Updated on March 6, 2024
Nevertheless is a powerful little word that packs a big punch. It's a conjunction that allows us to introduce a contrasting idea or statement while acknowledging what came before. Its significance lies in its ability to smoothly transition from one thought to another, creating a sense of continuity even when the content of the two ideas is at odds.
The word nevertheless has cultural importance as well, as it is used in many different languages to convey the same idea. Its translation can vary, but its function remains the same. For example, in Spanish, the word is sin embargo, while in French, it's néanmoins. In German, the word is jedoch, and in Italian, it's tuttavia.
Understanding the translation of nevertheless in different languages can be useful for anyone looking to expand their language skills or connect with people from different cultures. It's a small word that can make a big difference in how we communicate and understand one another.
Afrikaans | nogtans | ||
The word "nogtans" is a combination of "nog" meaning "not yet" and "tans" meaning "recently", suggesting a persistent state of "not yet". | |||
Amharic | ቢሆንም | ||
The literal translation of "ቢሆንም" is "even if it is", suggesting a concession or allowance despite a previous statement. | |||
Hausa | duk da haka | ||
Duk da haka (Hausa) literally means "even with it" and is used to express concession or contrast. | |||
Igbo | n'agbanyeghị nke ahụ | ||
Malagasy | kanefa | ||
Etymology of the Malagasy word 'kanefa' (nevertheless): from English 'can't help' | |||
Nyanja (Chichewa) | komabe | ||
"Komabe" also means "in case," "even if," "nonetheless," or "in spite of." | |||
Shona | zvakadaro | ||
"Zvakadaro" is derived from the root word "kadaro," meaning"so much" or "to such an extent."} | |||
Somali | sikastaba | ||
The first element, "sika", is the negative conditional particle. | |||
Sesotho | leha ho le joalo | ||
The word 'leha ho le joalo' is derived from the noun 'leho', which means 'now', and the verb 'le joalo', which means 'it was so'. Thus, the phrase literally means 'now it was so', or 'it was so in the past'. Today, it is also used to mean 'anyway' or 'even so'. | |||
Swahili | hata hivyo | ||
"Hata hivyo" is used not only as a conjunction "however" but also as an adverb: "despite" | |||
Xhosa | nangona kunjalo | ||
The word "nangona kunjalo" can be used to describe something that is difficult or undesirable but that must nevertheless be done. | |||
Yoruba | laifotape | ||
The word "laifotape" originates from the Yoruba phrase "lai fo ta ape," which means "not to be taken lightly." | |||
Zulu | noma kunjalo | ||
The Zulu word "noma kunjalo" literally means "it is like that". | |||
Bambara | o bɛɛ n'a ta | ||
Ewe | gake hã | ||
Kinyarwanda | nyamara | ||
Lingala | atako bongo | ||
Luganda | naye era | ||
Sepedi | le ge go le bjalo | ||
Twi (Akan) | ne nyinaa mu | ||
Arabic | ومع ذلك | ||
وَـمَعَ ـذلِك is the spelling in Quranic Arabic, where ـذلِك refers to a previously mentioned thing. | |||
Hebrew | על כל פנים | ||
על כל פנים" comes from the Aramaic phrase עַל כָּל פָּנִים (meaning "in all aspects") and the Hebrew word פָּנִים (meaning "face" or "aspect"). | |||
Pashto | په هرصورت | ||
په هرصورت" may also mean "despite that" or "despite anything else". | |||
Arabic | ومع ذلك | ||
وَـمَعَ ـذلِك is the spelling in Quranic Arabic, where ـذلِك refers to a previously mentioned thing. |
Albanian | sidoqoftë | ||
The Albanian word "sidoqoftë" is composed of the adverb "sido" meaning "as" or "even so" and the noun "qoftë" meaning "being" or "existence." | |||
Basque | hala ere | ||
The Basque word "hala ere" has been proposed to derive from Arabic "hala era" meaning "at that time", or from Proto-Basque *are "side" + *ala "to the" + *era "of", meaning "on the side of"} | |||
Catalan | no obstant | ||
"No obstant" comes from the Latin phrase "non obstante" meaning "not withstanding" or "despite." | |||
