What does “damit habe ich gar nicht gerechnet” mean in German?

Over a candlelit dinner, one partner asks the other to move in together. The stunned reply: “Damit habe ich gar nicht gerechnet.” The verb here, rechnen mit, literally means “to calculate with,” but in everyday talk it means to expect or count on something. So this line says “I really didn’t expect that.” Germans often reach for it when a surprise catches them off guard, happy news or not.

Spoken in the clip: “Damit habe ich gar nicht gerechnet.” — “I did not count on that at all.” The key piece is rechnen mit (“to calculate with”), which really means to expect or count on something. The little word damit means “with that,” pointing back to whatever just happened. Add gar nicht and you get “not at all,” so the whole thing means “I really did not see that coming.” More examples: - “Damit hatte ich nicht gerechnet.” — “I didn’t see that coming.” - “Mit so viel Regen hatten wir nicht gerechnet.” — “We didn’t expect this much rain.” - “Ich rechne fest mit deiner Hilfe.” — “I’m really counting on your help.” You will often hear this when someone is surprised, good news or bad. It is a calm, common way to say you were caught off guard.