anders

In a sentence

• Die Situation war anders, als wir erwartet hatten.

  The situation was different than we had expected.

  The word 'anders' emphasizes a difference between the actual situation and the expectation.

• Ich habe es anders gelöst, denn das erschien mir effektiver.

  I solved it differently because that seemed more effective to me.

  'Anders' indicates an alternative way of solving something in this context.

• Er denkt immer an etwas anderes, als wir besprechen.

  He is always thinking about something else than what we are discussing.

  Here, 'anders' conveys the idea of an alternative or different focus of thought.