temporary / provisional
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temporary / provisional
Something that applies only for a limited time and is not final; temporary or provisional.
Sie erhielt eine vorläufige Aufenthaltsgenehmigung für sechs Monate.
She received a temporary residence permit for six months.
The word is derived from 'vor' (before/ahead) and 'laufen' (to run). So it describes something that 'runs ahead' of the final version. This idea helps you understand that it refers to a temporary, not yet final state.
Das ist nur ein vorläufiger Entwurf, wir können noch alles ändern.
This is only a preliminary draft; we can still change everything.
'Vorläufig' can stand before a noun as an adjective or be used as an adverb. As an adverb, it means 'for the moment' or 'for the time being' and often appears at the beginning of the sentence, which changes the word order in the sentence (inversion).
Das ist eine vorläufige Lösung des Problems.
That is a temporary solution to the problem.
The word is very common in official and administrative language. Typical combinations are 'vorläufiges Ergebnis' (preliminary result), 'vorläufiger Personalausweis' (temporary ID card), 'vorläufige Festnahme' (provisional arrest), or 'vorläufiger Plan' (provisional plan).
Nach der Wahl gab es am Abend nur ein vorläufiges Ergebnis.
After the election, there was only a preliminary result in the evening.
first / for now
Zunächst and vorläufig can describe an arrangement that is not yet permanent. Zunächst mainly shows that it applies now and that it may later be continued or changed. Vorläufig marks the arrangement itself more clearly as provisional and not final.
Raum 3 ist unsere vorläufige Lösung, bis ein fester Raum frei wird.
Room 3 is our temporary solution until a permanent room becomes available.
Wir nutzen zunächst Raum 3 und entscheiden nächste Woche über den weiteren Ablauf.
For now, we are using Room 3 and will decide next week how to proceed.
