Prefix Advent Calendar – 20

Today’s word is so special, nothing is specialler.

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besonder(s)

Besonders is an adjective and it is a nice example for how be- is related to bei.  The core of sonder, and it’s English relative (a)sunder is the idea of “the other, the separate”.  And not being with (bei) the pack but with “the separate ones, the other” in a way also means being special – which is what besonder(s) means today: special, especially. 
nichts Besonderes – nothing special

• Das ist ein ganz besonderer Wein.
• That is a very special wine.

• Am Herbst mag ich besonders das bunte Laub.
• What I especially like about fall are the  colorful leaves.

• Besonders am Anfang sollte man sich nicht zu viele Gedanken über die Fälle machen.
• Especially in the beginning you shouldn’t worry too much about the cases (grammar cases).

Insbesondere is a slightly more technical sounding variation of besonders and also means especially. When used as an adjective, besonder gets all the endings. So in that regard it is not special at all.