Egentlig / faktisk - what is the difference?

These ones can be confusing as they can both translate to “actual(ly)” or “as a matter of fact”.

One way to separate them is to find other translations.

Egentlig can also be translated to “in reality”, “in the first place” or “normally ( …but not now)”.

“Faktisk” can be used to express that you are surprised, that what you are saying is surprising, or it can be used when you try to convince someone that what you are saying is in fact the truth.

In many cases, both of them can be used, but they do not express exactly the same idea. We will only look at sentences where they are used as adverbs here because that is how they most commonly occur.

Let’s look at some examples!

Naboen min er egentlig ganske hyggelig.

My neighbour is in reality quite nice.

Despite what it looks like on the surface or the information we have on hand, my neighbour is quite nice. That is “the hidden truth”. This can be a neutral sentence without strong feelings connected it.

Naboen min er faktisk ganske hyggelig!

My neighbor is actually quite nice!

When using “faktisk” in this case, either I am trying to convince you of the opposite of what you think, or I am just telling you that I am surprised by a fact.

In this sentence, both “faktisk” and “egentlig” can make sense, and the difference in meaning is not very big.

I could use both sentences in the same scenario: Having a neighbor who seems unpleasant, but that I have discovered is quite nice. With “egentlig” my focus is on the fact that this aspect is not so visible. With “faktisk” my focus is on my surprise or that I am upset about someone thinking the opposite.

Now let us look at one sentence where the difference is more obvious.

Jeg kan egentlig ikke komme på fredag …

I can not really come on Friday …

By using “egentlig” I am showing that I have made other plans in the first place, but maybe these can change. There is a “but” in the air …

Jeg kan faktisk ikke komme på fredag!

I really can not come on Friday!

With “faktisk” my sentence is more assertive and might be the answer to a too-insisting person. In this case, I am not up for any discussion. It’s like saying: “Trust me on this one, it’s not a joke”.

Now let’s finish with some sentences where only one of the two would make sense.

Hvilken by kommer du egentlig fra?

Which city do you actually come from?

I live in Oslo, but I come from Bergen. You can hear it on my dialect, so it could be a natural question to ask for some. Here “egentlig” means “in reality”, “for real”, what is “the hidden truth” in some way.

Hva synes du egentlig om kaffe?

What do you actually think of coffee?

I am asking what your true opinion about coffee is. Maybe I can see that you are pretending to like coffee. I am asking about your “hidden truth”.

You might answer:

Jeg liker egentlig kaffe, men denne var dårlig.

I do actually/normally like coffee, but this one was bad.

So it would be like saying that you normally like it, but not this particular one.

Or maybe you could answer:

Jeg liker faktisk kaffe!

I do actually like coffee!

It might not look like it, but I do like it! I am enjoying the coffee! “Faktisk” here means “ Believe me, I am not joking”!

Ok, the last two examples :)

Det er faktisk ikke så mange som bor i Norge!

There are actually not a lot of people living in Norway!

“Surprisingly” could be a good translation here. Or maybe I could use it to convince you (if you thought that many people live in Norway).

Using “egentlig” in this sentence would mean that normally many people live here, but for some reason, there are not so many people here now. Maybe they are all on vacation now for instance …

Jeg har faktisk lært meg norsk!

I have actually learned Norwegian!

I have managed to learn Norwegian, would you believe it?? Either you convey a positive, excited message, or an irritated/insisting one (to someone who does not believe you), depending on how you say it.

Using “egentlig” here would mean that you learned it, but it does not show … Or you unlearned it somehow. Which I hope is not the case ;)

I hope you get the difference a little better now :) Feel free to write some sentences in the comment field to see if you can use them correctly :)

Vi snakkes! :)