fast or schnell?
a1English fast is German schnell. German fast means almost and has nothing to do with speed.
fast
Almost, not quite. It stands before the word it limits: fast fertig, fast alle.
Ich bin fast fertig.I'm almost done.
schnell
What English fast means: high speed. Used as both adjective and adverb.
Der Zug ist sehr schnell.The train is very fast.
The mistake
Er läuft sehr fast.
Er läuft sehr schnell.
„fast“ says how far something has got, not how quickly. „sehr fast“ makes no sense in German.
Rule of thumb
Mnemonic: someone who „fast rennt“ is not yet running at all.
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