German adverb · CEFR B1
nämlich
Meaning in English: namely, you see, because
Example
Ich kann nicht kommen, ich bin nämlich krank.
I can't come; I'm ill, you see.
How common is nämlich?
nämlich is number 1,005 of the 5,000 most common German words. In the texts the list is counted from it appears 89 times per million words — about once every 11,000 words.
Know every word down to this one and you recognise about 64% of the words in an ordinary German text. B1 means an intermediate word, typical of the B1 exam.
Next to it in the frequency list
- 1,001der Hintergrundbackground
- 1,002folgendenfollowing
- 1,003Gruppengroups
- 1,004losoff, going on, wrong
- 1,005nämlichnamely, you see, because
- 1,006entschiedendecided
- 1,007die Verarbeitungprocessing
- 1,008stimmento be right, to vote
- 1,009gezeigtshown
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.