German adverb · CEFR B2
einst
Meaning in English: once, formerly
Example
Hier stand einst eine große Mühle.
A large mill once stood here.
How common is einst?
einst is number 1,966 of the 5,000 most common German words. In the texts the list is counted from it appears 47 times per million words — about once every 21,000 words.
Know every word down to this one and you recognise about 71% of the words in an ordinary German text. B2 means an upper-intermediate word, common in news and work.
Next to it in the frequency list
- 1,962ohnehinanyway, in any case
- 1,963reagierento react, to respond
- 1,964hoherhigh (inflected)
- 1,965trafmet, hit (past)
- 1,966einstonce, formerly
- 1,967die Beziehungrelationship, connection
- 1,968kleinsmall, little
- 1,969bestehendeexisting
- 1,970Bundesof the federation (genitive)
In these word lists
Translations, levels and examples were written with AI help and are awaiting review by a native speaker — how the list was made.