adverb
ever, at any time
B1
“jemals” means “ever” or “at any time,” a temporal adverb used mainly in questions, negatives and conditionals (e.g., “Hast du jemals…?” or “Wenn du jemals…”). It's not a verb, takes no auxiliary itself, and often collocates with perfect or modal constructions to ask about any occurrence.
Examples
Hast du jemals in Deutschland gelebt?
Have you ever lived in Germany?
Wenn du jemals Hilfe brauchst, ruf mich an.
If you ever need help, call me.
Die Abgeordneten fragten, ob jemals zuvor über diese Fragen gesprochen wurde, bevor sie eine Entscheidung trafen.
The members of parliament asked whether these questions had ever been discussed before they made a decision.
Details
Mnemonics
picture a timeline covered in dots labeled 'any time' to remind you 'jemals' = ever/at any time
sounds like 'jam-alls' — imagine sticky jam covering all times (ever)
Notes
'jemals' is used in questions and conditional statements to mean 'ever' or 'at any time'. In negative contexts it can emphasize 'never' when used with 'nie' (e.g., 'nie jemals' is emphatic and less common).