What does “den Sonntag einen Sonntag sein lassen” mean in German?

Ein entspannter Sonntag, Sprachen und Lesen auf Deutsch

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B1 German listening practice · Standard German · Picked for people who know some

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den Sonntag einen Sonntag sein lassen
Everyday saying
Let Sunday be Sunday — switch off and just enjoy the day.

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.”

How common are the words?

How common are the words in this B1 German listening practice video?

93.1%
of words are in the top 2,000 most common German words
Most of the words in this video are common German words.

How common in written German

88.7%
Top 1,000
93.1%
Top 2,000
95.7%
Top 5,000

How common in spoken German

91.6%
Top 1,000
96.4%
Top 2,000
100%
Top 5,000

Harder words in this video

These words are harder than B1. Here is what they mean.

ela
2×
Not in top 5,000
(proper noun) Ela
beböckt
1×
Not in top 5,000
(fragment)
buchtitel
1×
Not in top 5,000
book title
corner
1×
Not in top 5,000
angle where lines meet
dehnen
1×
Not in top 5,000
to stretch, extend

Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-DE 2011 (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.

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