Safe Fun in the Sun

Maybe you live in the Southern Hemisphere, where it's currently winter, but in Northern Germany spring has arrived. We're finally starting to get more sunshine! Der Sonnenschein is a noun you probably know already, along with some other standards like die Sonnenbrille ("sunglasses," singular in German, by the way!) and die Sonnenblume ("sunflower"). Let's take a look today at some less familiar compound nouns that use Sonnen- as the root word.

The sun comes up with der Sonnenaufgang:

Wir sind nie vor Sonnenaufgang nach Hause gegangen.

We never went home before sunrise.

Caption 9, Nicos Weg: So feiern wir!
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Hopefully it will be another sunny day (der Sonnentag)! Not be confused with the day of the week (Sonntag), as there are plenty of those with bad weather!

Steh gerade, kerzengerade, lache in den Sonnentag.

Stand up straight, straight as a candle, laughing on the sunny day.

Caption 19, DDR-Fernsehen: Die letzten Sendeminuten des DFF
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But with sunny days comes the danger of sunburn and long-term cancer risks from the rays of the sun: (der Sonnenstrahl, plural die Sonnenstrahlen):

...als die ersten Sonnenstrahlen durch die Wolken blitzten.

...as the first rays of sunshine flashed through the clouds.

Caption 48, Märchen,Sagenhaft: Der standhafte Zinnsoldat
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It's best to protect your skin with die Sonnencreme and der Sonnenschutz and keep under der Sonnenschirm in order to avoid die Sonnenstrahlung:

Aber bitte... benutzen Sie Sonnencreme.

But please... use sun screen.

Caption 52, Unser Universum: Die Sonne
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Auf ausreichenden Sonnenschutz achten, denn durch das Wasser ist die Sonneneinstrahlung nochmal stärker als an Land.
Make sure to wear sufficient sun protection, because the water makes the solar radiation even stronger than it is on land.
Captions 78-79, Stand Up Paddling: 5 typische Anfängerfehler

Hier habe ich einen Sonnenschirm

Here I have a parasol.

Caption 21, Deutschkurs in Tübingen Präpositionen und Artikel
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And then you can go sunbathing—usually expressed in German as ein Sonnenbad nehmen, but here they are "enjoying" sunbathing:

Eine Kolonie kalifornischer Seelöwen hat sich auf ihrem Felsen versammelt, um ein entspanntes Sonnenbad zu genießen.

A colony of California sea lions has gathered on their rock to enjoy a relaxing sunbath.

Captions 18-19, Evolution: Die Küsten
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And at long last, after a nice day enjoying the sunshine, comes der Sonnenuntergang:

Bei mir muss der Held am Schluss in den Sonnenuntergang reiten.

For me, the hero has to ride off into the sunset at the end.

Caption 57, Rheinmain Szene Unheilig: „Der Graf“
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Further Learning
Go to Yabla German and search for other words using Sonnen- as the root word. You can also go to the DWDS Dictionary and find a long list of words starting with Sonnen-. See if you can guess their meanings before you look them up!