Nouns ending in -erei in German generally fall into one of two categories.

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First, it can be noted that this suffix has a connection to the French suffix -erie, which comes from the Latin -aria. Both -erei and -erie often appear in words for shops and workshops, like la boulangerie and die Bäckerei (the bakery). 

Ja, wir gehen auch immer in die Bücherei. Nicht wahr?

Yes, we're always going to the library. Isn't that right?

Caption 43, Extr@ Teil 01: Part 3

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Ich geh morgen in die Druckerei, um mir 'n Angebot machen zu lassen.

I'll go to the printers' tomorrow and have them make me an offer.

Captions 6-7, Nicos Weg: Das brauche ich!

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Der Falkenhof auf dem großen Feldberg ist die älteste und zugleich höchstgelegene Falknerei Hessens.

The falcon farm on the big field hill is the oldest and simultaneously highest falconry in Hessen.

Captions 1-2, Für Tierfreunde: Falknerei Feldberg

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Die Reederei hatte sich ein Schiff gewünscht.

The shipping company had wished for a ship.

Caption 6, Kreuzfahrtschiff: An Bord der Europa 2

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But not every noun ending with -erei denotes a physical place. More broadly, the suffix forms nouns referring to activities, trades, or practices, often derived from verbs. A good example is the word die Fischerei, which can be a place where fish are caught and sold, or simply refer to the industry or activity of fishing, as in this sentence:

Die damit einhergehende Ausbeutung des Meeres durch den Menschen in Form von Fischerei ...

The associated exploitation of the sea by humans in the form of fishing...

Captions 65-66, Evolution: Die Küsten

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Here are two other nouns that are simply the names of activities:

Sowohl, äh, Malerei als auch Bildhauerei.

Both, uh, paintings as well as sculptures.

Caption 15, Lokalhelden: Art House

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Sometimes the -erei ending gives a word a more negative or dismissive connotation, especially when referring to repeated or excessive behavior. For example, das Kleckern is a neutral word for spilling, but die Kleckerei suggests a messy or annoying situation:

Dann wird Kleckerei zur Schweinerei .

Then a spill becomes a mess.

Caption 16, Weihnachtslieder: In der Weihnachtsbäckerei

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Further Learning
In addition to finding these examples on Yabla German, see if you know the following nouns: die Brauerei, die Fleischerei, die Metzgerei, die Molkerei, die Schneiderei, die Tischlerei, and die Wäscherei. 

Maybe you live in the Southern Hemisphere, where it's currently winter, but in Northern Germany spring has arrived. We're finally starting to get more sunshine! Der Sonnenschein  is a noun you probably know already, along with some other standards like die Sonnenbrille ("sunglasses," singular in German, by the way!) and die Sonnenblume  ("sunflower"). Let's take a look today at some less familiar compound nouns that use Sonnen- as the root word.

The sun comes up with der Sonnenaufgang:

Wir sind nie vor Sonnenaufgang nach Hause gegangen.

We never went home before sunrise.

Caption 9, Nicos Weg: So feiern wir!

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Hopefully it will be another sunny day (der Sonnentag)! Not be confused with the day of the week (Sonntag), as there are plenty of those with bad weather!

Steh gerade, kerzengerade, lache in den Sonnentag.

Stand up straight, straight as a candle, laughing on the sunny day.

Caption 19, DDR-Fernsehen: Die letzten Sendeminuten des DFF

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But with sunny days comes the danger of sunburn and long-term cancer risks from the rays of the sun: (der Sonnenstrahl, plural die Sonnenstrahlen):

...als die ersten Sonnenstrahlen durch die Wolken blitzten.

...as the first rays of sunshine flashed through the clouds.

Caption 48, Märchen,Sagenhaft: Der standhafte Zinnsoldat

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It's best to protect your skin with die Sonnencreme and der Sonnenschutz and keep under der Sonnenschirm in order to avoid die Sonnenstrahlung:

Aber bitte... benutzen Sie Sonnencreme.

But please... use sun screen.

Caption 52, Unser Universum: Die Sonne

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Auf ausreichenden Sonnenschutz achten, denn durch das Wasser ist die Sonneneinstrahlung nochmal stärker als an Land.
Make sure to wear sufficient sun protection, because the water makes the solar radiation even stronger than it is on land.
Captions 78-79, Stand Up Paddling: 5 typische Anfängerfehler

Hier habe ich einen Sonnenschirm

Here I have a parasol.

