Knowing relations between words can help understand their meanings and build a more connected vocabulary network. Here, you can explore parents and offspring and discover the whole family.
- shows how many children or parents the word has
- get the translations and a link
Loading word family…
Sources for Etymology:
- Check "auf-jeden-fall" on DWDS.de
Biggest German Dictionary, great for etymology, usage frequency and collocations) - "auf-jeden-fall" on Wiktionary (English version)
(For etymological connections across European languages. Not always accurate) - Etymonline.com - Origins of English words
My favorite source for the origin of English words.
Audio Speed
Dark Mode
Today I’ve been focusing on understanding the differences between auf jeden Fall, unbedingt, and bestimmt. I think this confusion comes from how, in English, the translations given for these words (definitely, absolutely, certainly) are usually interchangeable.
I read the articles and…I hope I’m getting closer to understanding it. This is where I’m at:
auf jeden Fall – neutral “100%”
unbedingt – often points at a future thing that, “without condition,” one sollen/wollen/müssen do (in the context of wishes, obligations, making plans); more emotional than auf jeden Fall
bestimmt – points more at the internal determination – being sure of something, but leaves room for a little doubt
I understand “auf jeden Fall” is not a direct synonym for these words – with unbedingt, the vibes are off; with bestimmt, there’s a difference in the level of certainty. However, auf jeden Fall seems like the bridge between these worlds. It could be used in either context – i.e. (1) to say you definitely should/want to/must do something OR (2) to indicate how definitely sure one is of something.
Yes? No? Mehhhhh?
You’re on the right track.
“auf jeden Fall” – 100% probability
“unbedingt” – DOESN’T talk about probability but about how much you would like something to happen/how much something HAS to happen
You absolutely MUST close the window – there’s no mention of probability of me closing the window. It’s just a measure of how much the speaker wants it and external necessity.
“bestimmt” (as adverb) – 70% – 90% probability
Does that help?
It does, thank you! I unbedingt need to let that sink into my brain, though… :)