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gesamt
entire / total
Expresses that something is considered in its entirety, as a whole, or completely; total, complete.
example
Die gesamte Familie hat bei der Renovierung geholfen.
The entire family helped with the renovation.
gesamt
entire / total
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Meanings
Usage tips
Use before the noun
The adjective 'gesamt' (entire/total) is almost always used before a noun and must be declined like any adjective. Using it as a standalone predicate (e.g. 'Das Team ist gesamt') is uncommon and sounds unnatural.
EXAMPLE
Der gesamte Vorstand war mit dem Vorschlag einverstanden.
The entire board agreed with the proposal.
Typical collocations
'Gesamt' (entire/total) is often used in formal or business contexts. Typical combinations are 'der gesamte Betrag' (the total amount), 'die gesamte Dauer' (the entire duration), 'das gesamte Projekt' (the entire project), or 'die gesamte Belegschaft' (the entire workforce).
EXAMPLE
Bitte überweisen Sie den gesamten Betrag innerhalb von 14 Tagen.
Please transfer the total amount within 14 days.
Word family
'Gesamt' (entire/total) is the basis for the adverb 'insgesamt', which means 'all together' or 'overall'. When you see 'gesamt', you can often think of 'insgesamt' to infer the meaning 'whole' or 'total'.
EXAMPLE
Insgesamt waren wir mit dem Ergebnis sehr zufrieden.
Overall, we were very satisfied with the result.
Compare with
gesamt vs all
all
'all' and 'gesamt' can both express that nothing is left out. 'all' fits especially well when you mean every individual person or thing in a group, for example 'alle Kinder' (all children) or 'alle Fragen' (all questions). 'gesamt' tends to view something as a whole, often with amounts, periods of time, costs, or a result. Learners may confuse the words because both seem to mean 'complete'. A practical rule is: for individual members of a group, you usually use 'all'; for a summarized quantity or total, 'gesamt' sounds more natural.
gesamt
Für den Kurs brauchst du insgesamt drei Bücher und einen Ordner.
For the course, you need three books and one folder in total.
all
Alle Gäste bekommen heute im Krankenhaus ein warmes Essen.
All guests at the hospital are getting a hot meal today.
In real life
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