Hello everyone,
and welcome to something we haven’t had in a loooong time… a “What is the difference”-special. And today’s special is especially special , because we’ll look at the differences between the different German words for different.
anders, verschieden and unterschiedlich
How does that sound to you, studio cat?
“Mrrreeeeow!”
Studio cat approves. Perfect.
And before I confuse you more, let’s dive right in into the wonderfully colorful world of differences…
The different words for different and knowing when to use which is a problem for many learners.
The good news is that there is a very clearly defined distinction – at least between anders and the other two.
anders vs. the other two
Imagine you have two sets of something – Set A and Set B.
Anders is about comparing items of one set with items of another set. It looks “external”.
verschieden and unterschiedlich are about comparing items WITHIN one set. They are “internal”.
And that makes total sense when you look at the origin of the words….
