useless
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useless
Describes something that serves no purpose, brings no advantage, or cannot be used. It is the opposite of useful.
Diese alte Fernbedienung ist nutzlos, weil die Batterien ausgelaufen sind.
This old remote control is useless because the batteries have leaked.
The word is made up of the stem 'nutz-' (from 'der Nutzen' (benefit/use)) and the ending '-los' (less/without). The ending '-los' means 'without', so 'nutzlos' (useless) literally describes something 'without use'.
Ein Telefon ohne Akku ist nutzlos.
A phone without a battery is useless.
'Nutzlos' (useless) is often used with verbs such as 'sein' (to be), 'werden' (to become), or 'sich erweisen als' (to prove to be) to describe that something does not, or no longer, fulfill its purpose.
Der alte Plan erwies sich als nutzlos.
The old plan proved useless.
'Nutzlos' (useless) often describes abstract things such as an effort, a piece of information, or a discussion, but also concrete objects.
Es war eine nutzlose Anstrengung, ihn überzeugen zu wollen.
It was a useless effort to try to convince him.
helpful
'hilfreich' and 'nutzlos' are opposites. 'hilfreich' means that something supports, solves a problem, or makes a situation better. 'nutzlos' means that something serves no purpose or brings no advantage. You use 'hilfreich' when something is genuinely useful, and 'nutzlos' when it does not help at all or cannot be used.
Die alte Anleitung ist nutzlos, weil sie nicht mehr zum neuen Gerät passt.
The old instructions are useless because they no longer match the new device.
Vor dem Termin ist eine kurze Liste mit Fragen sehr hilfreich.
Before the appointment, a short list of questions is very helpful.