From what I've encountered in spoken and written German so far, I can see two (and a half) cases: Literal meaning = "auf jeden Fall" can mean literally "in any case" or "always". > Auf jeden Fall musst du nach links und rechts schauen, bevor du über die Straße gehst. meaning > In any case you have to look left and right before crossing the street. Filler word = "auf jeden Fall" and "jedenfalls" are sometimes used to start a sentence as a filling word. This is mostly used in spoken, but not in written language (see a list of [fillers][1]): > Jedenfalls bin ich dann früher nach Hause. > > Auf jeden Fall bin ich dann früher nach Hause. meaning > Anyhow, I went home early. "Auf jeden Fall" can be used literally and as filling word, "jedenfalls" only as latter. Modal particle = The word "jedenfalls" can shift the focus a bit, often restricting a statement in the sense of "at least" > Ich war (jedenfalls) pünktlich zuhause. > > I, at least, was home on time. [But I can't speak for others.] or > Das hast du (jedenfalls) früher immer gemacht. > > (At least,) you used to do that. [But maybe/apparently not anymore.] or > So scheint es jedenfalls. > > Or so it seems. **Edit:** In response to the comment that only suggested I'm wrong without specifiying exactly how, I'm adding a few sources and a third case I neglected. http://synonyme.woxikon.de/synonyme/jedenfalls.php lists many words as synonyms for "jedenfalls" that have completely different meanings. http://de.wiktionary.org/wiki/jedenfalls states two meanings: > 1: an Vorangegangenes anknüpfend: auf alle Fälle, bestimmt > > 2: an Vorangegangenes anknüpfend: nach, trotz dem, was vorher geschehen ist which I'd translate to > 1: following something previous: in all cases, surely > > 2: following something previous: after, despite what happened before See the following example sentence from http://de.thefreedictionary.com/jedenfalls > Ich weiß nicht warum, aber jedenfalls hat sie ihn verlassen. > > I don't know why, but she left him. To me, this sentence doesn't change its meaning if you omit "jedenfalls": > Ich weiß nicht warum, aber sie hat ihn verlassen. [This site][2] lists many fillers and "jedenfalls" is even part of a [list of fillers to avoid][3] Instead of downvoting and telling me I'm wrong, it would probably be more helpful for the author of the question if you tell me how I'm wrong or provide a better answer. [1]: https://www.schreiblabor.com/orthography/filler/ [2]: https://www.schreiblabor.com/orthography/filler/ [3]: http://juttas-schreibtipps.blogspot.de/2011/09/giftliste-iv-noch-mehr-fullworter.html