Many parts of Europe, including Germany, are experiencing a heat wave of unprecedented scale this summer. The United Kingdom experienced temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) for the first time in recorded history! Let's talk today about the heat wave and other aspects of hot weather — hopefully with some nice, cool air conditioning running!

Die Folgen sind schon jetzt in allen Teilen der Welt sichtbar. Es gibt verheerende Waldbrände wie im Mittelmeerraum und im Westen der USA, Überschwemmungen wie in der Region Ahr und Erft im Juli 2021 und Hitzewellen wie in Sibirien.

The consequences are already visible in all parts of the world. There are devastating forest fires, such as in the Mediterranean region and in the western United States, floods, such as in the Ahr and Erft region in July 2021, and heat waves, such as in Siberia.

Captions 20-24, Klimaschutz: Es geht um das Überleben der Menschheit

 Play Caption

 

The noun for "heat wave" (or "heatwave" in British English) is die Hitzewelle. The caption above was referring to 2021, and though there aren't any comparable major floods in Germany so far in 2022, the wildfires in the western US and southern Europe are continuing this year.

banner PLACEHOLDER

Ja, was uns bleibt, ist auf jeden Fall das heiße Wetter.

Yes, what remains for us, is certainly the hot weather.

Caption 13, Umfragen: Nach der WM

 Play Caption

Unfortunately, for many of us in many parts of the world, this remains the case.

Du hast bestimmt noch nicht sehr viel Erfahrung mit Hitze.
You certainly don't have much experience with heat yet.

One problem with such hot weather (die Hitze) in Germany is that the infrastructure has not been designed to withstand these record high temperatures. Most homes and many shops, offices, and schools have no central air conditioning. It's hard enough sitting all day at work or in school when it's sunny outside, but imagine doing so drenched in sweat!

Man musste den Ventilator anstellen...

You had to turn on the fan...

Caption 30, Kinder lernen: wie aus Wind Strom gemacht wird

 Play Caption

Living on the upper floor of an apartment building (often in Europe with no elevator) is also excruciatingly hot. From personal experience, the only means of getting to sleep at night is often to turn on a fan (der Ventilator). Noisy, but less hot!

In Griechenland ist es im Sommer sehr heiß. Ich mag zwar Wärme, aber keine Hitze. Also dann... Schweden vielleicht?

In Greece, it is very hot in the summer. I like the warmth indeed, but not the heat. So then... Sweden perhaps?

Captions 37-39, Jenny: Reiseziele

 Play Caption

Warm weather, or "the warmth" (die Wärme), is indeed preferable to the heat. Jenny is right about Sweden, where I just spent a week in mid-July. It was pleasant mid-60s to mid-70s Fahrenheit temperatures, but I could have done without the constant rainstorms. Apparently, the high pressure from the Central and Southern European heat wave is causing more rain in Northern Europe. Depending on where you live, it seems there's either too much or too little summer this year!

Further Learning
Go to Yabla German and search for terms like "heat" and "weather" to find more videos relating to hot weather. If you're experiencing intense sunny weather where you live, be sure and read our previous German Lesson Safe Fun in the Sun.

This week we are going to review one aspect of telling the time in German that should be easy for intermediate and advanced German speakers, but a bit tricky for beginners. The telling of time in German uses quarterly divisions: Viertel (quarter), halb (half), and in some German dialects, drei viertel (three-quarters). 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

For 15 minutes past the hour, you use Viertel nach: 

Heute morgen um Viertel nach sechs ist die Nationalmannschaft in Frankfurt gelandet.

This morning at a quarter past six, the national team landed in Frankfurt.

Caption 16, Umfragen - Nach der WM

 Play Caption

For 15 minutes before the hour, you use Viertel vor: 

Es ist Viertel vor acht.

It is quarter to eight.

Caption 22, Lydia erklärt - die Uhrzeit

 Play Caption

In American English, when the clock reads 1:30, it is called "one thirty", but the informal British English equivalent is "half one." For native British English speakers, the German rendering of 1:30 can be especially confusing: 

Es ist jetzt halb eins.

It is now half one [twelve thirty].

Caption 23, Jenny zeigt uns - Das Heidelberger Schloss

 Play Caption

So as you see, the British English "half one" is 1:30, but the German halb eins is 12:30. You just have to remember that when halb is used in telling time, it is always going a half hour back in time.

In some German dialects, instead of saying Viertel vor, they say drei viertel or "three quarters." In dialect, 12:45 could be drei viertel eins instead of Viertel vor eins. 

Note too that for grammatical reasons, Viertel nach and Viertel vor are capitalized, but halb and drei viertel are not. It is also important to note that the word Uhr, in this context the equivalent of "o'clock," is not used when telling the time with time divisions. At 10 o'clock you say it is zehn Uhr, but at 10:15 you simply say it is Viertel nach zehn, omitting the word Uhr.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Further Learning
Watch the video Lydia erklärt - die Uhrzeit on Yabla German to review the proper telling of time in German.