Skip to content

falls nicht

unless, if not

conjunction fals nikht Rare
Communication Expressions

Also means

failing that

Usage Note

Falls nicht introduces a negative conditional: 'unless this condition holds'. It is commonly appended as a short subordinate phrase and slightly more conversational than es sei denn, dass.

Examples

"Ich komme um drei Uhr, falls nicht etwas dazwischenkommt."

Natural Translation

I'll come at three o'clock, unless something comes up.

Literal Translation

I come at three o'clock, if not something in-between-comes.

Free starter pack

Building your German vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common German words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Explore German by topic