How often
immer, oft, manchmal, selten, nie — and where they sit.
Five words cover almost everything you need to say about how often something happens.
| word | meaning | roughly |
|---|---|---|
| immer | always | 100% |
| oft | often | ~75% |
| manchmal | sometimes | ~50% |
| selten | rarely | ~15% |
| nie | never | 0% |
They usually sit just after the conjugated verb, or right after the subject if the subject has been pushed behind the verb. Like anything else, they can also take position 1 for emphasis.
Ich arbeite oft von zu Hause.
I often work from home.
Ich trinke morgens immer Kaffee.
I always drink coffee in the mornings.
time before frequency here
Am Wochenende spiele ich manchmal Videospiele.
At the weekend I sometimes play video games.
Ich fahre selten mit dem Zug.
I rarely go by train.
Ich esse nie Fleisch.
I never eat meat.
nie replaces nicht — do not use both
nie already means not ever. Adding nicht or kein on top is wrong: Ich esse nie Fleisch, never Ich esse nie kein Fleisch.
Ich oft arbeite von zu Hause.Ich arbeite oft von zu Hause.
A frequency word is not a position-1 element when the subject is already there — the verb still has to be second.
Words from this topic
- immeralways
- oftoften
- manchmalsometimes
- seltenrarely
- nienever
- jeden Tagevery day
- das Fleischmeat