actually

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is one of a number of words, like definitely, really, surely, etc., which are used freely as emphasizers, either in relation to words or phrases

(Often it wasn't actually a railway station but a special stopping place in the middle of nowhere—New Yorker, 1987)

or as sentence adverbs qualifying a complete statement

(I'd like to see those scrap books again, actually—Lee Smith, 1983

'I told you, I've got problems at work.' 'Actually, you didn't.' Such uses are more common in speech, where they help with continuity and sentence balance. It is clearly a useful if somewhat overused word.

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adverb

1. In truth: fairly, genuinely, indeed, positively, really, truly, truthfully, verily. Idioms: for fair. See real/imaginary, true/false.
2. In point of fact: indeed, really. See real/imaginary, true/false.
3. At this moment: currently, now. Idioms: evenjustrightnow. See time.

A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce

adv.

Perhaps; possibly.

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IN BRIEF: Used to imply that one would expect the fact to be the opposite of that stated; Also: In fact; Really.

People who laugh actually live longer than those who don't laugh. Few persons realize that health actually varies according to the amount of laughter. — James J. Walsh

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For a list of words related to actually, see:

• Absolutes and Guarantees

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Common misspelling(s) of actually

• actualy

Dansk (Danish)
adv. - faktisk, egentlig

Nederlands (Dutch)
eigenlijk, feitelijk, momenteel,

Français (French)
adv. - en fait, à vrai dire, véritablement, exactement, au juste, réellement, même

Deutsch (German)
adv. - eigentlich, wirklich, jetzt, sogar, tatsächlich

Ελληνική (Greek)
adv. - πραγματικά, στην πραγματικότητα

Italiano (Italian)
realmente, veramente, in realtà, perfino, infatti, di fatto

Português (Portuguese)
adv. - realmente, de fato, de momento

Русский (Russian)
действительно, даже, вообще говоря, в самом деле

Español (Spanish)
adv. - efectivamente, incluso, hasta, de hecho, en efecto, esencialmente

Svenska (Swedish)
adv. - egentligen, faktiskt, för tillfället

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
实际上, 真的, 竟然

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adv. - 實際上, 真的, 竟然

한국어 (Korean)
adv. - 지금, 정말로

日本語 (Japanese)
adv. - 実際に, 実際は, 現に

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(ظرف) في الواقع, حاليا‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adv. - ‮לאמיתו של דבר, למעשה, כעת, ממש‬

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