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German as a Germanic language is less influenced by Latin than English so new words are just two words combined and the meaning can be easily inferred. Except sometimes.

Immer wieder is always again, again and again, frequently, so that is easy.

I'm stuck on »zuerst einmal«. How can first and once make first of all?

I'm advised to just learn it as it is but it won't connect to my brain unless I can see some kind of logic.

Danke!

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    It might be a fundamental hindrance to learning to try and deduce logic from a human language ;) It's also kind of not helping to try and simply literally translate words from standing expressions between languages and expect it to make sense. Some stuff you will simply have to swallow...
    – tofro
    May 23, 2021 at 8:20
  • Your argument German being "more" of a germanic language than English is flawed. English belongs to the same language group and the Latin influence you mention on the English language is just about the same level in German.
    – tofro
    May 23, 2021 at 8:29
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    @tofro: I think you're right in that Old English was about as "Germanic" as German, but since then English has borrowed much of its vocabulary from French, Latin, and other languages, while German has tended more to rely on home-grown roots. A typical example is "participate", which is borrowed from Latin, vs. teilnehmen, which translates the Latin into German components. Not that there aren't plenty of Latin words in German, but I think they tend to be restricted to technical jargon while Latin words in English are often more common. "Television" vs. Fernseher is another example.
    – RDBury
    May 23, 2021 at 18:36

2 Answers 2

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'Einmal' is not just an adverb but also a particle that is used to emphasize or modify a statement. To use the expression in a context:

Zuerst einmal ist 'einmal' nicht nur ein Adverb mit der Bedeutung 'ein [eventuell einziges] Mal' sondern auch ein Partikel das verstärkend, einschränkend oder schlicht satzbelebend eingesetzt werden kann.

The adverbial use is not restricted to describe a single time event but also like in 'es war einmal' ('once upon a time'), or to describe one side of a situation 'Zuerst einmal ..., dann aber auch ...'.

It depends on the context and what follows further down the sentence which interpretation of 'zuerst einmal ...' applies. Can be as simple as the first can only happen once.

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    See also DWDS, meaning III.
    – guidot
    May 23, 2021 at 10:40
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The German word »einmal« does not always mean »once« in the sense of »one times« (i.e. not twice). It sometimes has other meanings too:

There is the typical beginning of many fairy tales:

Es war einmal ein König, der hatte drei Töchter.
Once upon a time there was a king who had three daughters.

The meaning of the phrase »es war einmal« (»once upon a time«) is not, that it happen only one times (i.e. not twice or more often). I bet, there were other kings with three daughters too. The meaning is, that it happened sometimes in the past. And even in English you use the word »once« although you don't mean »only one times«.


Irgendwann einmal werden wir wieder gewinnen.
Someday we will win again.

With the phrase »irgendwann einmal« you don't say, that you will win only one more times in the future. Hopefully you win more often.


Von wenigen Ausnahmen einmal abgesehen haben alle Bewerber die Bedingungen erfüllt.
With a few exceptions, all applicants met the conditions.

When you are asked to overlook some exceptions, you are not asked to do this just exactly once. It just means, that there are some exceptions.


Ich muss erst einmal darüber nachdenken, bevor ich mich entscheide.
I have to think about it before I decide.

And here the speaker doesn't say, that they has to think about it just exactly 1 times. They just have to think about it.


Er war doch nicht einmal in der Nähe des Geschäftes. Wie kann er es da überfallen haben?
He was nowhere near the store. How could he have robbed it?

And again, it's not reported, that was not one times near the shop. The sentence means, that at the moment of the robbery he was not there.


And so, also in »zuerst einmal« the word »einmal« does not mean »one times«.

Do not learn »zuerst« and »einmal« as two separate words that by accident stand next to each other. Learn this phase how German native speakers use it: as one unit.

English also has phrases that mean something completely different than the single words might let you think. When an English native speaker asks you »what's up?« they are not interested in something that is above them. And when they ask »how is it going?« they are not interested in some mode of walking.

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  • As the other answer mentions, 'einmal' can be used for emphasis. In all your examples, 'einmal' can be omitted and the meaning is the same.
    – RalfFriedl
    May 23, 2021 at 8:57

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