What is the German Equivalent of “Etc.“?221

In written German, the abbreviation "usw." is the equivalent of the English abbreviation "etc." and the Latin abbreviation "et cetera". It is short for the Latin phrase "et cetera", which means "and so on" or "and other things." In German, "usw." is pronounced "oon zoo vuh".

The abbreviation "usw." is used at the end of a list to indicate that there are more items that could be listed, but that are not explicitly named. For example:

Ich habe Äpfel, Birnen, Trauben usw. gekauft.
(I bought apples, pears, grapes, etc.)

Die Bibliothek verfügt über Bücher, Zeitschriften, DVDs usw.
(The library has books, magazines, DVDs, etc.)

In addition to the abbreviation "usw.", there are several other ways to express "etc." in German. These include:
und so weiter
und andere
und dergleichen
und ähnliche

These expressions can be used in place of "usw." in any situation.

Here are some examples of how these expressions can be used in a sentence:
Ich habe Äpfel, Birnen, Trauben und so weiter gekauft.
(I bought apples, pears, grapes, etc.)
Die Bibliothek verfügt über Bücher, Zeitschriften, DVDs und andere.
(The library has books, magazines, DVDs, etc.)
Ich mag Obst, Gemüse und dergleichen.
(I like fruit, vegetables, etc.)
Ich habe ein Auto, ein Fahrrad und ähnliche.
(I have a car, a bicycle, etc.)

The expression "und so weiter" is the most common way to express "etc." in German. It is used in both formal and informal writing.

The expression "und andere" is also used frequently. It is often used in lists of people or things.

The expressions "und dergleichen" and "und ähnliche" are less common. They are often used in more formal writing.

No matter which expression you choose to use, you can be confident that you are correctly expressing "etc." in German.

2025-01-11

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