[Grammar] Correct use of the word 'nevertheless"

Status
Not open for further replies.

Femkeisab

New member
Joined
Aug 3, 2014
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Dutch
Home Country
Netherlands
Current Location
Netherlands
Hi all!
While I was texting with a friend of mine, she said the following:
"We'll talk about this later tonight!"
Half an hour later, she replied:
"Nevertheless, we'll talk tomorrow."
And so I, being the great friend I am, told her her use of the word 'nevertheless' was incorrect. She stubbornly kept believing her use of the word was correct, so I bet her €1,-.

It would be much appreciated if someone could help clarify this situation :) HELP ME WIN A EURO! WOO-HOO!

EDIT: I should add this:
She wanted to use 'nevertheless' to contradict what she said before (so instead of talking tonight, she wanted to talk tomorrow)
 
Last edited:

MikeNewYork

VIP Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
If there were no intervening dialogue, "nevertheless" would be odd.
 

Femkeisab

New member
Joined
Aug 3, 2014
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Dutch
Home Country
Netherlands
Current Location
Netherlands
The intervening dialogue went like this:
ME: "Alright, tezt (sic) me later tonight."
My friend likes annoying me, so she repeated my typo:
FRIEND: "tezt"
The next thing she said was the sentence starting with 'nevertheless', which I mentioned in my previous post.
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
If she started off by saying "We'll talk about this later tonight" and you also said "OK, text/tezt me later tonight", then it makes no sense for her to say "We'll talk tomorrow" with or without "Nevertheless". At no point do you appear to have agreed to communicate "tomorrow".

However, if there was already an agreement to speak the next day, then I find her usage perfectly acceptable. She seems to have been saying "Even if we're going to exchange more texts later tonight, we're still going to speak to each other tomorrow". If that's the case, then I have no problem with "Nevertheless".


That intervening dialogue seems very short to have filled half an hour!
 

MikeNewYork

VIP Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
That doesn't change my answer.
 

Femkeisab

New member
Joined
Aug 3, 2014
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Dutch
Home Country
Netherlands
Current Location
Netherlands
Thanks for the replies!

Well, after I said "OK, tezt me later tonight", she didn't reply for half an hour.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top