Concessive adverb 'nichtsdestoweniger' (nevertheless)

nichtsdestoweniger means nevertheless and is the most formal of the concessive adverbs in this family. Built transparently from nichts + desto + weniger ("none the less"), it belongs to elevated written German - legal, academic and literary prose.

It behaves syntactically like its siblings: an adverb that occupies the Vorfeld and produces subject-verb inversion:

• Die Aufgabe war schwer; nichtsdestoweniger gelang sie ihm. - The task was hard; nevertheless he managed it.
• Es fehlten die Mittel; nichtsdestoweniger wurde das Vorhaben verwirklicht. - Funds were lacking; nevertheless the project was realised.
• Der Beweis war indirekt. Nichtsdestoweniger überzeugte er das Gericht. - The proof was indirect. Nevertheless it convinced the court.

It is essentially interchangeable with nichtsdestotrotz, but a register higher and drier.

Common mistakes:

• Verb-final order, as though it subordinated the clause - it does not; keep the verb in second position.
• Choosing it in everyday or spoken contexts, where it sounds archaic; reserve it for formal writing.
• Confusing the spelling (it is one word, -weniger not -trotz).

'nichtsdestoweniger' (nevertheless) is the most formal concessive adverb; causes inversion.

Most formal 'nevertheless'; at the start of a clause it causes inversion.

'nichtsdestoweniger' ist die förmlichste Variante; führt zur Inversion.