conjunction
indeed, admittedly
B1
Zwar expresses concession meaning 'indeed' or 'admittedly' and often appears in correlative pairs (zwar ... aber). It qualifies a statement, softening or limiting it. It does not change word order like subordinating conjunctions, and is commonly followed by contrastive phrases to signal concession.
VOCABULARY.DETAILS.EXAMPLES
Er hat zwar wenig Zeit, aber er hilft dir trotzdem.
He does have little time, but he'll help you anyway.
Er sagte zwar, dass er kommen würde, aber er erschien nicht, weil der Zug ausgefallen war.
He did say that he would come, but he didn't show up because the train had been canceled.
Zwar ist das Auto teuer, aber es ist sehr zuverlässig.
Admittedly the car is expensive, but it's very reliable.
VOCABULARY.DETAILS.DETAILS_LABEL
VOCABULARY.DETAILS.MNEMONICS
Imagine a short pause with two signs: 'yes' then 'but' — 'zwar' introduces the 'yes' part in your mind
Sounds a bit like English 'zwar' ~ 'sure' (soft 's' idea: 'zwar' concedes and then contrasts)
VOCABULARY.DETAILS.NOTES
Used often in the correlative pattern 'zwar ... aber' to concede a point before introducing a contrast. Register: neutral.