wie auch immer

Phrase
  1. in any way possible
  2. anyway, be that as it may
1.

in any way possible

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Examples
  • Er versucht, das Problem wie auch immer zu lösen.
  • He's trying to solve the problem in any way possible.
2.

anyway, be that as it may

(quite common as a stand alone in spoken German)
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Examples
  • Thomas hat den Termin vergessen. Wie auch immer, wir haben es trotzdem geschafft.
  • Thomas forgot the appointment. Anyway, we managed it nonetheless.

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Questions and Comments

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

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sotiris
sotiris

A question on the “auch immer” phrases “wie auch immer” and “was auch immer”. I have at times heard both of these being used in the form [Sentence], oder wie/was auch immer. My question is, how would you translate that and how could you define it? Because I think in both cases, their “oder”-form while still calling upon the essence of the word’s meaning, it wouldn’t be translated with the same word. But because I haven’t heard this enough I can’t be too sure.

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Emanuel
Emanuel
Reply to  sotiris

“oder wie auch immer” is used in a (very broad) sense of “how”.
“oder was auch immer” is used in a very broad sense of “what”.
And you can do the same with “wer” or “wo” and so on. The core of the question word is present in the whole phrase, but it’s true that you can’t always translate “oder wie auch immer” as “or whatever” because “whatever” is broader in colloquial English than in German.

Let me know if that helps, or if I misunderstood your question.

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KJAL
KJAL

Wie auch… is listed as a 2 part concessive connector, but I can only find it in an expanded form. Does it translate as.. even though and is it used much?

The example sentence is…
Wie sehr sich die Auszubildende auch bemüht, alles richtig zu machen, manche Tätigkeiten fallen ihr noch schwer.

Danke im voraus, Kate

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Emanuel
Emanuel
Reply to  KJAL

The split up form is actually more common than having it together, in this sense. The “wie auch immer” is not really the same thing.
I would translate this “wie… auch” as “no matter how (much/often/…) ” but “even though” expresses a similar notion. It just is more “stationary”.
Like…

– putting effort in – > no results

“wie … auch” on the other hand implies repeated attempts.

– putting effort in -> no results
– putting more effort in -> still no results
– putting all the effort in you can -> results = zero

Hope that helps!

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How many meanings does the German word 'wie auch immer' have?

wie auch immer has 2 distinct meanings: 1. in any way possible, 2. anyway, be that as it may .

What is 'wie auch immer' related to?

This is a standalone entry with no parent word listed.

Where can I learn more about 'wie auch immer'?

Check out the main YourDailyGerman Dictionary for more German vocabulary entries.