German Conversation · Level 2
87 words
German word
erste
Pronunciation
IPA/ˈeːɐ̯stə/
Meaning
- ordinal numberfirst
Example
Am ersten Tag war alles neu.
On the first day, everything was new.
More examples
Zum ersten Mal habe ich alleine gekocht.
I cooked by myself for the first time.
Core concept
A row of numbered doors with one marked as the point where the sequence begins.
Common phrases
am ersten Tag
on the first day
zum ersten Mal
for the first time
erste Hilfe
first aid
Similar words
zweite: Marks the second place in a sequence or the second day in a series.
dritte: Marks the third place in a sequence or the third day in a series.
Definition in German
Die Form des Ordinalworts für ‚eins‘, die vor einem Nomen verwendet wird, um anzuzeigen, dass etwas an erster Stelle steht.
Word origin
Erste is an inflected form of German erst, an inherited Germanic word related to English first through a common ancestor.
Usage tips
- Ordinal adjectives are normally lowercase before nouns, but erste is capitalized when used as a noun, as in der Erste.