Verschillend versus Anders

Verschillend versus Anders 

Imagine you are meeting a friend for a cup of coffee. The moment he comes in, you notice he looks different, but you can’t tell what it is. What do you say? 

a. Je ziet er verschillend uit! 

b. Je ziet er anders uit! 

Difficult right? A or B? Only one is correct.

Your friend tells you he had a haircut. He looks at you and notices you have done something to your eyebrows. But he notices something strange: One eyebrow doesn’t match the other at all! One is very thick and hairy and the other one is really thin. He asks: 

a. Waarom zijn jouw wenkbrauwen verschillend? 

b. Waarom zijn jouw wenkbrauwen anders? 

So, what are the right answers? I’ll tell you: B (anders) in the first situation and A (verschillend) in the second one. Why? 

• In the first situation you compare the looks of your friend to how he looked in the past. 
• In the second situation you compare two things within the same “group” (the eyebrows). 

Other examples: 

• Duits en Nederlands zijn anders dan het Japans (outside of group comparison). 
• Duits en Nederlands zijn verschillend (within group comparison). 
• Ik ben anders dan jij (outside of group comparison).
• Wij zijn verschillend (within group comparison).
• Wij zijn anders dan zij (outside of group comparison). 

Because verschillend is used for things within the same group, it can only be used for plural words. 

• Mijn accent is anders. (accent is singular, so no other option)
• Je kapsel is anders. (kapsel is singular, so no other option)
• Het gerecht is anders. (gerecht is singular, so no other option)

Last example: 

• Je ogen zijn anders. = your eyes are different than… mine/in the past/when you were sitting in the sun/etc. 
• Je ogen zijn verschillend = within group comparison = one eye looks different than the other.

Take into account that you can also use verschillend to say 'a variety of'/'several'.

• Ik heb verschillende boeken over de Nederlandse grammatica.
• We hebben over verschillende thema's gepraat.
• Ik ben in verschillende landen geweest.