Concessive Clauses: obwohl, trotzdem, dennoch
Explicação
Three German words translate as "although" — and each one demands a different sentence structure. Picking the wrong one does not change the meaning: it breaks the grammar.
obwohl is a subordinating conjunction and sends the verb to the end. trotzdem and dennoch are adverbs: they open a main clause, verb in position 2.
obwohl — although
Ich lerne weiter, obwohl ich müde bin.
trotzdem — nevertheless
Ich bin müde. Trotzdem lerne ich weiter.
dennoch — nonetheless (formal)
Die Ergebnisse waren enttäuschend. Dennoch wurde das Projekt fortgesetzt.
⚠️ Watch out
✗ Obwohl ich müde bin, aber ich lerne.
✓ Obwohl ich müde bin, lerne ich.
obwohl already carries the concession; adding aber duplicates it.
🧠 Quick test: can I split this into two independent sentences? Yes → trotzdem (verb second). No → obwohl (verb last).
Exemplos
Obwohl es regnete, gingen sie spazieren.
Although it was raining, they went for a walk.
Er war krank. Trotzdem kam er zur Arbeit.
He was ill. Nevertheless he came to work.
Die Kosten waren hoch, dennoch wurde das Projekt genehmigt.
The costs were high; nevertheless the project was approved.
Ver todos os exercícios
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