In English, “als” is not a native word. However, if you are referring to the German word “als” and looking for English equivalents based on its different meanings in German, here's an analysis:
1. When “als” means “as” (in the sense of in the role of or in the capacity of)
In this case, some English synonyms or equivalent expressions could be:
- “as” itself is a very common and straightforward equivalent. For example, in the German sentence “Er arbeitet als Lehrer” (He works as a teacher), we can directly translate it to “He works as a teacher” in English using the same “as”.
- “in the role of” is a bit more formal way of expressing the same idea. So, the above sentence could also be written as “He works in the role of a teacher”.
- “in the capacity of” is another option. For instance, “He works in the capacity of a teacher” has a similar meaning to the original German sentence with “als Lehrer”.
2. When “als” means “than” (used for comparison)
The main English equivalent for this meaning of “als” is “than”. For example, in the German sentence “Er ist größer als ich” (He is taller than me), we translate it as “He is taller than me” in English. There isn't really a substitute for “than” when making direct comparisons like this in English.
3. When “als” means “when” (introducing a time clause)
There are several English equivalents depending on the context:
- “when” is the most basic and common one. For example, in the German sentence “Als ich jung war, spielte ich oft Fußball” (When I was young, I often played football), we can use “when” in English as well: “When I was young, I often played football”.
- “while” can also be used in some cases, especially when we want to emphasize an ongoing action during a period of time. So, the above sentence could also be translated as “While I was young, I often played football”. However, the nuance might be a bit different from using “when”. “While” often gives a sense of something happening simultaneously or continuously during that time period.
- “as” can also be used in a way similar to “when” in certain contexts. For example, “As I was young, I often played football”. But this use of “as” to mean “when” is not as common as the other two and might have a slightly different feel or be more context-dependent.
So, depending on the specific meaning of “als” in German, there are different English words or expressions that can be used as equivalents.