Tally marks labelled Frequency next to an arrow labelled Time

English uses time for two ideas: duration and occasions. German has a word for each: Zeit for duration, Mal for an occasion. Mixing them up is a common mistake, and learners working towards German at level B1 are expected to get it right.

Zeit: time as duration

Ich habe keine Zeit. (I have no time.)
Wir brauchen mehr Zeit. (We need more time.)

Mal: an occasion

Er ist das dritte Mal in Deutschland. (He is in Germany for the third time.) The ordinal number is declined like an adjective: das dritte Mal, beim ersten Mal, zum letzten Mal.

Jedes Mal, wenn ich dort bin, regnet es. (Every time I’m there, it rains.)

-mal: how many times

To count occasions, add -mal to a number, written as one word: einmal, zweimal, dreimal. Er war dreimal in Deutschland. (He has been to Germany three times.) The same ending gives manchmal (sometimes), diesmal (this time) and keinmal (not once).

The particle mal

Mal also softens a request: Kannst du mal kommen? Schau mal! Here mal, short for einmal, makes the sentence sound casual.

To practise this in conversation, book private German lessons in London or online German lessons.