Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
RAPPEL: en anglais comme en français, il faut distinguer entre les conjonctions de subordination,
et les conjonctions de coordination. Si le sens est le même, la manière de les employer dans une
phrase est différente. Les règles sont les mêmes en anglais et en français.
➢ Apprenez une bonne fois pour toutes qu’ils sont différents et pas du tout
interchangeables.
ALTHOUGH est une conjonction de subordination, qui introduit une subordonnée. ( = bien que).
1 Attention à THOUGH , qui selon sa place dans la phrase peut être conjonction de subordination (en tête de proposition) ou
conjonction de coordination (en fin de proposition).
Ms Viegnes ECG / PCSI Lycée Carnot
Ex. Even though what he says is true, he shouldn’t have said it.
2/ EVEN IF (=même si) s’emploie pour évoquer une concession qui est hypothétique:
Ex. Even if he had the time (=supposing he had the time), he wouldn’t do it.
3/ DESPITE // IN SPITE OF (= en dépit de) ne peuvent s’employer QUE si ce qui suit est un nom
(ou un gérondif).
Ex. He has made little progress, despite attending lessons every week.
Ex. Though the room was small, it felt comfortable. CONJONCTION SUBORDONNEE
Ex. The room was small. It felt comfortable, though. ADVERBE CONJONCTIF
Note: Ce dernier emploi permet d’insister sur le contraste, sur l’apparente contradiction. Cela
peut être très intéressant à utiliser en expression écrite.
Ex. Rishi Sunak is rather unpopular and has struggled to garner support. Nonetheless, he is the only
option the Tories have.
Exercises
B. Use THOUGH as a coordinate conjunction to link the following sentences. Feel free to
rephrase a bit to make them clear.
1/ President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace prize. He didn't really deserve it.
2/ President Obama had good intentions. He didn't succeed in promoting world peace.
3/ President Trump would like to be awarded the prize. It is unlikely he will get it.
a. The Leave campaign promised the NHS would get the money Britain would save on the EU budget.
But they later claimed this would not happen.
→
b. D. Trump lied about the 2020 election and was complicit in the Capitol riots. But many Republicans
remain loyal to him.
c. Nowadays an increasing number of people do not vote. But voting is the only way to bring about
change.
d. Politicians do not listen to people and do not take their needs into account. But this represents their
main duty.
→
Ms Viegnes ECG / PCSI Lycée Carnot
f. Thomas Jefferson embraced Enlightenment ideas. But he remained prejudiced against blacks and
women.
g. Mass shootings occur on a regular basis in the US. But there is little consensus to change the law.
h. Some believe a second referendum is the solution to the Brexit crisis. But such a decision would
raise other problems.
https://www.englishgrammar.org/spite-grammar-exercise-2/
https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/linking-words-contrast-exercise-1.html
https://perfectyourenglish.com/blog/although-despite-and-however-class-10-grammar-worksheets/
→ Pour aller plus loin: nous étudierons comment utiliser d’autres structures concessives plus
élégantes:
It must be done, though it is difficult → It must be done, difficult though it is / difficult though it may
be.
2. Avec WHILE
Maybe eating roadkill is a little extreme, but at least it sets us thinking about what we eat → While
eating roadkill may seem a little extreme, at least it sets us thinking about what we eat.
NB. WHEREAS ne s’emploie QUE pour exprimer un contraste objectif entre 2 choses, et ne doit
donc pas être utilisé pour exprimer la concession:
Ex. I am a flexitarian (+ I eat meat occasionally but not every day), whereas my husband is a
vegetarian. (= différence de FAIT entre les deux).