Al
Example: Ik heb al gegeten voordat ik naar school ging.
Definition
"Al" is an adverb in Dutch that means 'already,' used to indicate that something has happened before a certain point in time, as in 'Ik heb al gegeten' meaning 'I have already eaten.' It expresses prior completion or existence.
Etymology
The Dutch adverb "al" originates from the Old Dutch word "al," which means 'all' or 'entirely.' Over time, its usage shifted to mean 'already' in temporal contexts. Did you know? Its root is related to English words like 'all,' sharing a common Germanic ancestry.
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"Al" appears in the Vocaplus list "Dutch - General - (A1) - set 1", containing 110 commonly used words.
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