das Flugzeug
airplane
Das Flugzeug (the airplane) is the standard German word for an aircraft. It is a neuter noun, so it takes das as its definite article, and the plural is die Flugzeuge. You'll see it in mit dem Flugzeug fliegen (to travel by plane) and das Flugzeug landet (the plane is landing).
The word is a compound of der Flug (flight) and das Zeug (stuff, gear, equipment), so it literally means "flight gear". The gender comes from the last part of the compound: because Zeug is neuter, the whole word is das Flugzeug. This rule, where the final element sets the gender, is one of the most reliable shortcuts in German. The same -zeug ending appears in das Spielzeug (toy) and das Werkzeug (tool), both neuter for the same reason.
In travel contexts you will meet a few set phrases. Ich nehme das Flugzeug means "I'm taking the plane", and am Flughafen means "at the airport". Note that Flughafen (airport) is masculine, der Flughafen, because it ends in Hafen (harbor).
The genitive singular is des Flugzeugs or des Flugzeuges, and the dative is dem Flugzeug. A common shorter synonym in casual speech is die Maschine (literally "the machine"), which pilots and frequent flyers often use to mean the aircraft.
Pronunciation: "FLUUK-tsoyk", with stress on the first syllable. The "eu" sounds like the "oy" in English "boy", and the final "g" is hardened to a "k" sound, as German does at the end of words.
Article / Gender
English
airplane
Singular
das Flugzeug
Plural
die Flugzeuge
das Flugzeug appears in the following vocabulary collections:
Das Flugzeug ist groß.
The airplane is big.
Simple nominative sentence with 'sein'.
Ich sehe das Flugzeug.
I see the airplane.
Direct object is in the accusative case.
Wir warten auf das Flugzeug.
We are waiting for the airplane.
Use 'auf' with accusative after 'warten'.
- What does Flugzeug mean in German?
- Flugzeug means "airplane" or "aircraft" in German. It is a compound of Flug (flight) and Zeug (gear), literally "flight gear". It is a neuter noun, so it takes das as its definite article.
- Is it der, die, or das Flugzeug?
- It is das Flugzeug. The noun is neuter because its final element, Zeug, is neuter, and in German compounds the last part decides the gender. The same applies to das Spielzeug (toy) and das Werkzeug (tool).
- What is the plural of Flugzeug?
- The plural is die Flugzeuge, formed by adding -e to the end with no umlaut. So one Flugzeug becomes two Flugzeuge.
- How do you say "by plane" in German?
- Mit dem Flugzeug, as in ich reise mit dem Flugzeug (I travel by plane). The preposition mit takes the dative case, which turns das Flugzeug into dem Flugzeug.
- How do you pronounce Flugzeug?
- Flugzeug is pronounced "FLUUK-tsoyk", with stress on the first syllable. The "eu" sounds like "oy" in "boy", and the final "g" hardens to a "k", a regular feature of German pronunciation at the end of words.