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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.

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### "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.

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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).

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### 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.

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### "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.

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And just like before, this phrase can easily sit at the end of the sentence if you prefer to lead with your main clause.

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Unconditional concession (egal)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (der, die, das)

Indefinite articles (ein, eine)

Regular verbs and statement word order (ich -e, er -t)

The second person (du -st, Sie -en)

Yes/No questions

The verb 'to have' (habe, hast, hat)

Plural pronouns and regular verbs (wir, ihr, sie)

Plural 'to be' and 'to have' (sind, haben)

Plural nouns and the plural article (die)

Sentence negation (nicht)

Noun negation (kein, keine)

Question words (wer, was, wo, wie)

Numbers 0 to 12 (null, eins, zwei)

The accusative case (den, die, das)

Indefinite accusative articles (einen, keinen)

Direct object pronouns (mich, dich, ihn)

There is / there are (es gibt)

Vowel changes: e to i/ie (er spricht, sie liest)

Vowel changes: a to ä (er fährt)

Weather and conditions (es regnet)

First- and second-person possessives in the nominative (mein, dein, Ihr)

First- and second-person possessives in the accusative (meinen, deinen, Ihren)

Third-person and plural possessives (sein, ihr, unser, euer)

Possession with names (Annas Auto)

Demonstrative pronouns (dieser, diese, dieses)

Expressing preference (gern, lieber)

Asking about direction and origin (woher, wohin)

Expressing ability (können)

Polite requests (möchten)

Expressing intention (wollen)

Modal verbs of obligation and permission (müssen, dürfen)

Separable prefix verbs

Adverbs of frequency (immer, oft, manchmal, nie)

The Dative case and definite articles (dem, der, den)

Dative indefinite and negative articles (einem, einer, keinem)

Dative personal pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr...)

Dative verbs (helfen, danken, gefallen, schmecken)

Dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach...)

Accusative prepositions (für, ohne, gegen)

Two-way prepositions for location (in, an, auf...)

Informal singular imperative (mach, komm)

Plural and formal imperative (macht, machen Sie)

Coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, denn)

Simple past of sein and haben (war, hatte)

The perfect tense: regular verbs (gemacht, gespielt)

Past tense: irregular verbs (ge-...-en)

The perfect tense: mixed verbs (gebracht, gekannt)

The perfect tense with sein (ist gegangen)

The perfect tense: separable verbs (eingekauft)

The perfect tense: inseparable and -ieren verbs (besucht, studiert)

Informal singular commands (mach, lern)

Numbers 13 to 20 (dreizehn to zwanzig)

Counting by tens to 100 (dreißig, vierzig)

Telling time (Uhr, halb, Viertel, vor, nach)

Numbers 21 to 99 (einundzwanzig, zweiunddreißig)

Greetings and farewells

Thank you, sorry and good wishes

Everyday replies

Numbers 100 to 1,000,000 (hundert, tausend...)

Becoming and getting (werden)

The impersonal pronoun (man)

Indefinite pronouns (jemand, niemand...)

Time sequence prepositions (vor, nach, bei)

Time span prepositions (von... bis, seit, für)

Adverbs of sequence (zuerst, dann, danach)

Two-way prepositions for direction (in, auf, an...)

Directional adverbs (hin, her)

Placement verbs (setzen, stellen, legen)

Months of the year (Januar, Februar)

The four seasons (Frühling, Sommer)

Time prepositions and indefinite pronouns (an, in, um)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 19th (am ersten)

Ordinals 20th and beyond (-ste, -sten)

Placement vs. location verbs (stellen vs. stehen)

Accusative reflexive pronouns (mich, dich, sich)

Accusative reflexive verbs (sich freuen)

Dative reflexive pronouns (mir, dir, sich)

Dative reflexive verbs (sich etwas merken)

Ordinal numbers 11th to 19th (-te)

Temporal prepositions (an, in, um)

Double objects with nouns

Double objects with pronouns

The modal verb for advice (sollen)

Simple past of modal verbs (musste, wollte...)

Simple past of common irregulars (wurde, wusste, es gab)

Adverbial connectors of consequence (deshalb, darum...)

Subordinate clauses for statements (dass)

Question	Answer
the labyrinth	das Labyrinth
endless	endlos
confusing	verwirrend
This labyrinth is endless and very confusing.	Dieses Labyrinth ist endlos und sehr verwirrend.
the dead end	die Sackgasse
No matter where we go, we land in a dead end.	Egal, wohin wir gehen, wir landen in einer Sackgasse.
to get lost	sich verlaufen
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.
hopeless (no way out)	ausweglos
the step (walking, pace)	der Schritt
It is hopeless, no matter how many steps we take.	Es ist ausweglos, egal, wie viele Schritte wir machen.
the circle	der Kreis
to appear	auftauchen
We are walking in circles, and suddenly a wall appears again.	Wir laufen im Kreis, und plötzlich taucht wieder eine Wand auf.
No matter whether we turn left or right, dead ends appear everywhere.	Egal, ob wir links oder rechts abbiegen, überall tauchen Sackgassen auf.
the orientation	die Orientierung
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.
After we had planned every step, the path was nevertheless confusing.	Nachdem wir jeden Schritt geplant hatten, war der Weg trotzdem verwirrend.
The situation is hopeless, no matter whether we stand or walk.	Die Situation ist ausweglos, egal, ob wir stehen oder laufen.
No matter how good your orientation is, you are walking in circles here.	Egal, wie gut deine Orientierung ist, du läufst hier im Kreis.
No matter where we go, we get lost and find a dead end.	Egal, wohin wir gehen, wir verlaufen uns und finden eine Sackgasse.