die Güte
goodness
The quality of being kind, benevolent, and forgiving toward other people.
EXAMPLE
Sie ist bekannt für ihre unendliche Güte und Hilfsbereitschaft.
She is known for her endless goodness and willingness to help.
die Güte
goodness / quality
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Meanings
die Güte
quality
The quality or value of a product or thing. This is often divided into quality grades.
EXAMPLE
Diese Kartoffeln sind von erster Güte.
These potatoes are of the highest quality.
meine Güte
my goodness
An exclamation of astonishment, surprise, or mild annoyance.
EXAMPLE
Meine Güte, hast du mich erschreckt!
My goodness, you scared me!
Usage tips
Word family
The noun 'die Güte' (goodness/quality) is derived directly from the adjective 'gut' (good). This transformation with an umlaut (u → ü) and the ending '-e' is a typical pattern for forming abstract nouns from adjectives.
EXAMPLE
Ein gutes Produkt hat eine hohe Güte.
A good product has high quality.
Fixed expression
The expression 'meine Güte' (my goodness) is a fixed idiom. It is used as an exclamation to express surprise, astonishment, or mild annoyance, and it often appears at the beginning of a sentence.
EXAMPLE
Meine Güte, ist das aber teuer!
My goodness, that is expensive!
Usage pattern
To describe the quality of something, 'Güte' (quality) is often used in the fixed structure 'von ... Güte' (of ... quality). The degree of quality is described by an adjective.
EXAMPLE
Der Wein ist von ausgezeichneter Güte.
The wine is of excellent quality.
Sentence structure
In formal language, there is the construction 'die Güte haben, etwas zu tun' (to have the kindness to do something). It is a very polite way to ask someone to do something or to thank someone for a kind action.
EXAMPLE
Hätten Sie die Güte, das Fenster zu schließen?
Would you be so kind as to close the window?
Compare with
Güte vs Qualität
quality
Qualität and Güte can both refer to the value of a product. Qualität is the more general term and can refer to all of its characteristics. Güte explicitly evaluates it and is used more often in technical language, especially for measurable quality levels or levels divided into grades.
Güte
Das Labor bestimmt die Güte des Stahls für die Einteilung in eine Güteklasse.
The laboratory determines the quality of the steel so it can be assigned to a quality grade.
Qualität
Der Käufer prüft die Qualität des Stahls vor der Bestellung.
The buyer checks the quality of the steel before placing the order.
In real life
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