Today I went stand up paddling for my first time on Lake Zurich. The experience was a perfect balance to the Limmatschwimmen from yesterday, where some 4200 people swam and floated down the Limmat. What does this all have to do with German? It’s a great vocabulary and preposition learning opportunity. First vocabulary related to bodies of water and second, prepositions that we use bodies of water. So let’s get going and you’ll see how you can improve your German knowledge and spoken production by knowing this useful German vocabulary and getting the prepositions correct.
Die Aare fliesst durch Bern.
Bodies of Water: die Gewässer
- stream: der Bach (Bäche)
- pond: der Teich (Teiche)
- river: der Fluss (Flüsse) | der Strom (Ströme)
- lake: der See (Seen)
- artificial lake: der Stausee (Stauseen) | der Speicher (Speicher)
- fjord: der Fjord (Fjorde)
- bay: die Bucht (Buchten)
- harbour: der Hafen (Häfen)
- gulf: der Golf (Golfe)
- sea: die See (See)
- ocean: das Meer (Meere) | der Ozean (Ozeane)
Related words:
- low tide: die Ebbe (Ebben)
- high tide: die Flut (Fluten)
- coast: die Küste (Küsten)
- beach: der Strand (Strände)
- shore: das Ufer (Ufer)
- island: die Insel (Insel)
- tidal flat: das Watt (Watten)
- tidal creek: der Priel (Priele)
- boat: das Boot (Boote)
- ship: das Schiff (Schiffe)
Gegen den Strom schwimmen
Expressions: Redewendungen
- über den Bach springen, über den Bach gehen — to die
- den Bach hinuntergehen — to lose something, especially value or quality
- es fließt noch viel Wasser den Bach hinunter, bis … — there’s still a long time before…
- grosser Teich — Atlantic
- den Fluss hinunter — to go down the river
- gegen den Strom schwimmen — swim against the current
- mit dem Strom schwimmen — to go with the current
- in Strömen fliessen — to pour in buckets (rain)
- eine Braut in jedem Hafen haben — to have a woman in every port
- in den Hafen der Ehe einlaufen — to get married
- Kleine Häfen laufen bald über. — Small containers overflow quickly. (In Swiss German Hafen is also used to mean toilette when potty training children)
- auf hoher See — on the high seas
- in See stechen — to lift anchor and sail off
- auf See bleiben — to stay at sea (expression for to die)
- zur See fahren — to go to sea
- wie Sand am Meer — plentiful, something in abundance
- Ebbe und Flut — ebb and flow
- zu neuen Ufern aufbrechen — to make for new horizons (try something new)
- vom anderen Ufer sein — to be gay
A few more things you should remember:
- Rivers inside Europe are typically die, while those outside of Europe tend to be der
- the last word in a compound noun dictates the gender, so if the word ends in Meer it is das even for Mittelmeer (Mediterranean Sea)
- Oceans can either be refered to by a singular name or an adjective and noun combination. z.B. Pazifik oder Pazifischer Ozean
Die Stadt Zürich fährt auf dem Zürichsee.
Water Prepositions:
auf:
- boats (Boote / Schiffe) travel auf dem See / Meer / Wasser
- if you’re going to an island, you’re going auf eine Insel
- If you’re on an island, you’re auf einer Insel
an:
- if something is at the water’s edge, it’s am Wasser.
- to be on the beach is am Strand sein
- to go to the beach is an den Strand gehen
- to be at the lake is am See sein
- to go to the Lake is an den See gehen
- an is used for on the side of, so things can be am Ufer, am Fluss, an der Küste
Das Brautpaar läuft den Strand entlang.
entlang:
- people can go rivers, beaches, coasts, and shores entlang (remember the preposition entlang typically comes after the thing you go along)
in:
- if things are actually in the water or body of water we use in + dative
- if things are going / flowing into the water or body of water we use in + accusative
- islands are also located in + dative bodies of water
- you swim in + dative the water
- if you were to swim from one body of water into another, you would swim in + accusative that body of water
über:
- generally we go über rivers, streams, oceans and other bodies of water when we go from one shore to the other
Die Kinder spielen im Wasser
unter:
- if something is unter dem Wasser, it’s below the surface
- if something is submerging, it’s going unter das Wasser
Major bodies of Water and their German Names:
- der Arktische Ozean (das Nordpolarmeer) — Arctic Ocean
- der Altantische Ozean (der Atlantik) — Atlantic Ocean
- der Indische Ozean (der Indik) — Indian Ocean
- der Pazifische Ozean (der Pazifik) — Pacific Ocean
- der Antarktische Ozean (das Südpolarmeer) — Southern Ocean
-
Die Frau sitzt am See.
das Karibische Meer (die Karibik) — Caribbean
- das Mittelmeer — Mediterranean
- das Gelbe Meer — Yellow Sea
- die Nordsee — North Sea
- die Ostsee — Baltic Sea
- das Schwarze Meer — Black Sea
- der Golf von Mexiko — Gulf of Mexico
Important Rivers and their German Names:
- der Rhein — the Rhine
- die Rhone — the Rhone
- die Donau — the Danube
- die Limmat — the Limmat
- die Aare — the Aar
- der Nil — the Nile
- der Amazonas — the Amazon River
- der Mississippi — the Mississippi River
- der Ganges — the Ganges
- der Sankt-Lorenz-Strom — the Saint Lawrence River
Gewässer Europas
Gewässer der Schweiz
rich, very useful and lovely site
thank you for your efforts