bald los

Hello, I have noticed the phrase "Er fährt bald los". Can I just use "bald"? Why use "bald los"? What is the difference?

Hi there, thank you for your post. The reason you can't omit "los" is because it belongs to the verb "fahren" and is not related to "bald". The full verb is "losfahren" and means "to start driving/to drive away". In German there are some verbs that get separated when used in sentences like this. It would be incorrect to say "Er losfahren bald". If you don't use the "los" the sentence would have a different meaning "Er fährt bald" - He will drive soon" instead of "Er fährt bald los" - He will drive away soon" I hope that helps. Paul