Here they are again: Words which sound so much alike, have similar meanings, and everybody uses them. What, then, is the difference?
Let’s begin with the fact that nonetheless, nevertheless, and notwithstanding are all compound words. This means that you can break the word up into separate words. By doing so, you can find clues to the distinctions, however slight, between the three words.
Compare the words none the less with never the less. If used as a pronoun, none means not one, no one, or not any. Applied as an adverb, it means not at all. In either case, the word signifies a physical or metaphysical thing. Never is an adverb which negates time. Cut out shapes 8 3 16. Viewed this way, one can see a difference.
'Nonetheless' was once commonly written as 'none the less.' However, that that is no longer the case is indicated by the Online Etymology Dictionary, which – as @J.R. Has noted in a comment – says that 'none the less' was 'contracted into one word from c. This is a word that people don't usually stop and define. They use it to link two seemingly contradictory thoughts. Nonetheless, it does have a definition. It means 'in spite of.'
Nonetheless definition is - in spite of what has just been said: nevertheless. How to use nonetheless in a sentence.
“I kept losing money until I was left with none.”
“I never believed that I would lose all my money.”
Now, take it a step further and add to the sentences above.
“I kept losing money until I was left with none. The excitement was worth it, nonetheless.”
“I never believed that I would lose all my money. Nevertheless, I continued to play.”
While they are both adverbs, meaning that they are modifiers, when properly applied, nevertheless should be used when referring to an event or situation which either has, is, or may occur. Nonetheless should be applied to something which is measurably quantifiable.
Note, also, the structure of the example sentences. Nevertheless is used more frequently in the active voice, when the subject of the sentence acts upon the verb. You are more likely to see nonetheless as an example of the passive voice, where the subject is receiver of the action.
In common usage, the two words are effectively interchangeable. Keykey 2 6 – typing tutor typing. As with all words, once a meaning becomes universally accepted, there is no going back. At least one dictionary defines nonetheless as meaning nevertheless, adding that the only difference is that nonetheless is the more formal usage of the two. Linguistic historians will also note that nevertheless appeared in English usage (around 1350), much earlier than nonetheless, about two centuries later.
In contrast, notwithstanding is a compoundpreposition, formed by prefixing a preposition with a noun, adverb, or adjective. You’ll often see it as part of a prepositional phrase. It is commonly interchangeable with the word despite, or the phrase, “in spite of…”.
Nonetheless Thesaurus
“Notwithstanding the extreme cold, I left the house wearing shorts.”
Like the other two, notwithstanding is likely to be used in more formal discourse. You’ll often find it in legal settings.
So…
Notwithstanding the similarities among the three words, you’ll probably nevertheless use one more frequently than the other, which is nonetheless more formal.
Art by Molly Dowd Sullivan
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‘the rally, which the government had declared illegal, was nonetheless attended by some 6,000’
‘It reminds me of another frighteningly different culture which nonetheless fascinates us.’
‘I shed a few angry tears after that, but still went to the writing test nonetheless.’
‘The outcome of the Butler Report may have been predictable but it's remarkable nonetheless.’
‘Smoke from the fire streamed up to a hole in the roof: but the air was filled with woodsmoke nonetheless.’
‘We should not overstate the risk to Scotland, which remains small, but it is there nonetheless.’
‘He nonetheless managed to open the season with three straight league wins.’
‘Much like the film it alludes to, this is an acquired taste, but worth taking a chance on, nonetheless.’
‘These are not all of the colleges' own making but they will have to respond nonetheless.’
‘This gossip was denied by the government but nonetheless it influenced some to vote.’
‘The combat and movement can be clumsy, but the game haunts you nonetheless.’
‘This is as hard to believe as the first images we saw were yesterday, but nonetheless that is what has happened.’
‘Some of his advice may seem simplistic in the extreme but it is important nonetheless.’
‘But a close family source said they nonetheless feared they would lose their croft.’
‘Like many a Costello lyric, it's ambitious and complicated but potent nonetheless.’
‘In some ways they were objects, too scary to be people, but to be adored nonetheless.’
‘He stepped forward, his arms at his sides, but I was nonetheless within his personal space.’
‘That was already pretty obvious over here, but nonetheless the announcement has been made.’
‘They can nonetheless be taken to indicate a distinctive turn in recent art.’
‘Bacall nonetheless seemed and still seems to have been made for the screen.’
‘Elephant is not a total success, therefore, but it is a good album nonetheless.’
in spite of everything, in spite of that, nonetheless, even so, however, but, still, yet, though, be that as it may, for all that, despite everything, despite that, after everything, having said that, that said, just the same, all the same, at the same time, in any event, come what may, at any rate, notwithstanding, regardless, anyway, anyhow
View synonyms
Nonetheless Synonym
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