How do you say “Rain on someone’s parade” in German?
The closest natural German equivalent is jemandem die Freude verderben, which literally means “to spoil someone’s joy”. English speakers use rain on someone’s parade to mean to spoil someone’s pleasure, excitement or plans. A natural German match for spoiling someone’s pleasure. It keeps the effect but loses the rain image. Register: informal. Usage frequency: common.
Closest natural German
jemandem die Freude verderben
/ˈjeːmandəm diː ˈfʁɔʏdə fɛɐ̯ˌdɛʁbn̩/
- Literal meaning
- “to spoil someone’s joy”
- Register
- informal
- How often it's used
- common
- Equivalence
Near-exact equivalent
95 out of 100
What a native German speaker would actually say
“Ich will dir die Freude nicht verderben, aber…” introduces unwelcome news much like the English phrase. It can soften the warning, though it does not make it pleasant.
Name the source of the joy when needed: “die Freude an der Reise”. The phrase can describe actions as well as comments.
How close is the meaning?
- Meaning5 out of 5
- Tone4 out of 5
- Context5 out of 5
- Literal similarity1 out of 5
These ratings are editorial approximations, not measurements.
In context
English
I don’t want to rain on your parade, but that concert is already sold out.
German
Ich will dir die Freude nicht verderben, aber das Konzert ist schon ausverkauft.
English
She rained on my parade by pointing out how much the trip would cost.
German
Sie verdarb mir die Freude, indem sie darauf hinwies, wie viel die Reise kosten würde.
Related expressions
Last updated 2026-11-13