German word of the day: Eigentlich
This seemingly simple German word can end up altering your understanding of reality.
Why do I need to know Eigentlich?
Because it's both a commonly used adjective and adverb in German which adds nuance to a sentence and can impact its meaning significantly.
What does it mean?
Eigentlich is a versatile word that can be a bit tricky to translate directly into English, but if you look it up in a dictionary, you'll usually find "actual" and "actually" listed as its English equivalents.
While the English word "actual" comes from the same family as the word "active", the root of eigentlich is related to the word eigen, which translates to "own" or "proper", they both express the same theme: of something being "real" or "true".
When used as an adjective, "actual" is a very good translation of eigentlich, and can be used like this:
Die eigentliche Ursache für das Problem wurde endlich entdeckt.
The actual cause of the problem was finally discovered.
When it comes to the adjectival form of the word, however, things get a little bit more complicated.
Most commonly, the word is used to mean "actually", or "really", but unlike the English word "actually", which often indicated a positive sense of surprise, there is often an implied negative subtext, or an implied "but".
For example:
Eigentlich wollte ich ins Kino gehen
Actually, I wanted to go to the cinema
Sie behauptet, es sei einfach, aber es ist eigentlich ziemlich schwer
She claims it's easy, but it's actually quite difficult
READ ALSO: German word of the day: Noch
For the best summary of what the word Eigentlich means, listen to the song Eigentlich by the acapella group Alte Bekannte, which claims das Wörtchen eigentlich macht alles kaputt ("the little word eigentlich ruins everything") and goes on to list various scenarios in which people use the word to indicate something negative, for example:
Wenn eine Frau sagt, sie würde "eigentlich"
Ja gern mal mit dir essen gehen
Dann wirst du diese Frau
In deinem Leben nie mehr wiedersehen
Sagt dein Chef, er fände dich ja "eigentlich" top
Dann gehe nach Hause und such dir sofort einen neuen Job.
When a woman says, she would "actually"
Like to go out to eat with you sometime
Then you will never see this woman
In your life again
If your boss says, he finds you "actually" great
Then go home and immediately look for a new job
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See Also
Why do I need to know Eigentlich?
Because it's both a commonly used adjective and adverb in German which adds nuance to a sentence and can impact its meaning significantly.
What does it mean?
Eigentlich is a versatile word that can be a bit tricky to translate directly into English, but if you look it up in a dictionary, you'll usually find "actual" and "actually" listed as its English equivalents.
While the English word "actual" comes from the same family as the word "active", the root of eigentlich is related to the word eigen, which translates to "own" or "proper", they both express the same theme: of something being "real" or "true".
When used as an adjective, "actual" is a very good translation of eigentlich, and can be used like this:
Die eigentliche Ursache für das Problem wurde endlich entdeckt.
The actual cause of the problem was finally discovered.
When it comes to the adjectival form of the word, however, things get a little bit more complicated.
Most commonly, the word is used to mean "actually", or "really", but unlike the English word "actually", which often indicated a positive sense of surprise, there is often an implied negative subtext, or an implied "but".
For example:
Eigentlich wollte ich ins Kino gehen
Actually, I wanted to go to the cinema
Sie behauptet, es sei einfach, aber es ist eigentlich ziemlich schwer
She claims it's easy, but it's actually quite difficult
READ ALSO: German word of the day: Noch
For the best summary of what the word Eigentlich means, listen to the song Eigentlich by the acapella group Alte Bekannte, which claims das Wörtchen eigentlich macht alles kaputt ("the little word eigentlich ruins everything") and goes on to list various scenarios in which people use the word to indicate something negative, for example:
Wenn eine Frau sagt, sie würde "eigentlich"
Ja gern mal mit dir essen gehen
Dann wirst du diese Frau
In deinem Leben nie mehr wiedersehen
Sagt dein Chef, er fände dich ja "eigentlich" top
Dann gehe nach Hause und such dir sofort einen neuen Job.
When a woman says, she would "actually"
Like to go out to eat with you sometime
Then you will never see this woman
In your life again
If your boss says, he finds you "actually" great
Then go home and immediately look for a new job
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