Not that there's any shortage of things to complain about the last few years, but even in better times, Berliners are especially fond of complaining. In winter, it's always too cold outside, and as soon as it gets warm, it's always too hot! And with a recent court decision, which for the first time in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany has rendered the results of last September's Berlin elections null and void, everyone has to go in February 2023 and vote on the identical ballot again. Not only is that something to complain about, but since I recently moved out of Berlin, I won't even be able to take part in the revision election because I no longer meet the residential qualifications to be allowed to vote. So I stood in line for two and half hours to vote last September—only to have my vote rendered null and void. Not that I am complaining or anything!

Let's take a look today at some of the standard and slang German verbs for "to complain."

70 Prozent der Lehrer beschweren sich darüber, dass die sanitären Einrichtungen nicht gut sind.

70 percent of teachers complain about the fact that the sanitary facilities are not good.

Captions 13-14, heute-show: Hazel Brugger will Lehrerin werden

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Aber er wagte es nicht, sich über die harte, langweilige Arbeit zu beschweren.

But he didn't dare complain about the hard, boring work.

Caption 8, Märchen - Sagenhaft: Der Zauberlehrling

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As you see above, one of the most common German proper verbs that means "to complain" is the reflexive verb sich beschweren.

Ja, und die jammern nicht, die klagen nicht...

Yes, and they don't whine, they don't complain...

Caption 23, Umwelt und Natur: Wo sind all die Bienen hin?

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Lerne warten, ohne zu klagen.

Learn to wait without complaining.

Caption 26, Piggeldy und Frederick: Der Esel

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The slang verb jammern is also often translated as "to complain." Be careful with the verb klagen, however, as it can also mean "to sue" or "to file a lawsuit."

Vielleicht reklamiert sie was.

Maybe she's issuing a complaint.

Caption 12, Großstadtrevier: Nicht mit mir

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The verb reklamieren is an official kind of complaint, and means more than just complaining verbally. It can also mean to return a product you have purchased: Ich habe den Fernseher reklamiert means "I returned the television."

Ich beklagte mich beim Kellner über das kalte Essen.
I complained to the waiter about the cold food.

And yet another reflexive verb, sich beklagen, is often translated as "to complain." Let's move on now to some more slang words for "to complain," not forgetting the verb jammern mentioned above.

Von uns Westberlinern wird gesagt, dass wir nur meckern.

People say about us West Berliners that all we do is complain.

Caption 51, heute-show: 30 Jahre Mauerfall

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Und daran gibt es nichts zu meckern.

And there's nothing to complain about there.

Caption 25, Die letzten Paradiese: Die Schönheit der Alpen

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The slang verb meckern can also, depending upon the context, be translated as "to grumble," "to whine," and occasionally "to scold."

Sie gruben und schaufelten, buddelten und hievten, knurrten und murrten, ächzten und stöhnten, aber den Topf voller Geld, den fanden sie nicht.

They dug and shoveled, burrowed and heaved, growled and grumbled, moaned and groaned, but the pot full of money—they didn't find it.

Captions 49-51, Märchen - Sagenhaft: Die drei Brüder

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The verb knurren, often translated as "to growl," and the verb murren, often translated as "to grumble" or "to mumble," are also sometimes translated as "to complain." Only the verb knurren is considered to be slang, however.

Further Learning
Look up the verbs you learned today on Yabla German and see how they are variously translated in different contexts:

(sich) beklagen
(sich) beschweren
jammern
klagen
knurren
meckern
murren
reklamieren

Remember that the word search will sometimes work better if you just search for the verb's root and an asterisk (murr* for murren) because then you can find videos with different tenses.

German, like many languages, uses a lot of idioms referring to animals. You've probably heard the English expression "I'm hungry as a horse" or the term "snail mail." What these expressions have in common in all languages is that they refer to some quality that is associated in that culture with a specific animal: Horses eat a lot of food and snails move very slowly—always compared to humans, of course. Let's take a look today at some German animal expressions.

Wohl aufs falsche Pferd gesetzt, hm?

Probably bet on the wrong horse, hm?

Caption 19, Marga Engel schlägt zurück Der Engel von Leipzig

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This one is easy, because English has the same saying with the same meaning: "to make a wrong decision," or "to support something that failed." It comes from racetrack betting or investing in a racehorse.

Wisst ihr, was ich der blöden Kuh gesagt habe?

Do you know what I said to the stupid cow?

Caption 28, Weihnachtsfilm Ein Sack voll Geld

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Cows are always being accused of being stupid, but since it's usually male humans who call women "stupid cows," perhaps it's really such men who are stupidly sexist. Thankfully, this awful expression in English is mostly confined to Britain, an island just outside of Europe. Sadly, the Germans seem to have adopted it—though perhaps it was the Germanic Saxons who first introduced it to Britain after all!

