zwar

German

Etymology

From Middle High German zwāre, contraction of ze wāre (“verily, indeed”), from Old High German zi wāre (8th c.). Equivalent to zu + wahr. The concessive use developed first in cognate Middle Low German twâre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tsvaːr/, [t͡sʋaː(ɐ̯)], [t͡sʋaːʁ]

• Audio

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Adverb

zwar

1. Signals a following contrary clause, which is usually introduced with aber (“but”), stressing that the speaker is aware of the contradiction, but that it does not invalidate the statement.
   • Franz Kafka, Amerika:

     Sie bewunderten zwar das Schauspiel, aber man erkannte doch, daß sie enttäuscht waren.

     They were admiring the play, but you could see they were disappointed.

   Dieser Rock ist zwar teuer, aber ich kaufe ihn trotzdem.

   This skirt is admittedly expensive, but I’ll buy it anyway.

   Wir hatten zwar viele Probleme, aber letztlich hat es sich auf jeden Fall gelohnt.

   We did have a lot of problems, but in the end it was definitely worth it.

2. namely; only in the form und zwar

   Aber dann habe ich mir doch eins gekauft, und zwar das blaue.

   But then I bought one anyway, namely the blue one.

   Ich habe was Tolles gemacht! Und zwar habe ich geschmacksfreies Eis erfunden.

   I did something great! Namely I invented taste-free ice cream.

Synonyms

• (zwar ... aber): allerdings, freilich, zugegebenermaßen

Derived terms

• und zwar

Further reading

• “zwar” in Duden online
• “zwar” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache