eigentlich.
Used to frame a statement as being a more (formally) truthful description of the situation in comparison to another claim or assumption
Meaning & usage
Used to frame a statement as being a more (formally) truthful description of the situation in comparison to another claim or assumption really, actually, in truth (with that description being the more pertinent one)
Das wird zwar oft behauptet, aber das stimmt eigentlich gar nicht.
Used to frame a statement as being a more (formally) truthful description of the situation in comparison to another claim or assumption technically, strictly speaking, officially (with that description being secondary to some de-facto practice)
Eigentlich ist das verboten, aber es wird nicht durchgesetzt.
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?
Where this word comes from
Inherited from Middle High German eigenlīche, equivalent to eigen + -lich. Compare Dutch eigenlijk.
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.
Where this word comes from
Inherited from Middle High German eigenlīche, equivalent to eigen + -lich. Compare Dutch eigenlijk.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.