Small talk with coworkers: Chatting about the weekend on Monday morning

🇩🇪 Hiking is a hugely popular weekend pastime in Germany. It's a safe, relatable thing to mention in small talk.

💬 war ich ... wandern means "I went hiking". You use sein plus an activity left in its basic form. It works the same way with other activities: Ich war schwimmen "I went swimming", Ich war einkaufen "I went shopping".

💬 ihr is the casual "you" for a group, and it takes the verb form wart. Here it means the colleague plus their friends.

💬 bei plus a person means "at their place", much like French chez. The same pattern gives bei Anna "at Anna's" and beim Arzt "at the doctor's".

💬 When you talk about the past, ich war "I was" is used far more than any longer past form of sein. It covers both "I was" and "I've been".

💬 was here is a casual short form of etwas "something". After it, the describing word becomes a capitalised noun with -es: was Neues "something new".

🇩🇪 Afternoon coffee and cake, especially on Sundays with family, is a cherished German ritual. Mentioning it signals a cosy, quiet weekend.

💬 Germans drop Das from Das klingt gut in casual speech, the same way English drops "That". It works with other words too: Klingt super.

💬 geht's is geht es squeezed together, the same as in Wie geht's?. Es geht an ... is an idiom for "it's time to get on with ...".

🇩🇪 A drawn-out So at the start is the polite German signal that the chat is over. Expect people to head to their desks right after it.

🇩🇪 Mock-grumbling about work is a friendly bonding move here. It isn't actual complaining.

💬 bis "until" builds all sorts of goodbyes. You can swap in other times: bis morgen "see you tomorrow", bis gleich "see you in a bit".

💬 beim is bei dem squeezed together. Put it before a meal or activity to mean "during" or "at": beim Frühstück "at breakfast".

🇩🇪 Many offices eat lunch together around noon, often in the canteen. Saying yes to an invite like this is an easy way to build rapport with colleagues.

🇩🇪 Gerne is the warm way to accept an invitation or offer. It also works as "you're welcome" after danke.