inzwischen

Based on: in, zwischen
Goethe B1 Adverb
1.

by now, in the meantime, meanwhile

(sounds a bit bookish, often used for larger time spans like for instance a couple of years. For daily life, "derweil" is the more common choice)
+ Add Note
Examples
  • Vor 2 Jahren dachte ich noch, Deutsch ist superschwer aber inzwischen habe ich meine Meinung geändert.
  • 2 years ago, I thought German was super difficult, but I have changed my mind since/ I have changed my opinion.
  • Practice pronunciation - click once to start recording and again to stop

Word Family

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:

My Articles

Word of the Day – “zwischen”

A quick look at the meaning of "zwischen" and some related words, particularly "zwischendurch" and "inzwischen" and how that's different to "während".

Vocab: zwischen, dazwischen, inzwischen, zwischendurch, der Zwischenstop, während, derweil

Read article →

Questions and Comments

Do you have questions about the usage or meaning of “inzwischen”? Just ask here and I’ll try to clear it up.

guest

1 Comment
Newest
Oldest

kgeatright
kgeatright

Hallo, Emanuel! Could you explain how ‘inzwischen,’ ‘mittlerweile,’ ‘in der Zwischenzeit’ and ‘unterdessen’ differ? I believe the differences are subtle and there is a lot of overlap, but I’m struggling to learn examples that are definitely one and not the other. Here is how I *think* they are primarily used- can you tell me if I’m correct? And if any of them can be used synonymously in these (or other!) examples?

  1. Habt ihr Emma gesehen? Sie sieht mittlerweile so erwachsen aus!

= Have you guys seen Emma? She looks so grown up now! (as in ‘since/compared to the last time we saw her’ (at a previous point in time)

  1. Ich suche immer noch einen Job aber in der Zwischenzeit verbessere ich mein Deutsch.

= I’m still looking for a job, but in the meantime I’m improving my German. (as in two things are happening at the same time)

  1. Ich bin es mittlerweile gewohnt.

= I’m used to it by now. (emphasis on the ‘by now’ translation)

  1. Früher mochte ich nur Milchschokolade, aber inzwischen habe ich meine Meinung geändert.

=I used to only like milk chocolate, but I’ve since changed my opinion. (emphasis on the change from a previous point

I think unterdessen is just a more formal term for one or more of the above. Am I on the right track?

Vielen, vielen Dank!!

Reply

How many meanings does the German word 'inzwischen' have?

inzwischen has 1 distinct meaning: 1. by now, in the meantime, meanwhile .

What is 'inzwischen' related to?

The word 'inzwischen' is related to in and zwischen.

Where can I learn more about 'inzwischen'?

Here are some articles where you can learn more about 'inzwischen':

Word of the Day – “zwischen”
A quick look at the meaning of "zwischen" and some related words, particularly "zwischendurch" and "inzwischen" and how that's different to "während".
Vocab: zwischen, dazwischen, inzwischen, zwischendurch, der Zwischenstop, während, derweil
Read article