It’s the season of snow, short days, and steaming mugs of tea. In German, winter is called der Winter—a word that sounds almost the same, just with a sharper, colder edge.

The noun Winter means winter, and it’s one of the 1000 most frequently used nouns in German. From school holidays to weather forecasts, from cozy traditions to icy road warnings, this word is a key part of everyday life in German-speaking countries.

It’s a masculine noun, so we say der Winter.

Pronunciation

Winter is pronounced [VIN-ter].

• The W sounds like a V,
• The i is short, like in bit,
• The -ter ending is soft and unvoiced, not like the American English "winter" with a d-like sound.

It’s a crisp, no-nonsense word—much like the season itself.

Example sentences:

Der Winter in Bayern ist oft sehr kalt.
Winter in Bavaria is often very cold.

Im Winter gibt es in den Alpen viel Schnee.
In winter, there’s lots of snow in the Alps.

Nuance and usage tips

Like in English, Winter refers to both the season and the idea of cold, dark months. It’s used in everyday speech and formal writing alike, and forms the basis for many compound words:

• Wintermantel – winter coat
• Winterreifen – winter tires
• Winterpause – winter break (in school or sports)
• Winterdienst – snow removal service
• Winterzeit – wintertime (also refers to standard time after daylight savings)

Germany takes Winter seriously: changing to winter tires is mandatory in snowy conditions, and salt trucks are a familiar sight from November onward.

Grammatical case examples:

Nominative:
Der Winter beginnt meistens im Dezember.
Winter usually begins in December.

Accusative:
Ich liebe den Winter.
I love winter.

Dative:
Im Winter trage ich gerne Mütze und Schal.
In winter, I like wearing a hat and scarf.

Genitive:
Die Farben des Winters sind oft grau und weiß.
The colors of winter are often gray and white.

Masculine case pattern: der, den, dem, des

Word variations and language tidbits

The four seasons in German are:

• der Frühling – spring
• der Sommer – summer
• der Herbst – autumn
• der Winter – winter

Note that all of them are masculine. And like in English, seasons are often used without articles in prepositional phrases: im Winter, im Sommer, etc.

You’ll also hear the phrase “Der Winter steht vor der Tür” (winter is just around the corner)—a common expression to mark the change in season.

📘 Duden entry: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Winter

🎥 Learn Winter and the rest of the top 1000 German nouns in our free online video course:
https://deutschable.com/nouns/

Ready for more German words of the day? Do you know what Wind means? How about Wirklichkeit? Find out!