Summer vacation (or summer holidays) are drawing to a close for loads of people in the northern hemisphere.
So what are these called in German?
Das sind die Ferien.
And why is that word so frequently confused with "feiern"?
Because they are so similar.
In this article plus audio, you'll learn how to pronounce these two words, which article you should use with Ferien (it's simpler than you might think), and a couple of example sentences so you can remember which word to use when.
You'll use a bit of rhythm, some repetition, and a fun story to help you keep these two words separate and distinct from one another.
Plus homework! Fun German homework!
N.B. While the GermanWithNicole.com Podcast no longer exists, you can still hear all of the audios here on the blog. The audios are available on the blog posts published between August 1, 2021 and October 1, 2024. Viel Spaß beim Hören!
N.B. The A1-A2-B1 German Sentence Structure Guide has been expanded and is now part of lessons and classes tuition.
First up: Ferien.
FE-RI-EN. The rhythm is “DI-da-da.” Say it with me: FE-ri-en. FE-ri-en. FE-ri-en.
Ferien means holidays, as in school holidays. Germany has year-round school with their school holidays being two weeks here, two weeks there, and then six weeks in the summertime. When the holidays take place is determined by each state, and each state does them a bit differently. The summer holidays are staggered, too, because can you imagine the better part of 82 million people trying to go on vacation at the same time?
Ferien is always plural and thus always has the article die, the plural form of die. Die Ferien. Whichever verb you use to refer to die Ferien also needs to be plural.
Say “die Ferien” with me, practicing the rhythm we talked about earlier. die Ferien, die Ferien, die Ferien.
Thus, when we talk about when the holidays are, we have a sentence similar to this: Die Ferien sind vom 29. Juli bis zum 11. September.
Feel free to repeat this section before you move on, especially if you find differentiating these two words particularly difficult.
Now on to “feiern.”
“Feiern” is the verb “to celebrate,” and as you may well know, Germans look for reasons to celebrate. Soccer games, birthdays, New Years Eve, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Second Christmas Day, Richtfest, which is a house-raising party, everything. I miss that.
Even the really unusual celebrations, like when I taught English in Germany there was an employee at one company who was my contact person for making copies and finding other office materials. One day he had a big spread of Brötchen, Wurst, Käse, Butter und Marmelade, there were sweet rolls laid out and said he and his wife had saved up for years and finally bought a brand new car. He was so excited he wanted to celebrate it with his co-workers and invited everyone to Elevensies. It was adorable!
He said: “Wir haben ein neues Auto. Das feiern wir!”
Und Sie? Was feiern Sie?
Your homework is to celebrate one small German learning achievement. It could be as simple as finally understanding the difference between die Ferien and the verb feiern, or it could be understanding a German text you've read recently.
Sie lernen Deutsch. Das feiern wir!
Das ist genug für heute. Passen Sie gut auf sich auf.