monate

Monate is the plural form of Monat in German, meaning months. It is used to refer to the twelve divisions of the year in calendars and date expressions, and to talk about time spans measured in months, such as “in den letzten Monaten” or “für mehrere Monate.” In everyday language the phrase “die Monate des Jahres” is used to refer collectively to January through December.

Etymology and form: The word Monat denotes a calendar month and is capitalized as a noun in German. The plural form is Monate, and the regular definite article is die Monate. The term is closely tied to the concept of a month in the Gregorian calendar, and month names themselves are used in German as proper nouns: Januar, Februar, März, April, Mai, Juni, Juli, August, September, Oktober, November, Dezember.

Calendar context: In the Gregorian calendar, there are 12 months. Most months have 30 or 31 days, while February has 28 days in common years and 29 days in leap years. The months’ order and names are standard across German-speaking countries, and the word Monate appears in contexts ranging from scheduling and budgeting to historical timelines and literary descriptions.

Usage notes: Monate is commonly used when counting durations or referring to unspecified months, for example, “über mehrere Monate,” “in den kommenden Monaten.” When specifying a particular month, the month name is used in the singular form: der Januar, der Februar, etc.

See also: Calendar, Gregorian calendar, months of the year.