How to Say ‘Late’ in German
Zu spät
tsoo shpayt
[tsoo shpayt]
💬 Usage Tip: [zu spät] means "late" as a fixed little phrase. You can reuse the same pattern with time words: [zu früh] = "too early" or "early," depending on context.
Phrase Breakdown
Zu
[tsoo]
too
Used here to mean 'too' in the phrase 'too late'.
In Zu spät bedeutet Zu hier 'too'.
In Zu spät, Zu here means 'too'.
spät
[shpayt]
late
Describes arriving after the expected time.
Wenn ich den Bus verpasse, bin ich spät.
If I miss the bus, I am late.
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