selbst

Word type: adverb
Based on: *sen(e)-, *se-

Meanings

1.

-self

(German doesn't have a word like "myself". Instead, it stakes the normal pronouns and "selbst" is an extra word. So "myself" would be "ich selbst" or "mich selbst" or so on, depending on case.)

How useful:

2.

even

(more fancy alternative for "sogar". Primarily used in writing, but I also use it in spoken German, usually in contexts of "even if A , then still no B".)

How useful:

Examples

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Word Family

Root: *sen(e)-, *se-

The core idea of this root was:

apart, separated, by oneself

It’s the origin of English asunder as well as the imports sans (without) and sin (without) as in chili sin carne.

On the German side, we have two very important offspring – sich and sondern.

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