Have you ever found yourself in a situation where every choice seems to lead to the same frustrating result? To express this feeling of "unconditional concession"—doing something no matter what the circumstances are—German uses the word egal (it doesn't matter / no matter).
Let's imagine navigating a complex labyrinth to see how this works.
| This labyrinth is endless and very confusing. | Dieses Labyrinth ist endlos und sehr verwirrend. |
"Egal" with W-words
To say "no matter where", "no matter how", or "no matter what", you combine egal, with a question word (a W-word like wohin, wie, or was).
This creates a subordinate clause, which means the conjugated verb is pushed to the very end of that clause.
| No matter where we go, we land in a dead end. | Egal, wohin wir gehen, wir landen in einer Sackgasse. |
Notice the word order in the main clause that follows the comma (wir landen...). Unlike most subordinate clauses in German, which force the main clause to start immediately with a verb, an egal-clause acts a bit like a detached intro. The main clause following it usually just keeps its normal word order (Subject-Verb).
| No matter how fast you run, you get lost somewhere in this labyrinth. | Egal, wie schnell du läufst, du verläufst dich irgendwo in diesem Labyrinth. |
| No matter what I do, I lose my orientation in this endless corridor. | Egal, was ich tue, ich verliere in diesem endlosen Gang die Orientierung. |
Putting the Main Clause First
You can also flip the sentence and start with the main clause. The main clause keeps its regular word order, and the egal-clause follows the comma, still keeping its conjugated verb at the very end.
| It is hopeless, no matter how many steps we take. | Es ist ausweglos, egal, wie viele Schritte wir machen. |
"Egal, ob" (No matter whether)
When your scenario doesn't use a specific question word, but instead presents an "either/or" choice, you use egal, ob (no matter whether / no matter if).
Just like with W-words, ob sends the conjugated verb to the end of the clause.
| No matter whether we turn left or right, dead ends appear everywhere. | Egal, ob wir links oder rechts abbiegen, überall tauchen Sackgassen auf. |
And just like before, this phrase can easily sit at the end of the sentence if you prefer to lead with your main clause.
| The situation is hopeless, no matter whether we stand or walk. | Die Situation ist ausweglos, egal, ob wir stehen oder laufen. |