German Furniture Vocabulary — Finding Your Way Out of IKEA
After this lesson you can name the things in a room and ask where a department is.
Do this first: der, die, das
German Furniture Vocabulary — Finding Your Way Out of IKEA
Furniture is where noun gender stops being theory: der Tisch, die Lampe, das Bett. Learn them in their three groups and a whole room is yours.
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Kulturnotiz
Germany rents more than almost any country in Europe, and German flats are often let completely unfurnished — which can mean no kitchen at all, just pipes and a bare wall. Tenants buy and install their own Einbauküche and take it with them when they leave. It is why furniture shops are such a fixture of German life, and why Wo finde ich die Küchen? is a genuinely useful sentence.
Common questions
+Is there a pattern to furniture genders?
A loose one: many large pieces are der (Tisch, Stuhl, Schrank), soft and lamp-like things tend to be die (Lampe, Couch, Matratze), and flat or box-like things das (Bett, Regal, Sofa). Treat it as a hint, not a rule.
+How do I ask where something is?
Wo finde ich …? is the natural shop question — "where do I find". Wo ist …? works too but sounds more like you have lost something.
+Why do German flats come without a kitchen?
Because unfurnished genuinely means unfurnished. Tenants install their own fitted kitchen and take it when they move, which is why kitchens are bought, sold and transported so often.
+Is delivery usually included?
No. Lieferung and Aufbau are separate paid services almost everywhere in Germany. Ask the price before assuming.