Why do I need to know gleich?

Because it’s very commonly used in spoken German, with two different meanings. 

What does it mean?

In German, gleich has two meanings. The first of which is the adjective gleich which means “the same” or “equal” in English. 

Gleich has the same ancient root as the English word “like”, which is close in meaning, as both can be traced back to the Gothic word galeiks.

Like all German adjectives, when gleich appears before a noun, it adopts the gender and case of that word, for example:

Wir haben das gleiche T-Shirt!

We have the same T-Shirt!

Er hat die gleiche Nase wie sein Vater.

He’s got the same nose as his father.

Similar to the German word egal – which means “equal” – gleich can also be used to express indifference:

Es ist mir alles egal/es ist mir alles gleich.

I don’t care about any of it.

Gleich also appears in many other German words which are linked to the meaning of things being equal: gleichfalls (likewise), vergleichen (to compare), das Gleichgewicht (balance), die Gleichheit (equality) and ausgleichen (to counterbalance) are just some of the many examples of words containing gleich.

Gleich as an adverb

As an adverb, gleich means something completely different; it’s a very common word used to mean “shortly” or “right away”. You’ll often hear Germans saying things like:

Ich komme gleich!

I’ll be there shortly!

Bis gleich!

See you in a minute!