Along with learning the words for fruits and vegetables in German, you may also need words related to their preparation. You can learn this vocabulary from a small topic about the benefits of consuming vegetables and fruits.
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Topic: Vegetables and fruits are the key to health
I lead a healthy lifestyle. A healthy mind in a healthy body - this is the ancient well-known Latin proverb. However, for me, a healthy lifestyle is not only about exercising, but also about eating healthy. In order to get vitamins and get sick less often, you need to eat a lot of vegetables and fruits.
Ich lebe gesund. Ein gesunder Geist wohnt in einem gesunden Körper – so lautet das alte bekannte lateinische Sprichwort. Die gesunde Lebensweise ist aber für mich nur das Sporttreiben, sondern auch die gesunde Ernährung. Um nützliche Vitamine zu bekommen und seltener krank zu sein, muß man viel Obst und Gemüse zu essen.
In the morning (before work) I don’t drink tea or coffee, but freshly squeezed juice. I drink juice from packages less often, as it contains fewer vitamins. In the morning I prefer carrot or apple juice. In the evening after training I drink a juice mix. First I peel the orange, banana and apple, then cut them into pieces and squeeze out the juice.
Morgens (vor der Arbeit) trinke ich keinen Tee oder keinen Kaffee, sondern einen frisch gepressten Saft. Den Saft aus dem Tetrapak trinke ich seltner, weil er weniger Vitamine enthält. Morgens bevorzuge ich einen Karottensaft oder Apfelsaft. Abends nach dem Training trinke ich eine Saftmischung. Ich schäle erst eine Orange, Banane und einen Apfel, dann schneide ich sie in Stücke und presse den Saft.
Since my country is cold in winter, many fruits and vegetables are imported. Because of this they are quite expensive. Some fruits, such as currants and raspberries, are not available for sale at all during the cold season. To be able to eat them in winter and, for example, make compote, in the summer they are placed in the freezer and stored until winter.
Da es in meinem Land im Winter kalt ist, wird viel Obst und Gemüse eingeführt. Aus diesem Grund sind sie ziemlich teuer. Manches Obst wie Johannisbeere und Himbeere ist in der kalten Jahresalt gar nicht verkäuflich. Um es im Winter essen und zum Beispiel ein Kompott machen zu können, wird es im Sommer in den Gefrierschrank gelegt und bis zum Winter gelagert.
I often make salads from fresh vegetables. A salad made from carrots, cabbage, beets, onions and herbs is popular in my family. It is not only tasty, but also healthy.
Aus dem frischen Gemüse bereite ich oft die Salaten zu. In meiner Familie genießt einen Salat aus den Karotten, dem Weißkohl, Kraut, der Rübe und Zwibel große Popularität. Er ist nicht nur lecker, sondern auch nützlich.
I also often use vegetables as a side dish. However, I do not fry them, but steam them, as this preserves more vitamins.
Ich esse auch das Gemüse als Beilage. Ich schmore es doch nicht, sondern gare kurz, weil das Gemüse dabei mehr Vitamine erhalten bleibt.
Vocabulary (Wortschatz):
Lead a healthy lifestyle – gesund leben
A healthy mind in a healthy body – Ein gesunder Geist wohnt in einem gesunden Körper
Fresh, freshly squeezed juice – der frisch gepresste Saft
Healthy eating – die gesunde Ernährung
Carrot, apple juice – Der Karottensaft, der Apfelsaft
Drink juice – Den Saft trinken
Peel the peel – schälen
Squeeze juice from… – Den Saft aus…pressen
Cut into pieces – In Stücke schneiden
Prepare salad – Einen Salat zubereiten
Put in the freezer – In den Gefrierschrank legen
Fry (vegetables) – schmoren
Fry (meat, fish) – braten
Steamed vegetables – kurzgegartes Gemüse
In this note, I collected the names of fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, berries and other edible vegetation and placed them in tables to make it easy to remember. First table: German fruits, vegetables and berries:
So, fruits in German... Have you noticed that most of them are feminine? This is precisely why it is worth learning some words in groups - in order to notice and remember any common points in certain groups of words. Only the German apple and peach decided to distinguish themselves and are fruits with the article der, all the rest are feminine. Most fruits are pluralized by adding the ending -n.
Berries are also all feminine - but no wonder: after all, almost all of them end in -beere.
In German there are two names for some fruits - for example: plum, tangerine.
What kind of plum is called? The large fleshy one is Pflaume, and the small oblong one, which mainly occurs in autumn, is Zwetschcken.
What about tangerines? It turns out that those with seeds are the familiar Mandarines, and those without them (although sometimes you can get one or two things) are Clementine
But for oranges there is no difference. But the word Orange is more popular.
German cherries are the same cherries, only sweet. Logical. By the way, sour cherries are not at all easy to find in Germany. Farmers sell it, but in such small quantities that it is sometimes difficult to notice. But my favorite cherries are on the shelves from May until the end of summer!!!
