'хотя бы' vs. 'по крайней мере'

[thebiologicshow.livejournal.com]

Hi! Is there a difference between the usage of хотя бы and по крайней мере? In English, they would both be translated as "at least", correct? Could someone give examples of the proper context for both? Спасибо заранее!

Comments

[racoonbear.livejournal.com]

"по крайней мере" is stronger and harder. It also brings a tone of irritation, however not always. You may interpret it as "last boundary", for example for your patience.

[trilbyhat.livejournal.com]

Nevertheless they are equivalent in most cases.
(Except for contexts where хотя бы = даже если бы:
"Хотя бы Путин даже и упал с дельтаплана, распад страны это бы не остановило")

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

I'd say it's "at least" vs. "at the very least."

[zwilling.livejournal.com]

I'd say 'хотя бы' is less likely to refer to accomplished facts and more likely - to future or desired ones.

[palti.livejournal.com]

It isn't an essential difference between them.
Maybe "по крайней мере" is a bit more strict.

[khathi.livejournal.com]

I'd say that "хотя бы" is equivalent to "at least", while "по крайней мере" is more of "no less than".

[4px.livejournal.com]

it depends on context. in common case they are the same.

[kikimorra.livejournal.com]

Also, по крайней мере can be a comment clause, e.g. иммигранты из Индии, Пакистана, Египта и Турции, которые работают в арабском нефтедобывающем регионе, посылают деньги, по крайней мере, из восьми различных стран.
or it can be part of the main sentence, e.g. я не могу сказать, что я стала здорово разбираться в статистике, но по крайней мере я стала лучше разбираться в своём дипломе.
While хотя бы is usually part of the main sentence, like in the second example. An example of this: И процесс завершается тогда, когда решение находится хотя бы в одном из этапов.
The examples are taken from the Russian corpora, http://ruscorpora.ru/index.html

[marsianka-selma.livejournal.com]

Sometimes they can be used interchargeably, sometimes not. For example, "I don't know when the work will be finished but по крайней мере we already have this..." - it would be weird to use хотя бы instead.
Compare to: "If you cannot do this then хотя бы give me some money" - you can use по крайней мере here, but хотя бы is more natural.

[thebiologicshow.livejournal.com]

Спасибо всем!