Vermieten und Mieten

I was riding the subway the other day when I read that Berlin is the city of apartment-hunters. Oh how true it is! That’s why we’re discussing today the difference between ‘vermieten und mieten‘.

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What’s that for you? Well, if you’re learning German and living in Germany, you should never miss these two words.

Because having an apartment or a place to live in Germany is crucial. If you don’t have an apartment, you don’t have a legal address too. Having a registered residence is mandatory in this country. In almost all official transactions, you have to put in your address.

So here you go…

Vermieten

to rent out

to let

to lease out

Examples:

Mein Haus ist bald nach der Renovierung verfügbar und ich würde es dann vermieten.

My house will be free soon after renovation and I would rent it out.

If you are the one renting out a place, you’re the landlord (Vermieter).

Landlords can be owners of the property (Eigentümer) too.

Wir vermieten die Wohnung an ein sympathisches Paar mit einem Hund.

We’re renting out the apartment to a friendly couple with a dog.

****Verb used – vermieten an (accusative) – to rent out to

Mieten

to rent

Examples:

Wir haben gerade ein kleines Haus in deiner Gegend gemietet.

We just rented a small house in your area.

If you’re renting the place, you are the tenant or ‘Mieter’ in German.

Zusammen mit meiner besten Freundin suche ich eine Wohnung zur Miete.

Together with my bestfriend, I’m looking for an apartment to rent.

****Words used – zur Miete – for rent

Why people mix up these two words?

Sometimes with the absence of one single word can make a lot of differences and one of these circumstances is how we often mistake vermieten and mieten or rent out and to rent in English.

So you won’t get confused every time you encounter these words, consider vermieten as something being given (rented/leased) out and mieten is something being taken.

Thus, Vermieter is the one lenting (renting) something out and the Mieter as the receiver (tenant).

It is also easy to remember that if you’re renting the place and you don’t own the place, you’re the renter.

Short dialogue relating to Vermieten and Mieten

Landlord: “Ich möchte meine Wohnung vermieten.” (I want to rent out my apartment.)

Apartment-hunter: “Wie viel möchtest du dafür mieten?” (How much do you want to rent it for?)

Landlord: “Ich denke, 800 Euro im Monat wäre angemessen.” (I think 800 euros per month would be reasonable.)

Apartment-hunter: “Das klingt vernünftig. Ich werde darüber nachdenken und mich bei dir melden.” (That sounds reasonable. I will think about it and let you know.)

More words and terms around vermieten and mieten

German	English
die Wohnungsagentur	real estate agency
die Miete	rent
Miete zahlen	to pay rent
der Mietvertrag	rental agreement
eine Wohnung aufgeben	to vacate a flat
der Untervermieter	subletter
die Kaution	security deposit
der Auszug	move-out
der Einzug	move-in
die Wohnungsbesichtigung	apartment viewing
die Kündigungsfrist	notice period
die Mietdauer	rental period
die Wohnungsübergabe	handover of apartment
Miete erhöhen	increase rent
die Wohnungsverwaltung	housing administration
Zimmer vermieten	to let rooms
Zimmer zur Verfügung	available rooms

Vermieten und Mieten – Can you remember?

This blog post focuses on vermieten and mieten and while the explanation is not so long like you used to have in universities, I do hope that you will remember these words and can tell the difference when you’re in Germany or living in Germany already.

If you want to know more about living in Germany or the process of looking for an apartment in Germany, let me know so I could write about it in the next blog post.

Danke!

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