grüner Tee
masculine
grüner Tee is the German phrase for "green tea".
The phrase refers to the drink known as green tea.
Meaning: drink (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
This is a literal translation of "green tea", where grüner is the inflected adjective for "green" and Tee is the noun for "tea".
How does it change in a sentence?
The default form grüner Tee is used when the phrase is the subject of the sentence (nominative). However, the form changes to grünen Tee when it is the direct object of a sentence, such as after verbs like trinken (to drink) or bestellen (to order).
Did you know?
- While 'grüner Tee' refers to the drink, Germans often use the word Tee to mean 'herbal infusion' in general, even if the drink contains no actual tea leaves.
- In Germany, grüner Tee is frequently served as a 'wellness' drink in spas and saunas to aid detoxification.
- The word Tee sounds almost identical to the English 'tea', but its historical journey through the Dutch word 'thee' makes it a linguistic cousin rather than a direct loan from English.
Examples in context
- Dieser Tee nennt sich grüner Tee.This tea is called green tea.This sentence is useful for identifying the name of the tea using grüner Tee.Tatoeba #341685 by MUIRIEL, translation #61268 by CM
Example conversation
Sarah and Maximilian are at a cafe.
- SarahWas möchtest du bestellen, Maximilian?What would you like to order, Maximilian?
- MaximilianIch hätte gerne einen grüner Tee.I would like a green tea.
- SarahMöchtest du Zucker in deinen Tee?Would you like sugar in your tea?
- MaximilianNein, danke, ich trinke ihn pur.No, thanks, I drink it plain.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “green tea” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries Tee, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
