scheinbar
German
editPronunciation
editAdverb
editscheinbar
- apparently (seemingly)
- Synonyms: vermeintlich, angeblich
- Die Sonne dreht sich scheinbar um die Erde.
- Seemingly, the Sun revolves around the Earth.
Adjective
editscheinbar (no predicative form, strong nominative masculine singular scheinbarer, not comparable)
- apparent, seeming
- Synonyms: Schein-, Pseudo-, vermeintlich, angeblich
- Diese Lösung ist nur eine scheinbare Lösung.
- This solution only appears to be a solution.
Usage notes
editScheinbar means that something merely seems to be true but is not actually true, whereas anscheinend means that something seems to be true with nothing at present to suggest that it is not in fact true. In everyday usage, the two words are often mistakenly treated as synonyms; this can result in situations in which the meaning perceived by the listener is actually the opposite of the meaning intended by the speaker.
Declension
editPositive forms of scheinbar (uncomparable, no predicate)
number & gender | singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | |||
predicative | — | — | — | — | |
strong declension (without article) |
nominative | ||||
genitive | |||||
dative | |||||
accusative | |||||
weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der | die | das | die |
genitive | des | der | des | der | |
dative | dem | der | dem | den | |
accusative | den | die | das | die | |
mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein | eine | ein | (keine) |
genitive | eines | einer | eines | (keiner) | |
dative | einem | einer | einem | (keinen) | |
accusative | einen | eine | ein | (keine) |
Further reading
edit- “scheinbar” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “scheinbar” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
- “scheinbar (Adverb)” in Duden online
- “scheinbar (Adjektiv)” in Duden online