WordWide
German

Meanings

  1. really, actually, in truth (with that description being the more pertinent one)

    Das wird zwar oft behauptet, aber das stimmt eigentlich gar nicht.People often claim that, but that's actually wrong.

  2. technically, strictly speaking, officially (with that description being secondary to some de-facto practice)

    Eigentlich ist das verboten, aber es wird nicht durchgesetzt.Technically this is illegal, but it's not enforced.

  3. Used to introduce a question primarily driven by curiosity that might only be loosely if at all connected to the previous topic

    Hast du eigentlich Geschwister?[I was wondering,] do you have any siblings?

1 more meanings

Adjective

  1. actual, real, proper (as opposed to something secondary serving as a distraction or impostor)

    Das eigentliche Problem ist doch, dass wir dazu gar nicht in der Lage sind.The actual problem is that we don't even have the capabilities for that.

Examples

GermanEnglish
Heute passt mir eigentlich nicht so gut.Today isn't really convenient for me.
Ich wollte es euch eigentlich heute sagen.I was planning on telling you today.
8 more examples
Wolltest du das nicht eigentlich heute tun?I thought you said you wanted to do that today.
Machst du eigentlich nie dein Zimmer sauber?Don't you ever clean your room?
Tom sollte eigentlich um 2.30 Uhr hier sein.Tom was meant to be here at 2.30.
Was willst du eigentlich von mir?What do you actually want from me?
Das meinte ich eigentlich gar nicht.I didn't exactly mean that.
Eigentlich hätte ich das wissen müssen.I really should've known that.
Ich weiß, dass es eigentlich nicht so ist.I know that isn't how it really is.
Das hätte eigentlich nicht passieren sollen.This wasn't supposed to happen.