Concessive Clauses: bien que, quoique, malgré
மாறுபாடு காட்டும் வாக்கியங்கள்
French marks 'although' with a subjonctif-triggering conjunction, and 'despite' with a plain preposition — two tools for one job, split by whether what follows is a full clause or just a noun.
Grammar Comparison
இலக்கண ஒப்பீடு
bien que / quoique + subjonctif
Bien qu'il pleuve, je sors. (Although it's raining, I'm going out)
மழை பெய்தாலும், நான் வெளியே போகிறேன்.
bien que and quoique are near-synonyms meaning 'although', and both require the subjonctif in the clause that follows (pleuve, not pleut) — one of the most-tested subjonctif triggers at this level, straight from Lesson 40. Tamil's -ஆலும் suffix does this job in a single verb ending, so where French needs a whole conjunction plus a mood change, Tamil just reshapes the verb. Watch the spelling: quoique (one word, 'although') is easy to confuse with quoi que (two words, 'whatever') — they sound identical but mean different things.
malgré + noun: no subjonctif needed
Malgré la pluie, je suis sorti. (Despite the rain, I went out)
மழை இருந்தும், நான் வெளியே போனேன்.
malgré is a preposition, not a conjunction — it's followed directly by a noun or pronoun, never by a que-clause, so the subjonctif question doesn't even arise here. Use bien que/quoique when what follows is a full clause with its own subject and verb; switch to malgré the moment you just want to name the obstacle as a noun.
Vocabulary
சொற்கள்
| French | Pronunciation | Tamil | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| bien que | byahn kuh | ...ஆயினும்...āyiṉum | although |
| quoique | kwah-kuh | ...ஆயினும்...āyiṉum | although (more literary) |
| malgré | mahl-GRAY | இருந்தும்irundhum | despite |
| Bien qu'il soit riche, il est simple. | byahn keel swah reesh, eel eh sanpl | அவன் பணக்காரனாக இருந்தாலும், எளிமையாக இருக்கிறான்.avan paṇakkāraṉāga irundhālum, eḷimaiyāga irukkiṟāṉ. | Although he's rich, he's simple. |
| malgré tout | mahl-GRAY too | எல்லாவற்றையும் மீறிellāvaṟṟaiyum mīṟi | despite everything |
| malgré cela | mahl-GRAY suh-lah | அதையும் மீறிadhaiyum mīṟi | despite that |