Relationship Words - Romantic Relationships

This week, we will look at words for indicating various types of romantic relationships.

First, let’s start off with marriage (die Ehe). Often, a person will refer to their husband simply as mein Mann or their wife as meine Frau. There are, however, more formal terms that you also might hear, in particular der Ehemann / die Ehefrau and der Gatte / die Gattin.

Und so lernte die Prinzessin ihren Ehemann kennen,

And this is how the Princess made her husband's acquaintance,

Caption 35, Märchen - Sagenhaft - König Drosselbart
Play Caption

Herr Blöhmann, helfen Sie Ihrer Gattin gelegentlich?

Mr. Blöhmann, do you occasionally help your spouse?

Caption 55, Loriot - Die Eheberatung
Play Caption

For long-term relationships where the marriage aspect is not necessarily relevant, there are a few words to know as well: der Lebensgefährte / die Lebensgefährtin and der Lebenspartner / die Lebenspartnerin.

Ich bin Corrys Geschäftspartner.

I am Corry's business partner.

-Aha. Und ich bin Corinnas Lebenspartner.

-Uh-huh. And I am Corinna's life partner.

Caption 49, Mama arbeitet wieder - Kapitel 2: Kompromisse zu finden ist nicht einfach
Play Caption

So far, most of the words have had an -in ending for the feminine versions. Note that this is different with der Verlobte ("the fiancé") and die Verlobte ("the fiancée"), as only the article changes. You may remember that this is similar for der Bekannte and die Bekannte ("the acquaintance").

As noted last week, der Freund / die Freundin can either refer to a friend or a girlfriend or boyfriend. It is necessary to notice the context in which the word is being used.

Ich würde mir wünschen, dass ich mit meinem Freund verheiratet wäre.

I hope that my boyfriend and I will be married.

Caption 56, Berufsleben - das Vorstellungsgespräch
Play Caption

Further Learning
If you missed last week's lesson on platonic relationships, you can look at it and other past lessons here. Memorize the vocabulary words from both lessons using flashcards, and practice constructing sentences with those that are most relevant for you.