Croatian | štoviše | ||
The Croatian word "štoviše" originates from the Proto-Slavic form *čьto više, meaning "what more". It can also be used to mean "furthermore" or "in addition". | |||
Danish | alligevel | ||
The Danish word "alligevel" is derived from the Old Norse word "alliguel", meaning "all the same". | |||
Dutch | niettemin | ||
The Dutch word "niettemin" derives from Middle Dutch "niettemin", from "niet", negator, and "temin" (derived from "te min"), meaning "too little" | |||
English | nevertheless | ||
The word "nevertheless" is derived from the Old English words "nāfrethēlēas" and "nǣfrethēlēas," both meaning "none the less." | |||
French | cependant | ||
L'adverbe français « cependant » vient du latin « interea », qui signifie « pendant ce temps, entre-temps ». | |||
Frisian | nettsjinsteande | ||
The Frisian word 'nettsjinsteande' is derived from the Old Frisian words 'net' (not) and 'tjinsteande' (instead), meaning 'notwithstanding' or 'despite'. | |||
Galician | con todo | ||
Galician “con todo” derives from Latin “contutum” (“continuous”), possibly influenced by Portuguese “com tudo” (“with everything”). | |||
German | dennoch | ||
Dennoch is a compound of 'denn' ('for') and 'noch' ('still'); in the 15th century it meant 'for that reason'. | |||
Icelandic | engu að síður | ||
Irish | mar sin féin | ||
The Irish phrase "mar sin féin" literally translates to "as that very thing itself", emphasizing a stubborn refusal to change one's opinion. | |||
Italian | tuttavia | ||
The word "tuttavia" derives from the Latin "tamen", meaning "however", and has the alternate meaning of "yet" or "still". | |||
Luxembourgish | trotzdem | ||
Derived from Middle High German "trut" meaning "bold" and "fast" meaning "fixed". Originally meant "with confidence". | |||
Maltese | madankollu | ||
The etymology of "madankollu" is uncertain, but it may be derived from the Arabic word "madā an kullu," meaning "in spite of everything". | |||
Norwegian | likevel | ||
"Likevel" derives from the Old Norse word "líkvæl", which means "in the same way." | |||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | mesmo assim | ||
The origin of "mesmo assim" is the union of "mesmo" (even) and "assim" (like that), which gives it the literal meaning of “even like that”. | |||
Scots Gaelic | a dh'aindeoin sin | ||
The Gaelic phrase "a dh'aindeoin sin" can also be used to mean "despite that" in English. | |||
Spanish | sin embargo | ||
The expression "sin embargo" is derived from the Latin phrase "sine embargo," which means "without restraint." | |||
Swedish | ändå | ||
The word 'ändå' is derived from the Old Norse word 'enda', meaning 'only' or 'still'. | |||
Welsh | serch hynny | ||
"Serch hynny" means "nevertheless", it comes from "serch" and "hynny", the former of which also means "try" |
Belarusian | тым не менш | ||
Тым не менш is a combination of two words "тым" ("that") and "не менш" ("not less") that together mean "nevertheless" or "notwithstanding". | |||
Bosnian | ipak | ||
The word "ipak" in Bosnian is derived from the Old Church Slavonic word "ipakъ", meaning "also" or "again". | |||
Bulgarian | въпреки това | ||
Въпреки това е съставено от две думи: „въпре“, която има значение „против“, и „това“, която е показателно местоимение. | |||
Czech | nicméně | ||
The word "nicméně" is a conjunction composed of "nic" ("not" in the sense of "none") and "méně" ("less"). | |||
Estonian | sellegipoolest | ||
The word "sellegipoolest" is composed of three parts: "selle", "gi", and "poolest" meaning "this", "even", and "from the side", respectively. | |||
Finnish | tästä huolimatta | ||
"Tästä huolimatta" is the elative form of the Finnish word for "this," "tämä." | |||
Hungarian | mindazonáltal | ||
The word "Mindazonáltal" is derived from the Hungarian words "mindazon" (all that) and "által" (by, through), and it originally meant "by all that". Over time, it came to be used as a synonym for "nevertheless". | |||
