What does “ewige Profess” mean in German?

Leben als Ordensschwester: Entscheidung für ein anderes Glück

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

💡 Did you know?
ewige Profess
Religious vocabulary
A nun’s final, lifelong vow — a permanent promise to God.

A young woman explains why she joined a convent: “Bei der ewigen Profess verheiraten wir uns sozusagen ewig mit Jesus.” The ewige Profess is the final vow a nun takes — a lifelong promise, like a wedding to God. Ewig means “forever,” so this is the version that never ends. She adds sozusagen (“so to speak”) because she knows that “marrying Jesus” sounds strange to people outside the convent, and she says it with pure joy.

Spoken line: “Also bei der ewigen Profess verheiraten wir uns sozusagen ewig mit Jesus.” — “So with the lifelong vow, we marry ourselves to Jesus forever, so to speak.” • Profess is the vow a nun or monk makes; the ewige (forever) one is the final, lifelong commitment. • Ewig means “eternal / forever”: “ein ewiges Versprechen” = “a promise for life.” • sozusagen = “so to speak / in a way.” People use it to soften a bold or surprising image, exactly as she does here. • Heads-up: “verheiraten” usually means “to marry off / get married”; here she uses it as a picture, not a real wedding.

How common are the words?

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

89.1%
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

82.8%
Top 1,000
89.1%
Top 2,000
98.4%
Top 5,000

How common in spoken German

87.1%
Top 1,000
95.2%
Top 2,000
100%
Top 5,000
👄 Words for talking
This video uses words people often say in German.

Harder words in this video

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

profess
1×
Not in top 5,000
(fragment) professor
verheiraten
1×
Not in top 5,000
marry (transitive), get married
zimmern
1×
Not in top 5,000
to carpenter/build

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

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