vacation / leave
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vacation
A period of time during which you do not go to work or school and can rest or travel. It refers to the time off work to which you are entitled by law or contract.
Dieses Jahr machen wir im August Urlaub am Meer.
This year we are taking a vacation by the sea in August.
The word 'Urlaub' (vacation / leave) historically comes from 'Erlaubnis' (permission). Originally, it was the permission from a lord for his knight or servant to leave. This origin explains why people still say 'Urlaub beantragen' (to request leave) or 'Urlaub bekommen' (to get leave) today.
Ich habe für nächste Woche Urlaub beantragt.
I requested leave for next week.
'Urlaub' (vacation / leave) is a noun that is almost always used in the singular, even when talking about a longer period of time or several trips. You do not say 'zwei Urlaube' (two vacations), but for example 'zweimal Urlaub' (vacation twice) or 'zwei Wochen Urlaub' (two weeks of vacation/leave).
Ich hatte dieses Jahr noch keinen Urlaub.
I haven't had any vacation yet this year.
Pay attention to the difference in prepositions: you go 'in den Urlaub' (on vacation; direction, accusative), but you are 'im Urlaub' (on vacation; state/location, dative).
Nächste Woche fahren wir endlich in den Urlaub.
Next week we're finally going on vacation.
Around the topic of 'Urlaub' (vacation / leave), there are fixed verb combinations: you 'hat' Urlaub (have vacation/leave; state), 'macht' Urlaub (go on vacation; activity), 'nimmt' Urlaub (take leave; decide to do so), or 'bekommt' Urlaub (get leave; permission).
Ich habe nächste Woche Urlaub.
I have vacation next week.
weekend
'das Wochenende' and 'der Urlaub' can both mean free time when you rest or do something enjoyable. The difference lies in the type of free time. 'das Wochenende' is normally Saturday and Sunday, so it is a regular part of the week. 'der Urlaub' is a longer or special period of time off that you get or take from work or school. Learners may confuse the words because you can also go away on the weekend. Still, you do not say 'Urlaub' if you only mean the normal weekend.
Herr Müller nimmt im August zwei Wochen Urlaub.
Mr. Müller is taking two weeks of vacation in August.
Am Wochenende besucht Lena ihre Eltern und bleibt bis Sonntagabend.
On the weekend, Lena visits her parents and stays until Sunday evening.