Breakdown of Ich habe frei. Schönes Wochenende!
ich
I
haben
to have
frei
free / off
Schönes Wochenende
have a nice weekend
Questions & Answers about Ich habe frei. Schönes Wochenende!
Why does the German sentence use habe instead of bin for "I am off"?
In English, you say "I am off work" or "I am free". But in German, when you have time off from work or school, you use the verb haben (to have) and say ich habe frei. If you said ich bin frei, Germans would think you mean you were just set free from prison or captivity!
Why is there an -es at the end of Schönes?
Wochenende is a neuter noun (das Wochenende). Because this shortened greeting leaves out the article (like das or ein), the adjective schön (nice) has to step up and show the neuter gender by taking the -es ending.
Is Schönes Wochenende a complete sentence?
Not grammatically, but it is a very common everyday greeting. Just like English speakers shorten "I hope you have a nice weekend" to just "Have a nice weekend!", Germans shorten the full phrase Ich wünsche dir ein schönes Wochenende (I wish you a nice weekend) to just Schönes Wochenende!
How is the word Wochenende built?
It is a compound noun made by combining die Woche (the week) and das Ende (the end), joined by an extra -n-. In German, compound nouns always take the grammatical gender of their final piece, which is why it is das Wochenende.
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