German adjective · CEFR A1

erste

Meaning in English: first

Rank 210 of 5,000adjectiveLevel A13 forms in the list
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Example

Das war meine erste Reise nach Asien.

That was my first trip to Asia.

Forms of erste in the top 5,000

These forms of erste are in the top 5,000 as well — German adds endings for gender, case and number:

ersten#122
firstA1

Am ersten Tag war ich sehr nervös.
I was very nervous on the first day.

erster#880
firstA1

Heute ist mein erster Tag im Büro.
Today is my first day at the office.

How common is erste?

erste is number 210 of the 5,000 most common German words. In the texts the list is counted from it appears 401 times per million words — about once every 2,500 words. Its most frequent form is ersten (#122).

Know every word down to this one and you recognise about 51% of the words in an ordinary German text. A1 means a beginner word, usually met in the first weeks of learning.

Next to it in the frequency list

  1. 206vierfour
  2. 207michme; myself
  3. 208stellento put, to place (upright)
  4. 209die Schuleschool
  5. 210erstefirst
  6. 211sagtsays
  7. 212beidenboth, the two
  8. 213Millionenmillions
  9. 214einmalonce; one time

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.