English Translation
I’m no busier than usual.
Could someone elaborate on how “sonst” works here, and why not another way of saying “usual”?
“sonst” simply means “usually” in this context.
You could also say “Ich habe nicht mehr zu tun als üblich.” Or any of the other alternative translations for “usually”.
As to how it works here:
“sonst” can also mean “otherwise”.
Imagine your co-worker got sick today. Your workload today didn’t increase because of that.
In many companies, this happens: If one team member is sick, the workload of the other team members increases. But your workload today isn’t higher as in the other case (when your co-worker isn’t sick).
So because “the other case” (co-worker is not sick) is the “usual case”, sonst (in the meaning of “otherwise”) also works for the meaning “usually”.
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