German Daily Routine at Work — Feierabend Vocabulary
After this lesson you can describe your working day from morning to Feierabend.
Do this first: Present tense
Übungen
Eight exercises on what you just watched. Get 80% and the lesson is marked done and added to your A1 progress.
1 / 8 · Type the missing word
2 / 8 · Type the missing word
3 / 8 · Word order
Put the words in the right order.
I get up at six o'clock.
4 / 8 · Word order
Put the words in the right order.
We have a meeting at two.
5 / 8 · Choose
What does der Feierabend mean?
6 / 8 · Choose
Which is correct?
7 / 8 · Choose
What does anfangen mean?
8 / 8 · Choose
What does aufhören mean?
In short
A German working day runs from aufstehen (get up) through anfangen (start) and Mittagspause (lunch break) to Feierabend — the moment work ends. Many of these verbs are separable: ich stehe auf, ich fange an, ich höre auf.
How it works
Describing your day is the fastest way to make the present tense stick, because you already know the day — you only need the verbs. And German routine verbs happen to be a showcase for separable verbs: aufstehen, anfangen, aufhören, einkaufen, fernsehen. Every one of them splits, sending its prefix to the end.
The German working day has a distinct shape. It starts early — an 8:00 start is unremarkable and 7:30 is common. Die Mittagspause is a real break taken away from the desk. And it has a clear end, marked by a word English does not have: der Feierabend.
Feierabend is not "the evening" and not "clocking off" — it is the state of the day's work being finished, and it is treated as something you are entitled to. Schönen Feierabend! is a normal goodbye to a colleague, and Ich habe Feierabend means the working day is over, full stop.
| German | English | Separable? |
|---|---|---|
| aufstehen | to get up | yes — ich stehe auf |
| frühstücken | to have breakfast | no |
| zur Arbeit fahren | to travel to work | no |
| anfangen | to start | yes — ich fange an |
| die Mittagspause machen | to take a lunch break | no |
| eine Besprechung haben | to have a meeting | no |
| aufhören | to stop, finish | yes — ich höre auf |
| Feierabend machen | to finish for the day | no |
| einkaufen | to do the shopping | yes — ich kaufe ein |
| fernsehen | to watch TV | yes — ich sehe fern |
| German | English |
|---|---|
| der Kollege / die Kollegin | colleague |
| die Besprechung | meeting |
| der Schreibtisch | desk |
| die Mittagspause | lunch break |
| der Feierabend | end of the working day |
| die Überstunden | overtime |
| das Homeoffice | working from home |
| der Urlaub | holiday, annual leave |
Examples
- Ich stehe um sechs Uhr auf.I get up at six o'clock.
- Um acht fange ich mit der Arbeit an.At eight I start work.
- Um zwölf mache ich Mittagspause.At twelve I take my lunch break.
- Wir haben eine Besprechung um zwei.We have a meeting at two.
- Ich höre um siebzehn Uhr auf.I finish at five.
- Schönen Feierabend!Have a good evening! (after work)
- Nach der Arbeit kaufe ich ein.After work I do the shopping.
- Heute arbeite ich im Homeoffice.Today I'm working from home.
- Ich mache selten Überstunden.I rarely work overtime.
- Nächste Woche habe ich Urlaub.Next week I'm on holiday.
Mistakes to avoid
✗ Ich aufstehe um sechs.
✓ Ich stehe um sechs auf.
aufstehen is separable — conjugate stehen and send auf to the end. Same for anfangen and aufhören.
✗ Ich habe einen guten Abend. (as a goodbye)
✓ Schönen Feierabend!
To a colleague leaving work, the German goodbye is Schönen Feierabend — there is no English equivalent, and it is what people actually say.
✗ Ich bin im Homeoffice arbeiten.
✓ Ich arbeite im Homeoffice.
No continuous tense in German. And note Homeoffice is a German-made English word — say it, but do not expect an English speaker to.
✗ Emailing colleagues after Feierabend
✓ Waiting until the morning
Cultural, not grammatical — but the working day genuinely ends, and out-of-hours contact is read as poor planning rather than dedication.
Wortschatz
The words from this lesson.
| aufstehen | to get up | |
| anfangen | to start | |
| aufhören | to stop, to finish | |
| die Arbeit | work | |
| die Besprechung | meeting | |
| die Mittagspause | lunch break | |
| der Feierabend | end of the working day | |
| der Kollege | colleague | die Kollegin for a woman |
| die Überstunden | overtime | plural |
| der Urlaub | holiday, annual leave |
Kulturnotiz
Feierabend has no English translation because English-speaking work culture has no equivalent concept. It is the protected state after work, and it is respected: colleagues say Schönen Feierabend as they leave, and contacting someone during theirs is unusual. Germany also has one of the highest statutory holiday entitlements in Europe — a minimum of 20 days, with 28 to 30 normal — and taking all of it is expected, not a sign of low commitment.
Common questions
+What does Feierabend actually mean?
The end of the working day and the free time that follows. Ich habe Feierabend means "I'm done for the day"; Schönen Feierabend! is what you say to a colleague as they leave.
+Which routine verbs are separable?
aufstehen, anfangen, aufhören, einkaufen, fernsehen, mitkommen. They conjugate normally and send their prefix to the end of the clause — ich stehe um sechs auf.
+What is Homeoffice?
Working from home. It is a German-made English word, like Handy and Beamer — used constantly in German, and not understood by English speakers, who say "working from home" or "remote".
+What is a normal German working day?
It starts early — 8:00 is standard, 7:30 common — with a real Mittagspause taken away from the desk, and it ends at a defined time. Overtime exists but is not the default expectation.