Sache

See also: sache, sachê, and sachè

German

Etymology

From Middle High German sache, from Old High German sahha, from Proto-West Germanic *saku, from Proto-Germanic *sakō.

Cognate with Bavarian Såch, German Low German Sake, Low German sake, Dutch zaak, Afrikaans saak, English sake, Danish sag, Swedish sak.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈzaxə/, [ˈzäχə] (Standard)
• IPA^(key): /ˈsaχɛ/ (Austria)
• Rhymes: -aχə
• Hyphenation: Sa‧che

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

Sache f (genitive Sache, plural Sachen, diminutive Sächlein n or Sächelchen n)

1. matter, affair, case, question, issue

   beschlossene Sache ― done deal

   Die Polizei untersuchte die Sache ohne Ergebnis.

   The police investigated the matter with no result.

2. thing, object

   Da ist noch eine Sache.

   There's one more thing (for me to say).

3. (law) thing, piece of property

   bewegliche Sache ― movable property

   unbewegliche Sache ― immovable property

   • Sachen im Sinne des Gesetzes sind nur körperliche Gegenstände.

     Only corporeal objects are things as defined by law.

4. cause, action
5. subject, matter, business

   Das ist Privatsache.

   That's a private matter.

   • 1960, Marie Luise Kaschnitz, Schneeschmelze:

     »Das tut nichts zur Sache«, sagte die Frau.

     "That's got nothing to do with it," said the woman.

6. (chiefly in the plural, colloquial) kilometres per hour

   Er raste mit hundert Sachen um die Ecke.

   He raced around the corner at 100 per.

Declension

Declension of Sache [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Sache	die	Sachen
genitive	einer	der	Sache	der	Sachen
dative	einer	der	Sache	den	Sachen
accusative	eine	die	Sache	die	Sachen

Derived terms

• abgekartete Sache (“put-up affair”)
• Ansichtssache (“matter of opinion”)
• beschlossene Sache (“done deal”)
• Hauptsache (“main thing”)
• Nebensache (“minor matter, minor point”)
• Privatsache (“private matter, private affair”)
• Sachbegriff (“subject heading”)
• Sachbuch (“non-fiction (book)”)
• sachdienlich (“pertinent, relevant, helpful”)
• sächlich (“neuter”)
• sachlich (“objective”)
• Tatsache (“fact”)
• Verschlusssache (“classified information”)

 

Descendants

• → Greater Polish: zacha
• → Kashubian: zacha
• → Slovincian: zacha

See also

• Ding
• Geraffel
• Zeug
• Gegenstand

Further reading

• “Sache” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Sache” in Duden online
• “Sache” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.
• Friedrich Kluge (1883) “Sache”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891

Hunsrik

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsaxə/

Noun

Sache f

1. plural of Sach

Pennsylvania German

Noun

Sache

1. plural of Sach