only

ˈoʊnli
Translation Definition
NEW

Translation of only into German,

Adverb

1.

single option

exclusively, without including others
  • She only invited her closest friends.Sie hat nur ihre engsten Freunde eingeladen.
2.

small amount

no more than, just
nur lediglich bloß
  • He only has five dollars left.Er hat nur noch fünf Dollar übrig.

Adjective

1.

singular

single in a particular situation
einzige alleinige
  • She was the only person at the meeting.Sie war die einzige Person bei der Besprechung.
2.

child

having no brothers or sisters
einziges alleiniges
  • He is an only child.Er ist ein Einzelkind.
3.

ranking

Dated
superior to all others
Dated
  • She is the only candidate for the job.Sie ist die einzige Bewerberin für die Stelle.
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Expressions with only: examples in English and translations in German

nur ein Scherz
nicht ernst gemeint
I said I was leaving, only joking.
wenn doch
wenn doch nur
If only I could fly.
sehr
äußerst
She was only too happy to help.
nur menschlich
Don't be too hard on him; he's only human.
war nur ein Witz
Relax, I'm only kidding about your shoes.
auf der Durchreise sein
vorbeikommen
I'm only passing through this town for the night.

Synonyms and analogies of only in English

Examples of only in a sentence

  • The club is only for members.
  • She only needs a minute to decide.
  • I only want a small piece of cake.
  • He trained for months, only to finish last in the race.
  • They invested heavily, only to see the project fail.
  • She only arrived this morning.

Translations of "only" in Context ordered by category and frequency

Adverb / Other
nuradv.

After the auction, only one valuable piece was left unsold.

Nach der Auktion war nur noch ein wertvolles Stück übrig geblieben.

erstadv.

I only copped on yesterday that the deadline had already passed.

Ich habe erst gestern gecheckt, dass die Frist schon vorbei war.

lediglichadv.

Please take my questions in good part; I'm only seeking clarity here.

Bitte nehmen Sie meine Fragen gelassen, ich möchte lediglich Klarheit gewinnen.

einzigadj./adv.

Her one and only dream is to travel the world someday.

Ihr einzig Traum ist es, eines Tages die Welt zu bereisen.

Adjective
geradeadj./adv.

He only scraped into the university after begging for reconsideration of his grades.

Er ist gerade noch in die Uni reingekommen, nachdem er um Neubewertung bat.

alleinigeadj.

Hence love is almost always the only mother of true lyricism.

Also ist die Liebe die beinahe stets alleinige Mutter der wahren Lyrik.

Noun
dasEinzelkindnn.

An only child can have a very close bond with their parents.

Ein Einzelkind kann eine sehr enge Bindung zu seinen Eltern haben.

Explore more translations and examples on Reverso Context

only: Examples and translations in context

I have only five books left to read this month.

Ich habe diesen Monat nur noch fünf Bücher zu lesen.

You can have dessert only after you clear your plate at dinner.

Du bekommst erst Nachtisch, wenn du abends deinen Teller leer isst.

He began painting seriously only in the autumn of his life.

Er begann erst im Herbst seines Lebens ernsthaft zu malen.

I only tumbled to what the symbols meant after the lecture ended.

Ich habe erst nach dem Vortrag kapiert, was die Symbole bedeuteten.

The party only built up steam after midnight, when everyone arrived.

Die Party gewann erst nach Mitternacht an Schwung, als alle ankamen.

The new strategy was approved only after discussion among senior management.

Die neue Strategie wurde erst nach eingehender Diskussion in der Chefetage freigegeben.

The project only succeeded once everyone started singing from the same page.

Das Projekt wurde erst erfolgreich, als alle am selben Strang zogen.

Democracy took root in the region only after several difficult political transitions.

Die Demokratie schlug in der Region erst nach mehreren schwierigen Übergängen Wurzeln.

See also:

Browse the dictionary entries starting with “o”:
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