Practice Makes Perfect

The concessive clause

Implying some kind of concession, from the Latin verb concedo, which among other things means 

I allow or I concede, this clause adds an element of surprise by introducing a somewhat unex-

pected main clause. Affecting the entire main clause, the concessive clause can either precede or 

follow it, sometimes appearing in the middle of the main clause.

Words introducing this clause are the following: quoique, bien que, encore que, que... que, 

sans que, même si, quand, quand bien même.

Bien que son ordinateur plante 

Although Nathan’s computer crashes on a   

régulièrement, Nathan refuse d’en 

  regular basis, he refuses to buy a new one.

  acheter un autre.

Qu’il pleuve ou qu’il vente, tu sortiras 

Whether it rains or blows, you will take your

  ton chien! 

  dog out for a walk!