die Melodie
melody
A sequence of notes that forms a recognizable musical unit and is often the catchiest part of a piece of music.
EXAMPLE
Dieses Lied hat eine sehr schöne und eingängige Melodie.
This song has a very beautiful and catchy melody.
die Melodie
melody
die Melodie, die Melodien
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Meanings
Forms
Forms adapted from the German Wiktionary entry Melodie, by Wiktionary contributors, licence CC BY-SA 4.0.
At a glance
| gender | feminine die |
|---|---|
| plural | die Melodien |
| genitive | der Melodie |
The four cases
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | die Melodie | die Melodien |
| accusative | die Melodie | die Melodien |
| dative | der Melodie | den Melodien |
| genitive | der Melodie | der Melodien |
The article changes with the case; it is shown in colour.
Usage tips
International word
'Melodie' is an international word. It is very similar in many languages (e.g. English 'melody', French 'mélodie') and is therefore easy to recognize and understand.
EXAMPLE
Sogar ohne den Text zu verstehen, erkannte ich die Melodie sofort.
Even without understanding the lyrics, I recognized the melody immediately.
Typical verbs
You can not only hear or play a melody. In everyday language, it is often combined with verbs like 'summen' (to hum), 'pfeifen' (to whistle), or 'erkennen' (to recognize).
EXAMPLE
Er pfeift immer eine fröhliche Melodie, wenn er gute Laune hat.
He always whistles a cheerful melody when he's in a good mood.
Ich habe die Melodie im Kopf, aber mir fällt der Titel des Liedes nicht ein.
I have the melody in my head, but I can't remember the title of the song.
Typical adjectives
Common adjectives that describe a melody are 'eingängig' (catchy/easy to remember), 'einfach' (simple), 'bekannt' (well-known), 'traurig' (sad), or 'fröhlich' (cheerful).
EXAMPLE
Das Kinderlied hat eine sehr einfache Melodie.
The children's song has a very simple melody.
Compare with
Melodie vs Thema
topic / theme
A Melodie is a recognizable sequence of notes that forms an audible musical unit. A Thema is a melody or musical idea with a central function in the piece: it returns and is developed. For the sound itself, Melodie is the right word; when referring to this structural role, Thema is the better choice.
Melodie
Das Orchester spielt eine ruhige Melodie, die sofort erkennbar ist.
The orchestra plays a calm melody that is immediately recognizable.
Thema
Das Orchester spielt das Thema, das später verändert wiederkehrt.
The orchestra plays the theme, which returns later in an altered form.
In real life
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