Which one should you use?
While "just me" is a common English idiom, nur ich literally translates to "only I" and is used when the speaker is the subject. Depending on the grammatical role of the person in the sentence, the form must change to nur mich for the direct object or nur mir for the indirect object.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In the Berlin dialect, the informal expression Ick alleene is used. In the Bavarian dialect, you may hear the informal Nur i.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase nur ich is in the nominative case and is used when the speaker is the subject of the sentence. If "just me" is the direct object of a verb (accusative case), you must use nur mich instead of nur ich. If "just me" is the indirect object of a verb (dative case), you must use nur mir instead of nur ich.
How do you pronounce it?
/nuːɐ̯ ɪç/
Did you know?
Examples in context
- Es betrifft nur michIt concerns just me
- Das war niemand außer mirThat was just me, nobody else
- War das nur ich?Was that just me?
Example conversation
Sarah and Julian are talking about who is coming to the party.
- SarahWer kommt noch mit zum Fest?Who else is coming to the party?
- JulianLeider nur ich aus meiner Familie.Unfortunately, just me from my family.
- SarahDas ist schade, Julian.That's a pity, Julian.
- JulianJa, aber wir werden trotzdem Spaß haben.Yes, but we will still have fun.
Sources
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (nur, ich) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ich, nur, CC BY-SA 4.0.
