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ESL forum > Grammar and Linguistics > finally or eventually?    

finally or eventually?



Nuria08
Spain

finally or eventually?
 
Does anyone know the difference between these two adverbs? I know they can often be used indistinctly, but I �ve read somewhere that "finally" implies an effort and "eventually" implies an end after a long process. What do you think?

28 Nov 2012      





lurdesilva
Portugal

According to Oxford Advanced Learner �s Dictionary,
finally:
after a long time, especially when there has been some difficulty or delay
 
is a synonym of
 
eventually:
at the end of a period of time or a series of events
 
 

28 Nov 2012     



IonMincu
Romania

Finally indicates the termination of the action or sequence of events. For example:

After 12 hours of travel by plane, train, and taxi, we finally arrived at our destination.

Eventually is typically used to generally indicate the action will or did come to an end after a possibly indeterminable length of time. Examples:

We will eventually arrive at our destination after taking a series of train transfers.

He eventually figured out the answer to the difficult question.

***This may not be the exact grammatical rule for these adverbs, but this is how I �ve always been taught to use them.

28 Nov 2012     



yanogator
United States

IonMincu has a good explanation. That is how I use the words, too.
Finally has some emotion involved in the situation. Eventually is just a statement of fact.
 
Bruce

28 Nov 2012     



Nuria08
Spain

Thanx so much! I have it clear now.

28 Nov 2012