allein

German

Alternative forms

  • alleine (chiefly colloquial, only occasionally in formal writing)

Etymology

From Middle High German al-ein. Cognate with Middle English al-one, English alone, Dutch alleen, Low German alleene (Münsterländisch), alläine (Sauerländisch).[1]

Pronunciation

  • (Standard German)
    • IPA(key): /(ʔ)aˈlaɪn/
  • (Swabian)
    • IPA(key): /(ʔ)əˈlɔɪ̯/
  • Audio (Austria):(file)
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -aɪ̯n

Adjective

allein (indeclinable, predicative only)

  1. (only predicative) alone
    Er ist ganz allein.
    He is all alone.

Adverb

allein

  1. alone
    Er schrieb das Buch allein.
    He wrote the book alone.
    Allein im Jahr 2012 starben 500 Menschen an der Krankheit.
    In 2012 alone, 500 people died from the illness.
  2. (formal, literary) only
    Allein ein Wunder kann uns noch helfen.
    Only a miracle can help us now.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Conjunction

allein (coordinating)

  1. only, but
    • 1909 [1901], Thomas Mann, chapter 1, in Buddenbrooks [] [1], Berlin: Deutsche Buch-Gemeinschaft, →OCLC, part 8, page 425:
      Sie war entrüstet, empört, in ihren heiligsten Gefühlen beleidigt; allein das änderte nichts …
      She was shocked and outraged in her deepest sensibilities—but that did not mend matters.

See also

References

  1. ^ Friedrich Kluge (1883) “allein”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891

Further reading

  • allein” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache