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What's the difference between ohnehin and immerhin? Both mean "anyway" in my dictionary and I wonder if they're interchangeable.

Ich kann ohnehin/immerhin nicht gehen, denn ich arbeite.

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  • Which dictionary are you using? Maybe you should consider a bigger one that gives you more than one translation. Often the difference will become clear then. Also, you could use Linguee.com where you'll see words in context.
    – Emanuel
    Dec 27, 2013 at 11:11
  • dict.cc and de.wiktionary.org as well as duden.de are valuable dictionaries
    – thekeyofgb
    Dec 27, 2013 at 11:45

1 Answer 1

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Immerhin means “not bad, but could be better”:

Ich bin immer noch krank, aber immerhin habe ich keinen Schnupfen mehr. – I am still ill, but at least I do not have a cold anymore.

It can be used as a single-word statement to appreciate a result that could be better.

Arzt: »Sie sind immer noch krank, aber haben keinen Schnupfen mehr.« – Patient: »Immerhin.« — Medic: “You are still ill, but you do not have a cold anymore.” – Patient: “Better than nothing.“

Ohnehin means, that a problem or situation already exists, e.g.:

Jetzt habe ich Schnupfen, aber ich war ohnehin schon krank. – Now I have a cold, but I was ill anyway.

So they are not interchangeable.

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  • It seems to me that immerhin can be replaced by trotzdem ?
    – Belzebu
    Oct 11, 2017 at 10:18

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