However, Although, Despite in Spanish: sin embargo, aunque

However is sin embargo, even though is aunque, and despite is a pesar de:

• Estudié mucho; sin embargo, no aprobé. - I studied hard; however, I didn't pass.
• A pesar de la lluvia, salimos. - Despite the rain, we went out.

Connectors at a glance

The whole page on one screen. Register matters: an essay wants no obstante, a chat wants encima.

Adding: además, es más, encima

These stack a second point on the first:

Es más raises the stakes; encima adds a complaint. Pick by setting:

Contrasting: sin embargo, en cambio, al contrario

These turn the reader the other way:

Sin embargo and no obstante mean the same; only the register differs:

En cambio or al contrario

En cambio compares two things. Al contrario corrects what was just said, usually after a negative. Por el contrario can do either job:

• Yo prefiero el té; ella, en cambio, prefiere el café. - I prefer tea; she, on the other hand, prefers coffee.
• No es aburrido; al contrario, es fascinante. - It isn't boring; on the contrary, it's fascinating.

Sin embargo is not pero: the comma rule

Pero joins two halves of one sentence and stays at the join. Sin embargo is a connector: it comments on the whole sentence, takes a comma, and can move:

• Sin embargo, no vino. - However, he/she didn't come.
• No vino, sin embargo, a la reunión. - He/She didn't, however, come to the meeting.
• Lo intentó, pero no vino. - He/She tried, but didn't come.

When sin embargo opens the second of two clauses, careful writing puts a full stop or a semicolon before it, not a bare comma:

• Estudié mucho; sin embargo, no aprobé. - I studied hard; however, I didn't pass.

Even though and even if: aunque

Aunque is one word for two English ideas. The mood of the verb after it decides which:

The indicative states a fact you accept; the subjunctive allows a possibility. The subjunctive can also brush aside a fact as beside the point:

• Aunque sea caro, lo compro. - It may be dear, but I'm buying it.

The full story is on the subjunctive in adverbial clauses.

English "though" at the end of a sentence has no floating equivalent. Use eso sí:

• Es bonito; eso sí, es caro. - It's pretty; it's dear, though.

Despite: a pesar de, pese a

A pesar de is a preposition, so it takes a noun or an infinitive. A whole clause needs que:

Pese a works the same way, a shade more formal:

• Pese a la crisis, la empresa crece. - Despite the crisis, the company is growing.

To point back at a whole sentence, use a pesar de eso or pese a ello: despite that. More compound prepositions are on Spanish compound prepositions.

Mistakes English speakers make

What to do next

1. Learn the pairs: además and sin embargo, en cambio and al contrario.
2. Do the phone story and the sort below.
3. Then connectors of cause and consequence: porque, por eso, así que.