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What's the difference between 一応{いちおう} and とりあえず?

While I think they can both mean "tentatively" or "for the time being", there seems to be a difference in their usage. How do the two translate differently into English?

After reading this Space ALC Japanese Q&A page, I'm interpreting it as that 一応 has a negative nuance of something being "unsatisfactory" but temporally doing it anyway, and that とりあえず has a positive (or possibly neutral?) nuance of "doing what you can do for the time being". Can the previous explanations work for all, or a majority of cases?

It also states that in the following sentences there isn't a lot of difference between the two:

  • お話は一応伺っておきましょう。
  • とりあえずお話は伺っておきましょう。

But I didn't understand why the two have a different position in the sentence. Would 一応お話は伺っておきましょう and お話はとりあえず伺っておきましょう also be possible?

Makoto
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cypher
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1 Answers1

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  • 一応 means "as a backup", "in case something happens". It implies some redundancy.
  • とりあえず means "can't think of the best way to do at the moment/can't decide for the moment, so for the time being".