WG (die Wohngemeinschaft): shared flat/ apartment

This word is mostly used in its abbreviated form WG and is very commonly used in the German speaking part of Switzerland/Germany to describe most 20 to 30-year- olds’ living situations. In Switzerland (Zurich) there are several websites that market available WGs.

The complete word is made up of 2 parts (Wohn + Gemeinschaft) which literally translate into ‘living community’. When you live together with others in a shared apartment, you’ll say ‘I live in a WG.’

Overview

Some say (Swiss) German isn’t a beautiful (let alone sexy) language. I beg to differ. While my relationship with German has had its ups and downs, I’ve learned to love it. While (Swiss) German’s hard guttural sounds sometimes seem harsh, I found many (Swiss) German words to have deeply beautiful, even philosophical, roots. By breaking these words apart, I have not only learned to love them more, I was able to make quick associations to be able to use them.