primär
primary
Coming first; main, priority, or most important.
EXAMPLE
Unser primäres Ziel ist es, das Projekt rechtzeitig abzuschließen.
Our primary goal is to complete the project on time.
primär
primary
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Meanings
primär
primary
Original, direct, or not derived from something else.
EXAMPLE
Für die Recherche sollten Sie primäre Quellen wie Originaldokumente verwenden.
For the research, you should use primary sources such as original documents.
Usage tips
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'Primär' (primary) is a word used in formal written language and technical language. It is often used in academic, business, or technical contexts.
EXAMPLE
Die Studie befasst sich primär mit den wirtschaftlichen Folgen.
The study deals primarily with the economic consequences.
Use as an adverb
'Primär' (primarily) is very often used like an adverb and then means 'hauptsächlich' (mainly) or 'in erster Linie' (first and foremost). It often appears at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence.
EXAMPLE
Primär geht es uns um die Sicherheit der Daten.
Primarily, we are concerned with the security of the data.
Typical collocations
In the meaning of 'wichtigste/r/s' (most important), 'primär' (primary) is often combined with nouns such as 'Ziel' (goal), 'Aufgabe' (task), 'Fokus' (focus), or 'Interesse' (interest).
EXAMPLE
Unsere primäre Aufgabe ist die Qualitätssicherung.
Our primary task is quality assurance.
Context clue
The meaning 'ursprünglich' (original) is often found in scientific contexts. A typical example is the distinction between 'primären Quellen' (primary sources, original texts) and 'sekundären Quellen' (secondary sources, analyses of them).
EXAMPLE
Historiker arbeiten bevorzugt mit primären Quellen aus der jeweiligen Epoche.
Historians prefer to work with primary sources from the respective era.
Compare with
primär vs wesentlich
essential / significantly
Both words can describe an important reason. “Wesentlich” emphasizes that the reason is decisive or necessary for the matter, while “primär” ranks it as the main reason compared with others. Choose “wesentlich” for its importance and “primär” for its priority.
primär
Der primäre Grund für den Erfolg war die gute Zusammenarbeit im Team.
The primary reason for the success was the team’s good cooperation.
wesentlich
Für den Erfolg war wesentlich, dass das Team gut zusammenarbeitete.
For the success, it was essential that the team worked well together.
In real life
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