eventuell or schließlich?
b1English eventually is German schließlich and states certainty. German eventuell means possibly and states doubt. The false friend flips „definitely“ into „maybe“.
eventuell
Maybe, possibly. Interchangeable with „vielleicht“, just more formal; abbreviated evtl.
Ich komme eventuell später.I may come later.
schließlich
What English eventually means: in the end, after a while. Also causal: „schließlich hast du es versprochen“.
Schließlich hat er doch zugestimmt.In the end he agreed after all.
The mistake
Eventuell hat er die Prüfung bestanden.
Schließlich hat er die Prüfung bestanden.
Someone who passed the exam definitely passed it. „eventuell“ turns that into an open possibility.
Rule of thumb
Mnemonic: eventuell is a maybe, schließlich is an at-last.
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