has a different meaning and is often interchangeable with sogar or ganz: Gar die Lehrerin hat über dich gelacht! = Sogar die Lehrerin hat über dich gelacht! ("Even the teacher laughed at you!") Here, gar does not act as a modal particle. Gar 20 Jahre lebe ich jetzt schon hier. = Ganze 20 Jahre lebe ich jetzt schon hier. ("I already have been living here for two entire decades.") Rein often precedes gar to point out the total lack of something: Ich habe rein gar nichts gemacht! ("I did absolutely nothing!") Total, besides its use as an adjective and adverb, can also act as a modal particle indicating irony. It is best translated as "well", "really" or "let me think...": A: Hast du Lust meinen Geschirrspüler auszuräumen? B: Total... ("A: Do you wanna empty my dishwasher? B: Let me think... no!") Ich musste heute drei Stunden beim Arzt warten... hat total Spaß gemacht... ("Today I had to wait for three hours at the doctor's office... it really was a lot of fun!") Aber, when not as a conjunction, is very similar to doch and conveys a meaning of disagreement to a previously-stated or implied assertion. Alternatively, aber can be used to show surprise: Du sprichst aber schon gut Deutsch! ("But you do already speak good German!") Du sprichst aber gut Deutsch! ("Wow, do you speak good German!") Sowieso, ohnehin or eh, meaning "anyway(s)", implies an emphasized assertion. Especially in Southern German, eh is colloquially most common. All these can be enforced by a preceding doch: Ich hab ihm eh gesagt, dass er sich wärmer anziehen soll. ("I told him to put on warmer clothes in the first place.") Das ist eh nicht wahr. ("That's not true anyway.") Vielleicht, as a modal particle, is used for emphasis and should not be confused with the adverb vielleicht, meaning "perhaps": Das ist vielleicht ein großer Hund! (with an emphasis on "Das", "That's quite a large dog!") But: Vielleicht ist das ein großer Hund. Es ist schwer zu erkennen. ("Maybe that's a large dog. It's difficult to tell.") Fei, which is no longer recognised as the adverb fein "finely", is a particle peculiar to Upper German dialects. It denotes that the speaker states that something important might be a surprise for the listener. Giving an adequate translation even into Standard German is difficult, and the best substitute would probably be to use an understatement