noun
remote control, remote
B1
Fernbedienung means remote control or remote. Feminine noun in German (die Fernbedienung), plural Fernbedienungen. Compound from Fern + Bedienung, used for TV and device controls. Regular declension with plural -ungen; dative plural den Fernbedienungen. Common household item; no irregular plural.
Examples
Die Fernbedienung liegt auf dem Sofa.
The remote control is on the sofa.
Die Kinder fanden die Fernbedienung, obwohl sie unter dem Sofa lag.
The children found the remote control even though it was lying under the sofa.
Wo ist die Fernbedienung für den Fernseher?
Where is the remote control for the TV?
Details
Mnemonics
Picture a small handheld device with buttons that changes the TV from across the room.
Break it into 'fern' (far) + 'bed' + 'union' — imagine a remote hidden under a fern by your bed.
die (feminine) — imagine the remote wrapped in a ribbon (a feminine gift) labelled 'die Fernbedienung'.
Notes
Common household item. In conversations you may simply say 'die Fernbedienung' or shorten it colloquially, but the full form is most common in writing.