meanwhile / in the meantime
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meanwhile
During the time that lies between two other events or points in time; in the meantime.
Die Suppe muss eine Stunde kochen; zwischenzeitlich können wir den Salat vorbereiten.
The soup has to cook for an hour; meanwhile, we can prepare the salad.
The word is a combination of 'zwischen' (between) and 'zeitlich' (temporal). So it literally describes an action that takes place in the time between two other events.
Er wartete auf den Bus und las zwischenzeitlich die Zeitung.
He waited for the bus and read the newspaper meanwhile.
As an adverb, 'zwischenzeitlich' (meanwhile/in the meantime) can be placed flexibly in the sentence. It can stand in position 1 (then the verb follows), or after the verb and subject in the middle of the sentence.
Zwischenzeitlich hatte sich das Wetter deutlich verbessert.
Meanwhile, the weather had improved significantly.
'Zwischenzeitlich' (meanwhile/in the meantime) creates a connection between an earlier and a later point in time. It is often used to describe how a waiting period is bridged.
Der Flug hatte Verspätung. Ich habe die Wartezeit zwischenzeitlich genutzt, um zu arbeiten.
The flight was delayed. I used the waiting time in the meantime to work.
meanwhile
'mittlerweile' and 'zwischenzeitlich' both describe that something happens in the time between earlier and now, or between two events. 'mittlerweile' sounds very natural in everyday speech and often emphasizes the result up to now: It used to be different, and now it is like this. 'zwischenzeitlich' sounds somewhat more formal and fits especially when you mean the time between two specific points. Learners can confuse the words because both are related to 'inzwischen' (by now / in the meantime). As a practical rule: For normal everyday sentences, 'mittlerweile' is often the simpler choice; 'zwischenzeitlich' works well in reports, emails, or when describing more precise timelines.
Jana hat zwischenzeitlich die Unterlagen geprüft, bevor der Termin begann.
In the meantime, Jana checked the documents before the appointment began.
Meine Kollegin reist mittlerweile lieber mit dem Zug als mit dem Auto.
My colleague now prefers traveling by train rather than by car.