Ein entspannter Sonntag, Sprachen und Lesen auf Deutsch
B1 German listening practice · German · Curated for intermediate learners
What does “den Sonntag einen Sonntag sein lassen” mean in German?
At the end of her slow Sunday, she says she’ll read a bit, cook something, and “den Sonntag einen Sonntag sein lassen.” It means: let Sunday be Sunday — stop pushing, drop the to-do list, and just take the day as it is. Germans use this kind of phrase to say: leave a thing alone and let it be what it is. Her tone is calm and content, not lazy — a quiet permission to rest.
Spoken line: “den Sonntag einen Sonntag sein lassen” — let Sunday be Sunday (just relax and enjoy it). The shape is “etwas etwas sein lassen” = leave something alone and let it be what it is. A few examples: - Lass den Sonntag einen Sonntag sein. — Let Sunday be a Sunday. Don’t fill it with work. - Wir lassen den Abend einen Abend sein. — Let’s just let the evening be the evening and take it easy. - Ich lasse die Arbeit heute Arbeit sein. — I’m leaving work as work today (not bringing it home). Note: “etwas sein lassen” on its own usually means “stop doing something” / “leave it” (Lass das sein! = Stop that!). The doubled “X ein X sein lassen” softens it into “let it just be what it is.”
Vocabulary frequency
How common is the vocabulary in this B1 German listening practice listening practice?
General German frequency
Spoken German frequency
Words above this video’s level
Quick glosses for vocabulary that goes beyond this video’s B1 level.
Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-DE 2011 (spoken). Buckets approximate; exact ranks not stored.