Taking a Break

Ich fahr' heut' in Urlaub und zeig' euch, was ich alles mitnehmen werde.

I'm going on vacation today and I'll show you everything that I'm taking with me.

Caption 2, Christiane - fährt in den Urlaub
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Did you know that the summer vacation for some federal states in Germany is only beginning now? In many states, it doesn't start until mid-July. This break is called die Sommerferien. This is an exciting time because many people plan their Urlaub. Der Urlaub also means vacation, but implies travel. Look at the last example of this newsletter for clarification on the difference between der Urlaub and die Ferien.

Of course, in order to take a vacation, you have to have time off work. In German, the expression for this is frei haben.

Timo Uetz hat frei und verdient schon sein eigenes Geld.

Timo Uetz is off work and is already earning his own money.

Caption 72, Deutsche Welle - Lieber Ausbildung als Studium
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Sobald ich mal frei habe,

As soon as I have a free day

könnten wir vielleicht alle zusammen essen gehen. -OK.

we could all go out to eat together. -OK.

Captions 30-31, Eva erklärt - temporale Konnektoren
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Some people don't get time off, and have to make do with taking short breaks at work. The phrase for this is eine Pause machen.

Na gut. Wir können ja 'ne kurze Pause machen.

Well, OK. We can indeed take a short break.

Caption 17, JoNaLu - Ein Tag am Meer
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When the evenings are long and the weather is nice, der Feierabend is particularly enjoyable. This word has no direct equivalent in English, but it basically describes the leisure time after the work day is over.

Hast du wieder 'nen Zahnarzttermin?

Do you have another dentist appointment?

-Ich mach' Feierabend.

-I'm stopping work for the day.

Caption 21, Mama arbeitet wieder - Kapitel 3: Papa ist weg
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Timo Uetz hat endlich Feierabend.

For Timo Uetz, it's finally the end of the work day.

Caption 60, Deutsche Welle - Lieber Ausbildung als Studium
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Further Learning

Make sure you have memorized the gender of der Urlaub and die Ferien, and look for more implementations of the expressions frei haben, Pause machen, Feierabend machen and Feierabend haben on Yabla German.