Concessive Clauses
Concessive Clauses
You met aunque briefly in the debate lesson. This lesson widens the whole family of 'even though / no matter how' connectors, and sharpens exactly when each one pulls in the subjunctive.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
Aunque's mood flips based on whether you accept the fact
aunque llueve, salgo (even though it's raining, I'm going out — you accept it's raining) vs. aunque llueva, salgo (even if it rains, I'm going out — you don't know yet)
even though it's raining / even if it rains — English marks this with 'though' vs. 'if', not a verb-form change
This is worth re-stating precisely at this level: aunque with the indicative concedes a known fact, while aunque with the subjunctive presents a merely possible one — the same real-vs-hypothetical logic from your si-clause lessons, now applied to a concessive connector instead of a conditional one.
Por más/mucho que intensifies the concession
por más que lo intento, no funciona (no matter how much I try, it doesn't work) — always subjunctive when the outcome is future or hypothetical
no matter how much I try, it doesn't work — no verb-form marking
Por más que and por mucho que add emphasis to a concession — 'no matter how much/many' — and behave like aunque's subjunctive branch when what follows is uncertain or ongoing. These are common in spoken Spanish specifically for expressing frustration at an effort that isn't paying off.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- English
- even though it's raining, I'm going out
- English
- even if it rains, I'm going out
- English
- no matter how much I try
- English
- no matter how much you insist
- English
- despite the fact that
- English
- while it's true that
- English
- however difficult it may seem
- English
- even so
- English
- notwithstanding what's been said
- English
- even though it may not seem so