# eigentlich

eigentlich is a German adverb meaning “really”.

## In other languages

- Русский: собственно, в сущности
- Українська: власне, у принципі

## Adverb

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?

## 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

- 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.
- 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.

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Sources: Meanings and forms from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR).
URL: https://wordwide.space/de-en/wort/eigentlich