Forum Rocket German German Grammar (15.4) ​Ich weiss ja noch nicht einmal, was ich nächste Woche mache,

(15.4) ​Ich weiss ja noch nicht einmal, was ich nächste Woche mache,

sfpugh

sfpugh

From 15.4
Ich weiss ja noch nicht einmal, was ich nächste Woche mache,
I don't even know what I will be doing next week,

What is the function of einmal in this phrase? I think it might be a modal particle if so what is its purpose?
I assume ja is also a modal particle and is an intensifier.
sfpugh

sfpugh

I found the following links with google
https://www.dict.cc/?s=noch+nicht+einmal
https://www.linguee.de/deutsch-englisch/uebersetzung/noch+nicht+einmal.html
https://context.reverso.net/%C3%BCbersetzung/deutsch-englisch/es+noch+nicht+einmal

so it looks as though einmal has its normal meaning and noch nicht einmal is a recognised german expression.
Leah-Rocket-German-Tutor

Leah-Rocket-German-Tutor

Hi sfpugh, 

thanks for asking this question. 
As you've already found out (I think), noch nicht einmal can be translated with "not even". 
The einmal is not necessary though. You could also say: Ich weiß noch nicht, was ich nächste Woche mache.  The einmal is a particle that you can stress the "not even" with. 

I hope that helps. 

Liebe Grüße, 
Leah von Rocket Languages
sfpugh

sfpugh

Thanks, so einmal is functioning as a modal particle here as I first suspected.
And yes , the links I posted do give "not even" as a translation, but I didn't realise that you could just use noch nicht, which I think usually means not yet.
Fred-C14

Fred-C14

Well done for sorting that out. The set expressions still get me almost every time! What doesn't help is that I tend to remember things in the terms that I first learned them, so 'noch nich' for me will always be 'still not' rather than not yet. 

If a phrase translates into completely meaningless gibberish I start looking for set expressions but they aren't always very obvious. I don't even want to consider what will happen when I add more idioms into the mix! 
RobertR34

RobertR34

One can also hear "mal" instead of "einmal" on the street.  Germans often add unnecessary words for expressive quality.

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