sonst

German

Etymology

From Middle High German sunst, Old High German sus (thus). Cognate with Hunsrik sunst, Old Saxon sus, Dutch zus.[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /zɔnst/ (official standard)
  • IPA(key): /zɔns/ (generally before a consonant; colloquially also in pausa)
  • (file)

Adverb

sonst

  1. otherwise (under different circumstances)
    Beeil dich, sonst kommen wir zu spät.
    Hurry up, otherwise we'll be late.
  2. normally, usually
    Ich trinke sonst nicht so viel.
    I don't normally drink so much.
  3. (often with noch) else
    Sonst noch etwas?
    Anything else?
  4. (colloquial) so; then; consecutive, but directed against an explicit or implicit alternative
    Wenn wir jetzt losgehn, sind wir eh zu spät. Sonst lass uns morgen noch mal wiederkommen.
    If we go there now, we’ll be late anyway. So [let’s not do that but instead] let’s come back again tomorrow.
    Wir gehn grad in die Stadt. Also, wenn du Lust hast... sonst komm doch mit!
    We’re headed for the city. So, if you’re interested... [maybe you’re not, but if you are] then come along!

Synonyms

Derived terms

References

  1. sonst in Kluge's Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, 1891

Further reading

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.