"Again" or "Against"?

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Have you already developed an inner resistance when you get into the difficult situation again and again of finding the two "variants" misspelled somewhere? Or are you sometimes not entirely sure yourself? There is a small but subtle difference in the use of these two spellings - read what it consists of and how best to remember the difference.

Two words, one pronunciation and their meaning.
Two words, one pronunciation and their meaning. © Claudia_Hautumm / Pixelio

The difference hasn't always been there

  • Orally there is no difference, because both "again" and "against" are spoken with a long "i". That doesn't exactly make the correct use of the written language any easier.
  • In this context, it is perhaps interesting that in the past this difference did not even exist in writing. Exactly until 1901, when the difference in the spelling was first determined at the so-called "Orthographic Conference" in Berlin.
  • From the same (Germanic) tribe, the differences in content have developed little by little. Originally this meant "against" as much as "against an enemy" - later it became a change of direction ("opposite"), it was then also used as "back" - and in the end you ended up with the same word Meaning "again". "Going back" became "going the same way again" - ergo "again / again".
  • Due to the increasingly clear differences in use, one finally came across the different spelling in the 18th century.

When it means "again", when "against"

  • You can tell the difference in spelling by starting with the meaning of the word in each context.
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  • If you use the word in the sense of "again" write "again", ie with an "ie". For example, it says "He will come back tomorrow" = will come again. Or: "A film is shown in a repetition on TV" = is broadcast again.
  • In contrast, it is written "against" when the content is about an "against / against". Here, too, brief examples: "I disagree" = express a contrary opinion. Or: "He resists" = defends himself against something / someone.
  • A small donkey bridge should be added here. Instead of "again" it is also possible to say "a second time". And a second time is - logically - more than just once. And the word that you then have to use in this case also has one letter more than the (wrong) alternative - namely the "e" in "ie" in "again".

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