# In the end



## artimedoros49

Hi,

I’m having trouble with the following sentence:
*In the end,* we spoke only English.  

For a bit of context: When we were young, we spoke only Dutch. But over the years, we increasingly spoke English. *In the end,* we spoke only English.  

My try: *Konečně*/ *nakonec*, mluvili jsme jenom anglicky.

Are *konečně** /nakonec* the basically same or is there a difference in meaning?

Thank you


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## bibax

There is a difference, a nuance.

*Nakonec* jsme mluvili jen anglicky. rather accidentally, by chance

*Konečně* jsme mluvili jen anglicky. we tried hard to do it

*No konečně!* = Well at last! with relief


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## Enquiring Mind

Hi artimedoros, it seems to me (a non-native Czech speaker) that there can appear to be quite a degree of overlap between *konečně* and *nakonec*, but there is a subtle difference as explained by bibax with *nakonec* often having the meaning of "as it turned out", "in the long run", "when all is said and done", and *konečně* meaning "at long last" in the sense of "we're waiting for it to happen". There are actually entries for both these words in the WR's (unfortunately somewhat dysfunctional) Cz-Eng dictionary here and here with some useful info and examples. 

In the context of your sentence, I think for "in the end, we spoke only English" you certainly could say "*nakonec* jsme mluvili jenom anglicky", but "*konečně* jsme mluvili jenom anglicky" would imply that it was our intention all along to speak only English, and it finally happened, our wish came true. Your sense is not that it was your intention to speak only English, that's just the way things turned out, just the way the cookie crumbled. 

Actually my natural inclination to translate your sentence is to say "a potom už jenom", so for me "When we were young, we spoke only Dutch. But over the years, we increasingly spoke English. *In the end,* we spoke only English" would be "za mládí jsme mluvili jenom holandsky, ale postupem času jsme začali mluvit čím dál víc anglicky, a potom už jenom anglicky".

_Torres *nakonec* odchází z AC Milán, rok a půl bude hostovat v Atlétiku_. (source: fotbal.idnes.cz)
_Torres off to AC Milan ...._ The sense is "in the end", "as it turns out".  *Konečně* would mean that's what we or he intended all along, and it's finally happening. 

_Devět lidí, kteří by už *konečně* měli  jít do prdele._ (source: g.cz)
Nine people who should just  f*** off once and for all.  (The sense is "we've been waiting a long time for it to happen", "it can't happen too soon", "why don't they just do it?")

Devět lidí, kteří by* nakonec* měli  jít do prdele.  
Nine people who, *in actual fact* / *when all is said and done / as a matter of fact*, should just ....

_Sobotka v televizi vysvětlil, proč se* nakonec* rozhodl nominovat Ťoka na post ministra dopravy. _(source: parlamentnilisty.cz)
... why, *in the end* / *at the end of the day*, he decided ... (The sense is "that's what eventually happened, that's just how it turned out, that's what he ended up doing")

_Sobotka v televizi vysvětlil, proč se* konečně* rozhodl nominovat Ťoka na post ministra dopravy._
... why he finally decided ... (The sense is "I/he/someone/people wanted/expected him to to it, now he's doing it at last, and about time too, not a moment too soon!)

Again, this is my non-native opinion, and I obviously defer to the judgement of the natives.


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## artimedoros49

Thank you both for shedding some light on the subtle differences in usage. Much appreciated.


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## bibax

Another example:

1) *Nakonec nám číšník přinesl účet.*  = _In the end the waiter brought us the bill._

a dry description of the event

2) *Konečně nám číšník přinesl účet.

*We waited for ages. Someone commented it: No sláva! (Hurray!)


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