German Working Hours & Shifts Vocabulary
This set covers how Germans talk about the working day: shifts like die Frühschicht and die Nachtschicht, the schedule that assigns them (der Dienstplan), and the moment you clock out and mentally check out, der Feierabend, a word English doesn't really have. One trap: der Feierabend has nothing to do with a party or holiday despite feiern lurking in it, and words like die Teilzeit and die Vollzeit are always feminine nouns, not the adjectives "part-time" or "full-time" you'd expect from English.
Learn these 19 words
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All 19 words
plural: die Arbeitstage
workday
Das war ein sehr langer Arbeitstag. — That was a very long workday.
plural: die Arbeitswochen
workweek
Die Arbeitswoche hat fünf Tage. — The workweek has five days.
plural: die Mittagspausen
lunch break
Wir gehen zusammen in die Mittagspause. — We go on our lunch break together.
plural: die Dienstpläne
work schedule
Der Dienstplan hängt an der Wand. — The work schedule is hanging on the wall.
plural: die Feierabende
end of workday
Einen schönen Feierabend. — Have a nice end of workday.
plural: die Frühschichten
early shift
Ich habe morgen die Frühschicht. — I have the early shift tomorrow.
flexitime
Bei uns gibt es flexible Gleitzeit. — We have flexible flexitime at our company.
- halbtagsB1
part-time
Ich habe ein kleines Kind und kann nicht acht Stunden am Tag arbeiten. Deshalb möchte ich halbtags arbeiten. — I have a small child and can't work eight hours a day. That's why I want to work part-time.
plural: die Nachtschichten
night shift
Mein Bruder mag keine Nachtschicht. — My brother doesn't like the night shift.
shift work
Schichtarbeit ist oft sehr anstrengend. — Shift work is often very exhausting.
plural: die Schichtwechsel
shift change
Der Schichtwechsel findet um sechs Uhr statt. — The shift change happens at six o'clock.
plural: die Spätschichten
late shift
Sie tauscht ihre Spätschicht mit mir. — She is swapping her late shift with me.
plural: die Stechuhren
time clock
Bitte stempeln Sie an der Stechuhr. — Please clock in at the time clock.
part-time
Ich arbeite im Moment nur Teilzeit. — I'm only working part-time at the moment.
plural: die Überstunden
overtime
Ich muss heute Überstunden machen. — I have to work overtime today.
full-time
Ich möchte gerne Vollzeit arbeiten. — I would like to work full-time.
- schuftenB2
to slave away / toil / grind away
Er schuftet jeden Tag hart. — He slaves away every day hard.
plural: die Pensen
a workload / task / quota
Das Pensum war für alle Mitarbeiter machbar. — The workload was manageable for all employees.
drudgery / slog / struggle
Die Schinderei bei diesem Job war furchtbar. — The drudgery at this job was terrible.
How to learn this set
Nearly every shift word here is a compound built on -schicht (die Frühschicht, die Nachtschicht, die Spätschicht, der Schichtwechsel, die Schichtarbeit), so once you know der Schicht is feminine as a standalone word, you can predict the gender of the compounds by the last part: Wechsel is masculine, Arbeit is feminine. Drill die Teilzeit and die Vollzeit as a pair since they're opposites used the same way in job ads (Ich arbeite Teilzeit/Vollzeit), and do the same with die Überstunde vs. halbtags, one adds hours, the other cuts them. For the three tone-words at the end, schuften, das Pensum, and die Schinderei, learn them together as a mini-scale from neutral workload to complaining about it: Pensum is just the amount of work, schuften is the grinding verb, Schinderei is what you call it when you're fed up.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Teilzeit and halbtags?
Die Teilzeit is the general term for part-time work of any reduced amount, while halbtags specifically means half-days, i.e. working mornings or afternoons only. You can work Teilzeit without working halbtags, for example three full days a week.
What does Feierabend actually mean?
Feierabend is the end of the working day, the point where you stop and your personal time starts. Germans say "Ich mache Feierabend" to mean "I'm done for the day," and "Schönen Feierabend!" is a common way to say goodbye to a coworker.
Is Überstunde singular or plural in everyday use?
Die Überstunde is the singular form for one hour of overtime, but you'll almost always see it in plural as die Überstunden, since overtime is rarely just one hour. "Ich habe Überstunden gemacht" means "I worked overtime."
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