meistens

Meistens is a German adverb that expresses frequency, roughly translating to "usually," "most of the time," or "in most cases." It indicates that a statement or situation applies in the majority of instances but not necessarily in every case. The word is commonly used in both spoken and written language to convey typicality without asserting absolutes.

Etymology and form: Meistens derives from the adjective or adverb meist, meaning "most" or "mostly," with the suffix -ens forming the common adverbial variant. The pronunciation is [ˈmaɪ̯stn̩s]. The related form meiste can appear as an attributive adjective in phrases like die meiste Zeit, where it means "the most time" or "most of the time."

Usage and nuance: Meistens is flexible in position within a sentence. It can start a sentence for emphasis, appear after the subject, or come before the verb. It conveys a high degree of likelihood but not certainty. It is slightly less formal than phrases like in der Regel or normalerweise, and it is often preferred in everyday speech and writing.

Examples:

Meistens gehe ich zu Fuß zur Arbeit.

Meistens regnet es im Herbst.

Wir treffen uns meist um 18 Uhr.

Related terms: andere ways to express high frequency include gewöhnlich, normalerweise, in der Regel. Meistens emphasizes the prevalence in most cases, while die meiste Zeit refers to the majority of a larger time span.