nounnounnoun

der Rat, ¨-e

advice

Eine Gruppe von Personen, die zusammenkommt, um über wichtige Dinge zu sprechen und Entscheidungen zu treffen.

Definition & meaning

Rat has two main meanings in German:

Advice or counsel
It is a recommendation or helpful guidance intended to assist someone in making a decision or solving a problem.
- Ich brauche deinen Rat. — “I need your advice.”
- Sie gab mir einen guten Rat. — “She gave me good advice.”
In this meaning, the usual plural is die Ratschläge or, less commonly, die Rate .
Council or governing body
It can refer to an official group that makes decisions, especially in politics, administration, or an institution.
- Der Stadtrat beschloss neue Regeln. — “The city council adopted new rules.”
- Der Rat der Europäischen Union — “The Council of the European Union”
In this meaning, the plural is die Räte .

Grammar & Word origin

Gender: masculine
Article: der
Singular: der Rat
Plural:
- die Ratschläge or die Rate = pieces of advice
- die Räte = councils or council members

Rat is related to the verb raten , meaning “to advise” or “to guess.” It comes from Old High German rāt, meaning advice, counsel, or deliberation. The modern word is not normally analyzed as consisting of separate productive parts.

Synonyms & antonyms

Meaning “advice”

der Ratschlag — a specific piece of advice; often more explicit and practical than Rat.
die Empfehlung — a recommendation, often based on preference, experience, or evaluation.
der Tipp — an informal tip or useful hint.
der Hinweis — a hint or indication; it may provide information without directly advising someone.

Possible opposites include:

die Warnung — a warning rather than positive guidance.
die Irreführung — misleading someone instead of helping them.
der schlechte Rat [?](vocabuo://word/schlechte Rat) — bad advice; this is a contextual opposite rather than a direct lexical antonym.

Meaning “council”

das Gremium — a committee or official decision-making body; it is broader and does not necessarily have the specific meaning of Rat.
die Kommission — a commission, usually formed for a particular task.
der Ausschuss — a committee, often a smaller specialized body.

There is no exact general antonym for Rat meaning “council.” Depending on the context, die Einzelentscheidung or die Alleinherrschaft can express decision-making without a council.

Common phrases & collocations

jemandem einen Rat geben — to give someone advice
jemanden um Rat bitten — to ask someone for advice
Rat suchen — to seek advice
guten Rat geben [?](vocabuo://word/guten Rat) — to give good advice
guter Rat ist teuer [?](vocabuo://word/guter Rat ist teuer) — good advice is hard to come by
mit Rat und Tat zur Seite stehen [?](vocabuo://word/mit Rat und Tat zur Seite stehen) — to support someone with advice and practical help
der Stadtrat — city council
der Gemeinderat — municipal or local council
der Aufsichtsrat — supervisory board
der Rat der Europäischen Union [?](vocabuo://word/Rat der Europäischen Union) — Council of the European Union