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Grammar
Objective: Use the subjunctive after concessive conjunctions, distinguish concession from opposition, and balance a concession with a firm main clause.
| Conjunction | Register | Example |
|---|---|---|
| bien que | neutral | Bien qu'il soit tard, il travaille encore. |
| quoique | neutral | Quoique ce soit difficile, il continue. |
| encore que | formal | Encore qu'il ait raison, il doit se justifier. |
| bien que | neutral | Bien qu'elle ait peu d'expérience, elle a été choisie. |
| quoique | neutral | Quoiqu'il pleuve, nous sortons. |
| encore que | formal | Encore qu'il ait fini, il reste au bureau. |
Bien que always triggers the subjunctive, producing soit for the third-person singular. The indicative est would present the fatigue as a plain fact rather than as a conceded circumstance.
Quoique triggers the subjunctive, producing soyons for the first-person plural. The indicative sommes never appears after this conjunction.
Bien que triggers the subjunctive soit. The main clause proceeds regardless of the hour.
Quoique is interchangeable with bien que in this context. The subjunctive soit follows the conjunction.
The auxiliary avoir takes the subjunctive form ait in the subordinate clause, and the main clause stands in the passé composé.
Quoique elides to quoiqu' before the vowel-initial il. The elision is mandatory.
The first-person plural takes the subjunctive soyons. The main clause uses the future tense.
7 exercises · about 11 minutes
Faire has the irregular subjunctive stem fass-, producing fasse for the third-person singular.
Quoique elides to quoiqu' before a vowel-initial subject. The elision is mandatory in writing and in speech.
Encore que belongs to a more formal register. It triggers the same subjunctive as bien que.
The preposition malgré takes a noun phrase, not a clause. It covers the same meaning as a concessive conjunction without triggering the subjunctive.
The subjunctive soit follows the concessive conjunction. The main clause states a firm conclusion.