❓💨

How to Say ‘Have you passed gas?’ in German

Hatten Sie schon Winde?

HAH-ten zee shohn VIN-deh

[HAH-ten zee shohn VIN-deh]

💬 Usage Tip: Winde literally means "winds". It is the polite everyday word nurses use for passing gas, gentler than Blähungen "flatulence".

🇩🇪 In Germany: After abdominal surgery, nurses ask this daily because it shows the bowel is working again, which often decides when you can eat. Answer plainly; nobody finds it awkward.

Phrase Breakdown

Hatten Sie

HAH-ten zee

Have you had

'hatten' is the past tense of 'haben'. Use a short 'a': HAT-ten.

Example

Hatten Sie Schmerzen?

Did you have pain?

Words in this phrase

Hatten

[HAH-ten]

had

Past tense of 'haben'.

Example

Wir hatten Glück.

We were lucky.

Sie

[zee]

you (formal)

Formal second person singular pronoun.

Example

Können Sie mir bitte folgen?

Can you please follow me?

schon Winde?

shohn VIN-deh

passed gas yet?

'Winde' is the medical term for passing gas. 'schon' means 'already/yet'. Say VIN-de.

Example

Haben Sie schon gegessen?

Have you eaten yet?

Words in this phrase

schon

[shohn]

already

By this time; prior to a specified time.

Example

Er ist schon weg.

He is already gone.

Winde

[VIN-deh]

flatulence, gas

Medical/polite term for passing wind.

Example

Winde sind nach der Operation ein gutes Zeichen.

Passing gas is a good sign after surgery.

Guides for German learners

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