German noun, masculine · CEFR A1
der Onkel
Meaning in English: uncle
Not one of the 5,000 most common words in written German, but part of the core vocabulary in our Family members in German list.
Example
Mein Onkel wohnt in Hamburg.
My uncle lives in Hamburg.
Der, die or das?
Onkel is masculine: der Onkel. How to tell the gender from the ending.
How common is Onkel?
In the news and web texts the list is counted from, Onkel appears 5.1 times per million words — about once every 190,000 words. That is below the cut-off: the last of the top 5,000 appears about 16 times per million.
A1 means a beginner word, usually met in the first weeks of learning.
Family: more words
- die Familiefamily
- die Elternparents
- die Muttermother
- der Vaterfather
- das Kindchild
- der Sohnson
- die Tochterdaughter
- der Bruderbrother
- die Schwestersister; nurse
- die Geschwistersiblings, brothers and sisters
- die Großelterngrandparents
- die Großmuttergrandmother
- der Großvatergrandfather
- die Omagrandma, granny
- der Opagrandpa, grandad
- der Enkelgrandson; grandchild
In these word lists
- Family members in German36 words
Translations, levels and examples were written with AI help and are awaiting review by a native speaker — how the list was made.