Kilo Lingo
German grammar Part of Chapter 2

CEFR A1

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Test yourself (28 questions)

Days, Months and Dates in German: am Montag, im Mai, der 3. Mai

By Michael McGettrickUpdated 11 October 2026

German days, months and seasons are all masculine, all capitalised, and need only two little words: for a day and for a month or season. Dates use an ordinal, as in English, and the ordinal changes its ending after : , but .

Quick check

Three quick questions on what you have just read. The full practice is further down.

Pick the right one

0/3

Choose the German for each English phrase. Watch for am with days and dates and im with months and seasons.

  1. on Monday

  2. in May

  3. in winter

The whole system on one screen

The colour marks the part that changes: the little word, the habit -s, the ordinal's ending.

masculinethe part that changesWhat do the colours mean?
You want to sayGermanNote
on Monday am = an
on Mondayslower case, a habit
in May = in
in summer every season takes
Today is 3 May. .ordinal, -e
on 3 May ordinal, -en after am
written 3. , 3.5.the dot = -th
in 20262026, 2026not in 2026

Everything below is one row of that table, taken apart.

Days of the week

The German week starts on Monday. Every day is masculine and takes a capital letter like any noun: . - Sunday is free.

GermanEnglishNote
Mondaythe moon day
Tuesday
Wednesdayliterally midweek
ThursdayDonar (Thor) day
Friday
Saturday
Sundaythe sun day
A calendar strip of seven day cards, each with a coloured header and one activity: a book, a football, a shopping bag, music notes, a slice of pizza, a bicycle, and someone having a lie-in in bed.

The German week starts on Montag, and every day is masculine: der Montag, am Montag.

In the north and east of Germany you will also hear Sonnabend for Saturday. It means the same day, and is understood everywhere.

am Montag or montags?

English says "on" for one Monday and for every Monday. German uses two different forms.

WhenGermanEnglish
one Monday .On Monday I'm working.
every Monday .On Mondays I work.
every Monday .I work every Monday.
the weekend at the weekend

is plus , squeezed into one word, and every day takes it:

an + dem = am: am Montag, on Monday

Add an -s to the day and drop the capital, and you have the habit. The same trick works for the parts of the day:

  • . - On Fridays I cook.
  • . - In the evenings I read.

Months of the year

Months are masculine too, and they look so like the English that the only real work is the pronunciation: . - January is cold.

GermanEnglishGermanEnglish
JanuaryJuly
FebruaryAugust
MarchSeptember
AprilOctober
MayNovember
JuneDecember

"In" a month is , which is plus :

  • - in May
  • - at the beginning of May
  • - at the end of July

Two notes. In Austria January is Jänner, and Austrians use it everywhere, on calendars and in the news. And because and sound alike, people on the phone often say Juno and Julei to keep them apart.

The four seasons

The seasons are masculine as well, so "in" is for all four. is the word for a season.

SeasonEnglish"in" the season
spring
summer
autumn
winter
Four panels: spring with a blossoming tree, flowers and a butterfly; summer with a beach, sea, sun, umbrella and ball; autumn with an orange tree and falling leaves; winter with snow, a snowy pine tree and a snowman.

Four masculine seasons, one little word: im, for all four.

Unlike French ( printemps but en été), German has no odd one out here. Frühjahr (neuter) is a second word for spring, common in the news and the weather forecast.

Weather by season

? asks what the weather is like. Most weather sentences start with , as English starts with "it".

SeasonGermanEnglish
.It often rains.
.The sun is shining.
.It is warm.
.There is a lot of rain.
.It is cold.
.It is snowing.

is the rain and the verb; is the snow and the verb. German present tense covers both "it rains" and "it is raining", so is both.

Dates: der dritte Mai

A German date uses an ordinal number, like "the third" in English. Ordinals are built from the ordinary numbers with two endings.

NumberOrdinalNote
1its own word
2 + -te
3its own word
4vierte + -te
7siebte loses its -en
8achteonly one t
19neunzehnte-te up to 19
20zwanzigste-ste from 20
31einunddreißigste-ste

Up to 19, add -te; from 20, add -ste. The odd ones are few and mostly match English: first and third are their own words in both languages.

The ending after am

The date itself has two shapes, and the only difference is the ending.

ShapeGermanEnglish
after .Today is the 3rd of May.
after am .I'm coming on the 3rd of May.
after .Today is the 1st of June.
after am on the 1st of June

After the ordinal ends in -e; after it ends in -en. Learn both as set phrases for now. The reason is the adjective endings, and the date is the friendliest place to meet them first.

