# mal

mal is a German adverb meaning “times”.

## In other languages

- Русский: раз, крат
- Українська: якось, одного разу

## Meanings

1. times (indicating multiplication of two numbers)
   - sechs mal sieben ist zweiundvierzig — six times seven is forty-two
2. _colloquial_ well, by the way (serving to introduce new information)
   - Ich geh mal zum Kaffeestand. — Well, I’m off to the coffee stall.
3. _colloquial_ Softening a sentence, thus making a request or command more polite, making an assertion more casual. By extension, indicating a command or request.
   - Haben Sie mal Feuer? — Do you have a lighter [please]?
4. _colloquial_ once; one time
   - Ich werde sie mal besuchen.

## Examples

- Sag mal, bist du noch zu retten? — Have you gone mad?
- Mach die Tür mal ein bisschen auf. — Open the door a smidge.
- Wie schön! Geh das mal Oma zeigen! — How lovely! Go and show Nan.
- Geh mal nachsehen, was da los ist! — Go and see what's up.
- Bist du schon mal in Japan gewesen? — Have you ever been to Japan?

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Sources: Meanings and forms from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR).
URL: https://wordwide.space/de-en/wort/mal