Caption 21, Deutschkurs in Tübingen Präpositionen und Artikel

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And then you can go sunbathing—usually expressed in German as ein Sonnenbad nehmen, but here they are "enjoying" sunbathing:

Eine Kolonie kalifornischer Seelöwen hat sich auf ihrem Felsen versammelt, um ein entspanntes Sonnenbad zu genießen.

A colony of California sea lions has gathered on their rock to enjoy a relaxing sunbath.

Captions 18-19, Evolution: Die Küsten

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And at long last, after a nice day enjoying the sunshine, comes der Sonnenuntergang:

Bei mir muss der Held am Schluss in den Sonnenuntergang reiten.

For me, the hero has to ride off into the sunset at the end.

Caption 57, Rheinmain Szene Unheilig: „Der Graf“

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Further Learning
Go to Yabla German and search for other words using Sonnen- as the root word. You can also go to the DWDS Dictionary and find a long list of words starting with Sonnen-. See if you can guess their meanings before you look them up!

You know how to count in German, and perhaps you've read our lesson on large numbers. But what about fractions and numbers with decimals? Let's first have a look at some fractions, called die Brüche or die Bruchzahlen in German. If you know how to tell time in German, some of these will be familiar.

Ein Pfund, das sind fünfhundert Gramm, also ein halbes Kilo.

A pound, that's five hundred grams, so half a kilo.

Caption 24, Nicos Weg: Mengen und Preise

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Etwa auf der Hälfte des deutschen Autobahnnetzes gilt kein allgemeines Tempolimit.

There is no general speed limit on about half of the German autobahn network.

Caption 3, AutoMotoTV: Schnell fahren auf der Autobahn

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In the two examples above, we can see that halb means "half" in German, and die Hälfte is correct in certain contexts as well. 

Außerdem können sich laut einer Umfrage über zwei Drittel der Deutschen, also die Mehrheit, vorstellen, durch ehrenamtliche Hilfe Flüchtlinge zu unterstützen.

In addition, according to a survey, over two-thirds of all Germans, that is, the majority, could imagine supporting refugees through voluntary aid.

Captions 28-29, Flüchtlingskrise: 10 Vorurteile, die nicht stimmen

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Drei Viertel aller großen Metropolen der Erde mit Einwohnerzahlen über zehn Millionen befinden sich in Küstengebieten.

Three-quarters of all major metropolises on Earth with populations of over ten million are located in coastal areas.

Captions 63-64, Evolution: Die Küsten

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After ein Drittel ("one-third") and ein Viertel ("one-fourth"), there is ein Fünftel, ein Sechstel, ein Siebtel, ein Achtel, ein Neuntel, ein Zehntel... continuing up to ein Hunderstel and ein Tausendstel.

In anderthalb Jahren macht er seine Prüfung und ist dann Elektroniker.

In one and a half years, he'll take his test and then he'll be an electronics technician.

Caption 61, Deutsche Welle: Lieber Ausbildung als Studium

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Hier gilt ein Drohnenflugverbot im Umkreis von eineinhalb Kilometern zum Flughafen.

A drone flight ban within a radius of one and a half kilometers from the airport applies here.

Caption 18, Rhein-Main-TV Strengere Regeln: Lohnt sich eine Drohne überhaupt noch?

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As you can see, there are two ways to express "one and a half" in German. Numbers containing "one half" are always written as a single word: dreieinhalb is "three and a half." Now consider the following numbers and note what is capitalized: ein drei Viertel (one and three-quarters), zwei vier Fünftel (two and four-fifths), fünf sieben Achtel (five and seven-eighths). 

When it comes to numbers with decimals (die Dezimalbrüche), you may have noticed that Germans use a comma instead of a decimal point. So in English, we say "one point five" (written 1.5), while in German you would say eins Komma zwei (written 1,5). However, there are instances in both languages where the comma or decimal point won't be expressed verbally. Take a look:

In der Stadt leben rund drei Komma sieben Millionen Menschen.

Around three point seven million people live in the city.

Caption 11, Bundesländer und ihre Rezepte: Bundesland Berlin

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Achtunddreißig Komma sechs, das ist leichtes Fieber.

Thirty-eight point six, that's a slight fever.

Caption 25, Mein Weg nach Deutschland: Beim Arzt

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Er ist circa eins fünfzig groß, blonde, halblange Haare.

He's about one fifty tall [one hundred and fifty centimeters], blonde, medium-length hair.

Caption 53, Großstadtrevier: Nicht mit mir

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Further Learning
You can watch this video on Yabla German for a good overview. When you see a statistic that includes a decimal point in the news or elsewhere, see if you can quickly translate the number mentioned into German!