Latvian | tomēr | ||
"Tomēr" is originally the locative form of the pronoun "tas" (that), referring to an unstated, implied antecedent that is nevertheless clear from the context. | |||
Lithuanian | vis dėlto | ||
The word "vis dėlto" is derived from the Old Prussian word "dàilt" (meaning "apart"), and the Lithuanian word "dėl" (meaning "because"). | |||
Macedonian | сепак | ||
The word "сепак" in Macedonian can also mean "however" or "nonetheless". | |||
Polish | niemniej jednak | ||
The word "Niemniej jednak" is a compound of the negation "nie" and the comparative form of the adjective "mniej" meaning "less", thus it could be literally translated as "not less, however". | |||
Romanian | cu toate acestea | ||
In Romanian, "cu toate acestea" also translates as "for all that," implying an acknowledgement of a contradictory truth. | |||
Russian | тем не менее | ||
"Тем не менее" is an adverb that can also mean "however" in Russian | |||
Serbian | ипак | ||
"Ипак" also means "silk" in Serbian, coming from the Persian word "abrisham" (ابریشم). | |||
Slovak | napriek tomu | ||
Napriek tomu is also an archaic term for 'tomorrow'. | |||
Slovenian | kljub temu | ||
The Slovenian word "kljub temu" derives from the Proto-Slavic "*kljutъ", meaning "key", and the preposition "temъ", meaning "to this", thus literally meaning "(with the) key to this". | |||
Ukrainian | тим не менше | ||
The word "тим не менше" in Ukrainian is composed of two parts: "тим" (pronounced "tym"), which means "that," and "не менше" (pronounced "ne menshe"), which means "no less." |
Bengali | তবুও | ||
তবুও is also sometimes used as a noun which means "yet" or "still". | |||
Gujarati | તેમ છતાં | ||
The word "તેમ છતાં" can also mean "however" or "in spite of that" in Gujarati. | |||
Hindi | फिर भी | ||
{"text": "The Hindi word फिर भी (phir bhi) is derived from the Persian word "pai ra pai," meaning "foot by foot" or "step by step."} | |||
Kannada | ಅದೇನೇ ಇದ್ದರೂ | ||
The term 'ಅದೇನೇ ಇದ್ದರೂ' is commonly used in Kannada as a conjunction to express a contrast or opposing idea. | |||
Malayalam | എന്നിരുന്നാലും | ||
Marathi | तथापि | ||
तथापि can also mean 'moreover', 'in addition', or even 'besides' in Marathi. | |||
Nepali | जे होस् | ||
जे होस् comes from the Sanskrit "yaḥ hoṣaḥ", which means "whatever happens". | |||
Punjabi | ਫਿਰ ਵੀ | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) | එසේ වුවද | ||
The literal meaning of එසේ වුවද is “so it is” or “so it has been”. | |||
Tamil | இருப்பினும் | ||
Telugu | ఏదేమైనా | ||
"ఏదేమైనా" is also used to indicate "even then", "still", "anyhow", or "after all." | |||
Urdu | بہر حال | ||
بہر حال (bah-ar-hahl) is the Urdu word for "anyway" or "nonetheless," derived from the Persian phrase "ba har hal," meaning "in any case" or "under any circumstance." |
Chinese (Simplified) | 但是 | ||
The word "但是" is formed by three characters, of which "但" means "only" or "but", and "是" is a grammatical particle meaning "to be". The word is commonly used in the sense of "however" or "nonetheless", but can also mean "but at the same time" or "despite this". | |||
Chinese (Traditional) | 但是 | ||
但是 (dàn shì) is also used figuratively to mean “to exceed expectations.” | |||
Japanese | それにもかかわらず | ||
The phrase それにもかかわらず combines the words それにも (even if so) and かかわらず (regardless), meaning "despite" or "in spite of." | |||
Korean | 그렇지만 | ||
The Korean word "그렇지만" comes from the Middle Korean word "그러치만" which was used to mean "however" or "but". | |||
Mongolian | гэсэн хэдий ч | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) | သို့သော် | ||
Indonesian | namun | ||
The word "namun" in Indonesian is derived from the ancient Javanese word "namunam" which means "but". It is also used as a subordinating conjunction to introduce a contrasting or unexpected idea. | |||
Javanese | nanging | ||
