in spirit) might be:
- Augenblick (moment)
- Ewigkeit (eternity)
- Sofort (immediately)
Grammatical case examples:
- Nominative:
Die Weile war genau das, was ich gebraucht habe.
The short break was exactly what I needed. - Accusative:
Ich möchte eine Weile allein sein.
I’d like to be alone for a while. - Dative:
Mit der Weile kam die Ruhe zurück.
With time, the calm returned. - Genitive:
Wegen der Weile verpassten sie den Anschlusszug.
Because of the delay, they missed the connecting train.
Feminine case pattern: die, die, der, der
Word variations and language tidbits
Variation Station:
- eine kleine/große Weile – a short/long while
- eine gute Weile – a decent amount of time
- verweilen – to linger, to stay a while (same root)
- Weile is related to the old verb weilen (to stay, to dwell—now rarely used except poetically)
Cultural note:
Weile feels gentler and more expressive than measuring time in numbers. You’d say eine Weile to soften a request, delay, or story—it invites a pause.
📘 Duden entry: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Weile
🎥 Learn Weile and the rest of the top 1000 German nouns in our free online video course:
https://deutschable.com/nouns/
Alternate translations note:
If you’re talking about time more generally or precisely, Zeit is your word. But when you want to refer to a short stretch of time that feels personal or emotional, Weile is your quiet, poetic choice.
Ready for more German words of the day? Do you know what Wettbewerb means? How about Witz? Find out!