ドイツ語日記翻訳【195】

I was about to snap for the first time in a while.

Ich war kurz davor, zum ersten Mal seit Langem auszurasten.

解説

## 4. **seit Langem**
– **seit** — “since / for,” governs the **dative**.
– **Langem** — dative of *lang* used as a nominalized adjective meaning “a long time.”

→ “in a long time.”

This expresses duration up to the moment of the near‑breakdown.

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## 5. **auszurasten**
– Infinitive of *ausrasten* (“to snap / lose it / freak out”).
– **zu + infinitive** → required because of the construction **kurz davor, … zu + infinitive**.

### Why is *zu* inside the verb?
Because *ausrasten* is a **separable verb**:
– base form: **aus‑rasten**
– infinitive with *zu*: **auszu‑rasten → auszurasten**

The *zu* goes between the prefix and the verb stem.

→ “to snap.”

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# 🧱 Full Structural Breakdown

**Ich war**
→ past emotional state

**kurz davor**
→ imminent action (“on the verge of”)

**, zum ersten Mal seit Langem**
→ specifying that this near‑breakdown is unusual

**auszurasten.**
→ the action that was about to happen

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# ⭐ Final Interpretation
The speaker is saying:

– They were **very close** to emotionally snapping
– This would have been **the first time in a long while**
– The tone is introspective, slightly dramatic, and very natural in German

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If you want, I can also compare this structure with the French version or show how German, French, and English each encode the idea of “being about to do something” differently.