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trotzdem vs obwohl

"trotzdem" is an adverb, "obwohl" is a subordinating conjunction.

Learners often think they’re synonyms because dictionaries list “though” as translation for both of them. But the two words have completely different grammatical functions in German.

Obwohl is a so called into-word. So it is one of those words that create a sentence with all the verbs at the end in German.

  • Obwohl ich heute keine Lust habe, mache ich Sport.
  • Even though/ although I don’t have energy today, I work out.

trotzdem is an adverb and it works exactly the same way as the da-words like danach or darum. It can be at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence.
The best translation is despite that.

  • Ich habe heute keine Energie. Trotzdem habe ich Sport gemacht.
  • I have no energy today. Despite that I worked out today.

 

For a closer look, check out my article about “trotzdem”. There, you’ll also learn about “trotz” and we’ll do a couple of exercises that aren’t hard at all… (actually, they’re really really hard. I need to make them easier. Nerd level 9)

Word of the Day – “trotzdem”

Also interesting:

How to say anyway in German

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The meaning and use of "trotzdem" and "obwohl"

A fun look at the meaning and origin of "trotzdem" and a breakdown of when to use "trotz", "trotzdem" and "obwohl". Of course with audio examples :)

Vocab:

trotzdem, obwohl, der Trotz, trotzen, trotz


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Anonymous
Anonymous
7 months ago

tak jsi piča ani mi to nevysvětlíš

 


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