CONCESSIVE CLAUSES

A concessive clause is a clause, often beginning with "though" or "although", that expresses an idea that suggests the opposite of the main part of the sentence. It can come before or after the main clause:

Although he's quiet, he's not shy.

Shakespeare remains on the syllabus, even though many British teenagers find his plays inaccessible.

Concessive clauses are introduced by the following conjunctions: 

• although (Although he had enough money, he refuse to buy a car)
• despite  (Despite of the rain, he walked to the station.)
• even if (Even if you don't like him you can still be polite.)
• even though (Even though she is very old, she runs fast)
• in spite of (In spite of being tired, he walked to the station.)
• much as (Much as I would like to help you, I'm simply too busy at the moment.)
• though (Though I liked the sweater, I decided not to buy it.)
• whereas (I prefer light meals whereas my dad prefers heavy meals.)
• while (He ate fried fish while his wife ate grilled chicken.)
• no matter (No matter what you do, don't touch this switch.)
• however (However rich people are, they always seem anxious to make more money.)
• whatever (only in the adjective + as + be construction: Whatever you do, don't tell him that I told you this.)

Much as and whereas are less commonly used and occur mainly in formal written English:

Much as I like coffee, I don't want to drink it with every meal.

With though and although, it is possible to omit the verb in the concessive clause:

Although (we were) exhausted, we stayed up to watch the end of the film. 

Despite and in spite of cannot be followed by a verb, but take a gerund or noun:

Despite running all the way to the station, we missed the train. 

In spite of the weather, we had a good time. 

It is possible to add the fact that to these conjunctions and then include a verb:

Despite the fact that Jess had very little money, her trip to Lisbon was a great success.

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE ON CONCESSIVE CLAUSES! 

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SOURCES:

• Capel, A. Sharp, W.  (2013). Objective Proficiency.  Cambridge, UK. Cambridge University Press.
  
• English For Students (2012). Concessive Clauses. Retrieved October 26th, 2020 from:  http://www.english-for-students.com/concessive-clauses-1.html
  
• Martinet V. A. & Thomson, A. J. (1960). A practical English Grammar [PDF File]. Retrieved October 26th, 2020 from: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1imSbaG8MOG1YgCJErVmnqMQkaNzEhKXr/view 
• Katerová, Z (2014). English Grammar in Use (Grammar Addition to the Textbook English for Pharmacy and Medical Bioanalytics) [PDF File]. Retrieved October 26th, 2020 from: https://dl1.cuni.cz/mod/resource/view.php?id=310910#:~:text=A%20concessive%20clause%20is%20a,main%20part%20of%20the%20sentence