Nuancing your speech
Vocabulary
- nuancenuance/subtlety
- subtilsubtle
- plutôtrather/somewhat
- quelque peusomewhat/a little
- sans douteprobably/no doubt
- tendancetendency/trend
- certescertainly/admittedly
- toutefoishowever/nevertheless
- en revancheon the other hand
- quoiquealthough/even though
At B2 level, you need to go beyond simple statements and add nuance to your opinions. French offers several structures for expressing concession and opposition.
Concession with "bien que" + subjunctive:
- Bien que ce soit difficile, je continue. (Although it is difficult, I continue.)
- Bien qu'il ait raison, je ne suis pas d'accord. (Although he is right, I disagree.)
Opposition with "alors que":
- Il est optimiste alors que la situation est grave. (He is optimistic whereas the situation is serious.)
Contrast with "néanmoins", "toutefois", "en revanche":
- C'est risqué. Néanmoins, cela vaut la peine. (It's risky. Nevertheless, it's worth it.)
- Le projet est ambitieux ; toutefois, il est réalisable. (The project is ambitious; however, it's feasible.)
Softening with "certes... mais":
- Certes, c'est cher, mais la qualité est excellente. (Admittedly it's expensive, but the quality is excellent.)
These structures allow you to present balanced arguments and sound more sophisticated in French.
Expressions
- Bien que + subjonctifExpressing concession
- Malgré + nomDespite something
- Alors que + indicatifContrasting two facts
- Certes... mais...Admitting then countering
- En revancheOn the other hand
- Quoique + subjonctifAlthough (formal)
- Il n'en reste pas moins queThe fact remains that
- Avoir beau + infinitifNo matter how much one tries
Common mistakes
Bien que c'est difficileBien que ce soit difficileBien que always requires the subjunctive, not the indicative.
Malgré il pleutMalgré la pluieMalgré is followed by a noun, not a clause. Use bien que for clauses.
Il est gentil mais en revanche intelligentIl est gentil et en revanche très exigeantEn revanche introduces a contrasting idea, not a complementary one.
Quoique il a raisonQuoiqu'il ait raisonQuoique requires the subjunctive, just like bien que.
Quick quiz
Question 1 of 5
How do you say “on the other hand” in French?
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