Mandatory and compulsory

Dear T.,

My initial reaction to your question is that they can indeed be used as synonyms in most contexts.  I have checked it in my Oxford Dictionary, which confirms what your dictionary says.  

I also like the first response in the forum at the following link:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080507075259AAR2USG

Here is a link for another forum which can be useful, as well:

http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/2902/mandatory-obligatory-compulsory

It might help if you can give us more context.

If  you have a specific German word in mind, here are two links for online dictionaries, which I use for my German-English translation work:

http://www.dict.cc/

http://dict.leo.org/

The former one was recommended to me by a German translator working at DG Translation.

All the best,

John

Hi  John!

I would like to ask you a little question that came up during a  drafting session recently: It is about the correct use of "compulsory" and  "mandatory".

In the "Collins" if found following definition, which is not really  satisfying for me, since "compulsory" is given as a synonym for  "mandatory":

compulsory: required by regulations or law
mandatory:  obligatory, compulsory

In my feeling  (but it's only a feeling) "mandatory" is somehow weaker than "compulsory". So,  if something is "compulsory" you really have to do it, there is no room for  negotiations, whereas if something is "mandatory" there might be some  flexibilty in it.

Am I completely  wrong?

Thanks in advance for your answer and feel free to share it with  all the others in the course

Best Ti.