Focus particle 'erst' (not until)

What it is. erst is a focus particle marking that something happens later or amounts to less than expected - English "not until / only (so far)." It is the temporal/quantitative counterpart to schon (already).

How it works. It precedes the time or quantity expression it focuses.

• Er kommt erst morgen. - He won't come until tomorrow.
• Es ist erst acht Uhr. - It's only eight o'clock (earlier than you might think).
• Ich habe erst die Hälfte gelesen. - I've only read half so far.

Common mistakes. erst is the opposite of schon: Er kommt erst morgen (not before tomorrow) vs. Er kommt schon morgen (as early as tomorrow). Do not use restrictive nur where the sense is "not until" - nur morgen would mean "only tomorrow (and no other day)," not "not until tomorrow." Also distinguish particle erst from ordinal/adverbial erst (= first, at first).

'erst' (only / not until) marks that something is later or less than expected.

Marks 'later/less than expected'; opposite of 'schon'.

'erst' markiert, dass etwas später/weniger ist als erwartet.