When you buy potatoes from, they will definitely ask which ones???
mehligkochend – crumbly
festkochend – hard
And if you find it difficult to answer, they will ask: what are you going to cook? So I have to decide here and now what I’m going to make from it, I’m taking it with a reserve for a whole week, should I create the whole menu at once? 😛
But these adjectives can describe fruits in German and some other vegetation:
saftig– juicy
knackig – strong, crispy
sauer- sour
reif– ripe
frisch- fresh
faulig - rotten
tiefgefroren– frozen
süß- sweet
frisch- fresh
weich – soft
hart- solid
grün – green/unripe
getrocknet– dried
biologisch– environmentally friendly
saisonal– seasonal
By the way, dried fruits in Germany are sold mixed with nuts and this mixture is called Studentenfutter - student food.
And in the following table you will find a list of spices, nuts, mushrooms and herbs:
Here are a few words to describe spices:
ganz – whole
zerstoßen – crushed
gemahlen – ground
geraspelt – crushed
würzen – to season
Fruits in German, vegetables in German: a few phrases
Verkaufen Sie Biogemüse? – Do you sell organic vegetables?
Werden sie in dieser Gegend angebaut? – Are they grown in this area?
Was kostet ein Kilo? – How much does one kilogram cost?
Bitte ein Kilo Kartoffeln! – A kilogram of potatoes, please!
Sind sie reif? -Are they ripe?
Wie lange halten sie sich? – How long can they be stored?
In German it is translated by two synonyms: das Obst and die Frucht. However, these concepts are not as synonymous as it seems at first glance, and are not always interchangeable. Let's understand the intricacies of the language of Schiller and Goethe.
Obst vs Frucht - the difference between the concepts
Fruit in German can be denoted by both of the above concepts, but the first is a subconcept of the second. So, if we are talking about any fruit of a tree or bush, it does not matter whether it is edible or not, then the term “Frucht” is used. So it's something that hangs on a tree or a bush that can be eaten. Frucht is a fruit, its pulp with seeds.
The word Obst always means only edible fruits.
Here are some examples:
1. Isst du gerne Obst? - Do you like (eat) fruits? This means truly edible products.
2. Ich gehe Obst kaufen. - I'm going to buy fruit. Indeed, if we buy something in a store, then it will be Obst, because what is purchased will be eaten.
3. Auf dem Baum hängen verschiedene Früchte. - Various fruits hang on the tree. It is not clear whether the fruits are edible or inedible, so the term "Frucht" is better suited than Obst.
Plural or singular
The word Frucht is used in both singular and plural. One fruit is Frucht, and several are already Früchte.
However, das Obst is used in German only in the singular. If we see one fruit, in German it sounds like das Obst. If several fruits are implied and in Russian it would sound in the plural, then in German it would sound singular.
Examples: 1. Ich esse keine gedörrtes Obst. I don't eat dried fruits.
2. Obst liegt schon lange auf dem Tisch. The fruits have been lying on the table for a long time.
The same situation, by the way, is with the word “vegetables” in German. If we talk about vegetables even in the plural, then the only thing used is still: das Gemüse. It should be remembered that these but articles are not used, because these nouns are uncountable.
The phrase “Children, you rarely eat vegetables and fruits” is translated as follows: “Kinder, ihr esst selten Obst und Gemüse.”
Gender of the word "fruit" in German
"Fruit" in German is almost always used with the feminine article - die. These are the vast majority of words:
die Birne - pear (and also, curiously, “light bulb”, it’s easier to remember);
die Aprikose (note: not with a “b”, as in Russian, but with a “p”) - apricot;
die Banane - which is logical, banana;
die Orange, or in the Dutch manner die Apfelsine - orange;
die Mandarine and die Klementine - mandarin and clementine (a sweeter variety of mandarin);
die Wassermelone - watermelon;
die Honigmelone - melon;
die Kiwi - despite the fact that in Russian the word “kiwi” is neuter, in German it is feminine. Same thing with "avocado". It also has the article die - die Avokado;
die Ananas - as you might guess, pineapple;
die Feige - figs;
die Kokonuss - coconut (as well as other types of nuts, for example Walnuss - walnut);
die (Wein)traube (optional) - grapes;
die Pflaume (and in the Austrian version die Zwetschke) - plum;
Also, all berries in German are feminine:
Die Kirsche - cherry.
Die Erdbeere - strawberries and strawberries.
Die Johannisbeere - red and black currants (in Austria called Ribisel, and also feminine).
Die Himbeere - raspberry.
However, as with any rule, there are exceptions. There are only a few of them, and they are easy to remember.
So, the German masculine word for apple is der Apfel. There is also its derivative - Granatapfel - pomegranate.
Peach also has a masculine article - der Pfirsich.