Sind die dummen Esel die Menschen und die richtigen Esel die Tiere?

Are the dumb donkeys the people and the real donkeys the animals?

Caption 15, Piggeldy und Frederick Der Esel

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If you call somebody an Esel in German, it means you think they are stupid or stubborn, similar to the English phrase "as stubborn as a mule." Mules are half donkey and half horse, of course. Piggeldy is making the point that perhaps it's humans who are dumb, and not donkeys. But of course Piggeldy is only a cartoon pig. Speaking of which...

„Wir haben ganz schön Schwein gehabt", sagte Frederick,

"We were very lucky," said Frederick,

Caption 33, Piggeldy und Frederick Reise nach Schweinebrück

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The literal translation of Schwein haben is "to have a swine" (or "pig"), but it means "to be very lucky." The saying apparently comes from old German festivals of marksmanship, where the worst shot was given a piglet as a consolation prize. So despite Schwein being a common German insult, the pig was considered a valuable possession in earlier times and thus meant business income and luck.

„Gibt es viele arme Schweine?“, fragte Piggeldy.

"Are there lots of poor swine?" Piggeldy asked.

Caption 21, Piggeldy und Frederick Arm

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Piggeldy, a cartoon pig, is literally asking if there are a lot of "poor swine" in the world. The joke intended here is that armes Schwein, figuratively spoken, means a person who is worthy of sympathy, as something bad has happened to them. Thus, Piggeldy is also asking if there are a lot of unfortunate people. It's similar to the English expressions "poor bastard," "poor wretch," or "poor devil."

Further Learning
Go to Yabla German and watch the above videos to get a better idea of the contexts in which they have been used. And remember, it's rude to call somebody a blöde Kuh, but it can show sympathy if you call somebody an armes Schwein. Funny isn’t it, how in German, calling somebody a pig can be a nice thing!

Whether you visit Germany in the future and bump into someone in a train station, or accidentally interrupt someone in an online class or meeting, it's important to know how to excuse yourself or apologize in German to an appropriate degree. 

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First, you need to know (and learn to pronounce!) the word Entschuldigung and the verb sich entschuldigen. As you can see in the following two examples from Nicos Weg, our series for beginners, Entschuldigung can mean either "excuse me" or "sorry" depending on the context.

Entschuldigung, wen suchen Sie? -Lisa Brunner.

Excuse me, who are you looking for? -Lisa Brunner.

Caption 4, Nicos Weg - A1 Folge 39: Wo ist der Aufzug?

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Ach, Nico, Entschuldigung, ich komme viel zu spät.

Oh, Nico, sorry, I'm much too late.

Caption 27, Nicos Weg - A1 Folge 35: Wann spielen wir?

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Occasionally, you may hear the word Verzeihung used to apologize. This is a bit more formal.

„Oh, Verzeihung, mein Herr!", sagte Frederick.

"Oh, excuse me, sir!" said Frederick.

Caption 37, Piggeldy und Frederick - Der Esel

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To apologize for something more serious than just being late or interrupting someone, the phrase Es tut mir leid is used to say "I'm sorry." It can also be used to express sympathy.

Es tut mir wirklich leid, das zu hören, Frau Hoffmann,

Ms. Hoffmann, I'm very sorry to hear

dass es Ihren Kindern nicht gut ging.

that your children aren't doing well.

Captions 48-49, Berufsleben - Probleme mit Mitarbeitern

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The phrase Mein herzliches Beileid is used to express sympathy in the face of loss. Be careful not to get it mixed up in any way with the verb beleidigen, which means "to insult."

Herzliches Beileid, Lilly.

Heartfelt condolences, Lilly.

Caption 4, Lilly unter den Linden - Kapitel 1: Im Krankenhaus

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Wenn man etwas durch die Blume sagt, dann bedeutet das,

If you say something through the flower, then it means

dass man sein Gegenüber nicht beleidigen möchte.

that you don't want to insult the other person.

Captions 7-8, Eva erklärt - Sprichwörter

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If you have unintentionally insulted someone or made a decision that affected someone adversely, you can also express regret with the verbs bereuen and bedauern.

Bereut er den Entschluss, sein Studium abgebrochen zu haben?

Does he regret the decision to have broken off his university studies?

Caption 62, Deutsche Welle - Lieber Ausbildung als Studium

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Doch, doch! Obwohl ich noch immer bedauere, dass

Yes, yes! Although I still regret that

er damals nicht zu mir in die Firma gekommen ist.

that he didn't join me in the company back then.

Captions 20-21, Die Pfefferkörner - Endspurt

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Further Learning
Search for Entschuldigung, the verb sich entschuldigen, and the imperatives Entschuldigen Sie (formal) and Entschuldige (informal) on Yabla German to hear all of these options used in context. You can also look up the verb verzeihen. This is the best way to get an understanding of which expression is right for a particular kind of situation.