매튜의 한국어 연습 블로그

어차피 (於此彼)
anyway, anyhow, in any case, after all

아무튼
in any case, anyway, anyhow, at any rate

어쨌든
anyway, anyhow, at any rate, in any case, at all events

하여튼 (何如튼)
anyway, anyhow, at any rate, in any case


어땠든 is arguably the most used expression in everyday speech. It stands out as the most inherently neutral term. The rest can be used in negative or positive situations depending on the intonation and context. The only expression that is usually almost always used in a somewhat negative way is 어차피. Compare:

어차피 학교 가야돼
Anyway, I gotta go to school. (I have no control over it. I don't want to go but I have to.)

아무튼 학교 가야돼
Anyway, I gotta go to school. (See you later. I must go to class now)

어차피 안돼.
Anyway, it's not happening / I'm not doing it / No way, man

어땠든 안돼.
Anyway, it's out of my control / I can't do it even if I wanted to / There's no way

내가 어차피 전화하려고 했는데 형이 전화해서 다행이네.
I was supposed to call you but you called me first

아무튼 이렇게 모이게 돼서 기뻐.
we hadn't met for a long time but we had farewell finally

어쨌든 그는 네 아버지야.
He's your father for goodness sakes.

어쨌든 다신 하지 않겠습니다.
Anyway, I won't do that again.

아무튼 내 말대로만 해라. 응?
In any case, just do as I say, yeah?

아무튼 내일 거기 가겠습니다.
In any case, I'll go there tomorrow.

하여튼 만사 잘 되시길 바라며 곧 연락 드리겠습니다.
At any rate, I hope all is well and we'll talk again soon.