The Javanese word "nanging" can also mean "but" or "however." | |||
Khmer | ទោះយ៉ាងណាក៏ដោយ | ||
The term "ទោះយ៉ាងណាក៏ដោយ" is derived from the Sanskrit word "tathāpi," meaning "even so," and can also carry the connotation of "although" or "despite that." | |||
Lao | ເຖິງຢ່າງໃດກໍ່ຕາມ | ||
Malay | walaupun begitu | ||
"Walaupun begitu" is an Indonesian phrase meaning "nevertheless" or "however," and is derived from the Malay phrase "walaupun begitu," which has the same meaning. | |||
Thai | แต่ถึงอย่างไร | ||
The phrase "แต่ถึงอย่างไร" is a loan translation from the English phrase "nevertheless" and has the same meaning, but it can also be used in a more general sense to mean "even so" or "despite that." | |||
Vietnamese | tuy nhiên | ||
Tuy nhiên shares the etymology of | |||
Filipino (Tagalog) | gayunpaman | ||
Azerbaijani | yenə də | ||
The word "yenə də" in Azerbaijani is derived from the Persian word "yenəg" and the Arabic word "dīdah", meaning "again" and "eye" respectively, and it denotes continuation or persistence despite obstacles. | |||
Kazakh | дегенмен | ||
The verb 'дегенмен' originates from the verb 'деу', 'to say', and the negative particle 'е'. | |||
Kyrgyz | ошентсе да | ||
Ошенсе да in Kyrgyz is derived from the Arabic "وَإِن" which means "even if", and can thus have the more nuanced meaning of "even if it seems otherwise". | |||
Tajik | ба ҳар ҳол | ||
The word "ба ҳар ҳол" in Tajik can be literally translated into English as "in any case" or "in any way". | |||
Turkmen | şeýle-de bolsa | ||
Uzbek | baribir | ||
The word "baribir" in Uzbek means "nevertheless," but can also mean "regardless" or "anyway." | |||
Uyghur | شۇنداقتىمۇ | ||
Hawaiian | aka nae | ||
Aka nae can also mean "but", "however", or "still". | |||
Maori | ahakoa ra | ||
The word "ahakoa ra" is composed of "ahakoa," meaning "although," and "ra," an emphasizing particle. | |||
Samoan | e ui i lea | ||
The Samoan word "e ui i lea" is a contraction of the phrase "e ui i le a," which means "it is still the word." | |||
Tagalog (Filipino) | gayon pa man | ||
The word "gayon pa man" has the same etymology as "gayun pa man," meaning "however" or "all the same." |
Aymara | ukampirusa | ||
Guarani | jepéramo | ||
Esperanto | tamen | ||
The Latin word "tamen" not only means "nevertheless" but also "only" and "indeed". | |||
Latin | nihilominus | ||
The Latin word "nihilominus" comes from the phrase "nihilominus tamen," which literally means "nothing less than still." |
Greek | παρ 'όλα αυτά | ||
The Greek word "παρ 'όλα αυτά" translates to "nevertheless," but also literally means "besides these things." | |||
Hmong | txawm li cas los xij | ||
The literal meaning of "txawm li cas los xij" is "even if it's like that". | |||
Kurdish | lêbelê | ||
The word 'lêbelê' is derived from the Persian word 'lâbelâ', which also means 'nevertheless'. | |||
Turkish | yine de | ||
"Yine de" kelimesi "yeni de" ( | |||
Xhosa | nangona kunjalo | ||
The word "nangona kunjalo" can be used to describe something that is difficult or undesirable but that must nevertheless be done. | |||
Yiddish | פונדעסטוועגן | ||
The Yiddish word "פונדעסטוועגן" is derived from the German phrase "von des wegen" meaning "for this reason". | |||
Zulu | noma kunjalo | ||
The Zulu word "noma kunjalo" literally means "it is like that". | |||
Assamese | যিয়েই নহওক | ||
Aymara | ukampirusa | ||
Bhojpuri | तब्बो | ||
Dhivehi | އެހެންވިޔަސް | ||
Dogri | फ्ही बी | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) | gayunpaman | ||
Guarani | jepéramo | ||
Ilocano | uray pay | ||
Krio | bɔt stil | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) | لەگەڵ ئەوەش | ||
Maithili | तहियो | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯃꯗꯨ ꯑꯣꯏꯔꯕ ꯐꯥꯎꯕꯗ | ||
Mizo | engpawhnise | ||
Oromo | haa ta'u malee | ||
Odia (Oriya) | ତଥାପି | ||
Quechua | chaypas | ||
Sanskrit | तथापि | ||
Tatar | шулай да | ||
Tigrinya | ምንም ብዘየገድስ | ||
Tsonga | hambi | ||