Asking the date

  • ? - What's the date today?
  • Wievielte ? - What's the date today? (literally "the how-many-th")
  • . - Today is the 2nd of May.

Writing dates

Germany writes the day first, and a dot after a number turns it into an ordinal. So 3. is read " ", and 3.5. is the 3rd of May, not the 5th of March. On a letter or a form the full date is 03.05.2026.

Years from 1100 to 1999 are said in hundreds, as in English: 1999 is neunzehnhundertneunundneunzig. From 2000 they are ordinary numbers: 2026 is zweitausendsechsundzwanzig. "In 2026" is either just 2026 or 2026. Avoid straight before a year: you will hear it, but it is an anglicism.

Week, month, year and your birthday

GermanEnglishExample
the week - every week
the month - a month, per month
the year - a year
birthday - on the 3rd of May

German "has" a birthday rather than celebrating one: ? asks when your birthday is, and answers it. ! is happy birthday.

Yesterday, today, tomorrow

GermanEnglish
yesterday
today
tomorrow
this evening, tonight
tomorrow morning
this week

Watch the capital: is tomorrow, but is the morning. So is tomorrow morning, and is this morning.

AQA GCSE German lists the -te and -ste ordinals and the -s days () in its grammar for both .

Common mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
in days take am
in months take
am the habit is lower case
dates use an ordinal
am -en after am
in 20262026no in before a year
5/3 for 3 May3.5.day first, with dots

What to do next

  1. Say today's aloud each morning: ...
  2. Say your birthday: ... .
  3. Do the drill below, then come back to the mistakes table.

Practise: test yourself

Pick the right one

0/6

Choose the German for each English phrase. Watch for am with days and dates and im with months and seasons.

  1. on Monday

  2. in May

  3. in winter

  4. on Fridays (every week)

  5. Today is the 3rd of May.

  6. on the 1st of May

Complete the story

0/4

Choose the right form for each gap.

A week planner

Montag arbeite ich. Sommer ist es warm. Ich habe am Mai Geburtstag. Heute ist der Juni.

Gap 1 of 4

Matching

0/6

Match each German word to its English meaning.

Fill in the blank

0/5

Fill each gap with one word.

  1. Ich komme Sonntag. (on a day)

    Umlauts count - ae, oe, ue and ss work for ä, ö, ü, ß

  2. Wir fahren Juli nach Berlin. (in a month)

    Umlauts count - ae, oe, ue and ss work for ä, ö, ü, ß

  3. Heute ist der Mai. (2nd)

    Umlauts count - ae, oe, ue and ss work for ä, ö, ü, ß

  4. Ich habe am Mai Geburtstag. (3rd) (after am)

    Umlauts count - ae, oe, ue and ss work for ä, ö, ü, ß

  5. Sommer ist es warm.

    Umlauts count - ae, oe, ue and ss work for ä, ö, ü, ß

Sort into groups

0/7

am or im? Which one goes in front of each word?

Tap a word, then the group it belongs in.

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Practice worksheets and infographics

Practice worksheets with answer keys built in, plus infographic and listicle formats. Open any one to view, print or save.

Infographics

  1. Key points infographic
  2. The whole system on one screen
  3. Days of the week
  4. am Montag or montags?
  5. Months of the year
  6. The four seasons
  7. Weather by season
  8. Dates: der dritte Mai
  9. The ending after am
  10. Week, month, year and your birthday
  11. Yesterday, today, tomorrow
  12. Common mistakes English speakers make

Other formats

  1. Listicle

More grammar on this course

Frequently asked questions

Are German days and months capitalised?
Yes, because they are nouns and every German noun takes a capital: , , . The one exception is the adverb form for a habit, which is lower case: (on Mondays), (in the evenings). So it is , with a capital, but , without one.
How do you say on Monday in German?
. Am is a short form of an , and every day takes it: , . For something you do every week, use , and so on, or . Never use in with a day: is wrong.
How do you say the date in German?
Use an ordinal number, as English does: , today is the third of May. After am the ending changes to -en: , I am coming on the third of May. Ordinals add -te up to 19 (, vierte, zehnte) and -ste from 20 (zwanzigste, einunddreißigste), and , , siebte and achte are slightly irregular.
How do Germans write the date?
Day first, then month, with a dot after each number, because the dot is how German writes an ordinal: 3.5. or 3. is the 3rd of May, and 03.05.2026 is the full form on a letter or a form. A British reader is already at home; an American one needs to flip the first two numbers.
Is it or Jänner?
Both are correct. is the standard form in Germany and Switzerland. In Austria the usual word is Jänner, and Austrians use it on calendars, in the news and in official letters. Learn , and do not be surprised by Jänner in Vienna.