scattered / isolated
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scattered / isolated
Describes something that occurs only rarely, in a few places, or not in large numbers; sporadic or isolated.
Am Nachmittag kann es zu vereinzelten Regenschauern kommen.
In the afternoon, there may be scattered rain showers.
'Vereinzelt' (scattered / isolated) is derived from 'einzeln' (individual / single). It describes things that occur only as individual examples or in a few scattered places, not as a large, connected group.
In den Bergen gibt es nur noch vereinzelte Exemplare dieser Pflanze.
In the mountains, there are only a few isolated specimens of this plant left.
'Vereinzelt' (scattered / isolated) can stand before a noun as an adjective and is then declined. It can also be used as an adverb to express that something happens only here and there.
Trotz des Verbots gab es vereinzelte Proteste.
Despite the ban, there were isolated protests.
Common combinations are 'vereinzelte Fälle' (isolated cases), 'vereinzelte Schauer' (scattered showers), or 'vereinzelte Wolken' (scattered clouds). It is often used in weather forecasts or when describing events that are not widespread.
Der Wetterbericht meldet für morgen vereinzelte Gewitter.
The weather forecast reports scattered thunderstorms for tomorrow.
rare / seldom
Selten generally describes how infrequently something occurs. Vereinzelt, by contrast, highlights a small number of separate individual cases or locations. If the low frequency is important, selten is appropriate; if the focus is on individual isolated occurrences, vereinzelt is appropriate.
Im Stadtzentrum traten nach dem Gewitter vereinzelt Stromausfälle auf.
After the storm, isolated power outages occurred in the city center.
Im Stadtzentrum treten solche Stromausfälle nur selten auf.
Power outages like these occur only rarely in the city center.
