This week's lesson is dedicated to basic German business vocabulary. From news reports about the economy (die Wirtschaft) to videos that take place in office settings, there's quite a lot to be found on Yabla German. In this lesson, we have highlighted all business and workplace vocabulary.

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First of all, there are a number of words for "the business" or "the company":

Wir haben einen Vertrag mit der Firma.

We have a contract with the company.

Caption 36, Mülltrennung: in Heidelberg

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Er ist Geschäftsführer des Unternehmens.

He is the director of the company.

Caption 32, Sicherheit im Straßenverkehr: Versicherer entwickeln automatischen Notruf für alle Autos

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Um dies sicherzustellen, habe der Konzern die Frequenz der Belieferungen erhöht.

To ensure this, the group has increased the frequency of deliveries.

Caption 13, Coronavirus: Trotz Hamsterkäufen keine Versorgungsprobleme

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The word for business in general is das Geschäft. Above, you see the word der Geschäftsführer, which would be the director or CEO of a company. The word for "co-worker" is der Arbeitskollege or die Arbeitskollegin, or simply der Kollege or die Kollegin, which is how the employees (der Mitarbeiter or die Mitarbeiterin) at a company would describe each other. They would likely refer to the person they report to as der Chef or die Chefin, which (Achtung!) in German is not someone who works in a kitchen. 

Genau, ihre Kollegin, Frau Larsen, hat mir alles gezeigt, die ganzen Büros, und mir die Mitarbeiter vorgestellt.

Exactly, your colleague Ms. Larsen showed me everything, all the offices, and introduced me to the employees.

Captions 9-10, Das Lügenbüro: Die Bewerbung

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„Während ich an meinen Rechnungen saß, kam meine Chefin und hat mir noch mehr Aufgaben zugeteilt.“

"While I was sitting with my bills, my boss came and assigned me further tasks."

Captions 41-42, Eva erklärt: temporale Konnektoren

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In a company, "the department" is die Abteilung. Take a look:

Hier in der Personalabteilung ist eine Halbtagsstelle frei geworden.

A part-time job has become free here in the human resources department.

Caption 40, Berufsleben: Probleme mit Mitarbeitern

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Sie suchen nach jemandem für ihre Marketingabteilung.

They're looking for someone for their marketing department.

Caption 8, Berufsleben: das Vorstellungsgespräch

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In terms of finances and profits, here are some good words to know:

Meine Berechnungen für den zu erwartenden Absatz liegen Ihnen vor.

My calculations for the expected sales are lying in front of you.

Caption 55, Mama arbeitet wieder Kapitel 2: Kompromisse zu finden ist nicht einfach

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Siebenundvierzig Millionen Euro Umsatz hat die Messe in diesem Jahr gemacht.

The trade show made forty-seven million euros in gross revenue this year.

Caption 33, Agrarmesse Grüne Woche in Berlin

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Im letzten Jahr wurde ein Rekordergebnis von einundzwanzig-Komma-acht Millionen Euro Gewinn erzielt.

Last year a record result of twenty-one point eight million euros profit was achieved.

Captions 37-38, Fluglinien Niki Air

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Further Learning
On Yabla German, watch our Berufsleben series to listen to conversations taking place in an office setting.

The German noun die Stellung is usually defined as "position" in English. As in English, to know the specific meaning of the word, it is important to know the context in which it is used.

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In this short TV ad, a provocatively dressed woman makes the suggestion:

Dann gehen wir schon mal hoch, 'n paar neue Stellungen ausprobieren.

Then we'll go on up and try out a few new positions.

Caption 5, Klicksafe-Werbung - Wo ist Klaus?

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The "positions" she is referring to are the primary definition of Stellung in Duden, the German standard dictionary: to place the body in a particular posture.

In the next video, the speaker is referring to a celebrity who has been a patron of their non-profit activities:

Der Bülent hatte hier auch eine Stellung.

Bülent also had a position here.

Caption 65, Sallys Tortenwelt und Kochwelt - Backen mit Kindern & Auftritt bei Radio Rumms

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Here the Stellung being referred to is a job position or a role.

The word Stellung is also the first half of the word Stellungnahme, which means "statement" in the sense of a document that announces the position one is taking on a topic:

Grund für die Stellungnahme...

Reason for the statement...

Caption 21, Aufklärung der NSU-Verbrechen - SPD fordert Sonderkommission

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This week's new video "Mama arbeitet wieder" shows us an idiomatic use of Stellung:

Ich halte hier seit fünfzehn Uhr die Stellung.

I've been holding the position [idiom: taking responsibility] since three o'clock.

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

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A looser literary translation might use the American English idiom "holding down the fort" (just "hold the fort" in British English), a military phrase dating from the middle ages meaning to keep a military installation occupied to prevent enemy takeover. Apparently the US State Department was objecting to its use as politically incorrect a few years ago.

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Further Learning
Watch the above videos on Yabla German to get a better sense of the use of the noun die Stellung in real world context.