THOUGH, ALTHOUGH, EVEN THOUGH, EVEN IF, DESPITE and IN SPITE OF! These are
fantastic words but do you know them? I don't know if you know them or not because I am not
you but you should know that I know them because I'm a teacher and teachers know everything...
And this teacher right here is going to help you for free because he's a great great guy!
Ah wow, Toby! Thanks a lot! My name is Toby, this is SMASH English and here is
everything you need to know about concessive clauses for the B2 First Cambridge exam!
The first question we need to ask ourselves is what is a concessive clause? And that is a very
important question. A concessive clause is a subordinate clause that contrasts with a
main clause. And Toby, what is a subordinate clause? A subordinate clause is a clause that
does not make sense on its own. And okay that sounds a little bit confusing but hey
take a look at this! Although I am a busy man I watch four hours of SMASH English every day.
Wow! That is a lot of SMASH English, guys! But is it too much?
No. Impossible. Impossible. The first clause is subordinate because "although I am a busy man"
makes no sense without "I watch four hours of SMASH English every day".
The subordinate clause is also concessive because we have the word ALTHOUGH and it contrasts with
"I watch four hours of SMASH English every day". So then let's start with ALTHOUGH and EVEN THOUGH.
Remember, remember, remember after ALTHOUGH and EVEN THOUGH we need a normal sentence. A
subject and a verb. ALTHOUGH/EVEN THOUGH plus A SUBJECT. Yes? Yes! We can either
start a sentence with ALTHOUGH or EVEN THOUGH by putting our concessive clause first. Or we
can put ALTHOUGH or EVEN THOUGH in the middle of a sentence by putting our concessive clause after
the main clause. Clause. Clause. Clause. Clause. Clause. Let's look at some examples. Trust me,
this is really simple. You can do it! I believe in you! Ah yes! I love your examples!
Even though I am very poor I spend a lot of money on sweets. If we want we can change the order:
I spend a lot of money on sweets even though I am very poor. And of course we can substitute
EVEN THOUGH for ALTHOUGH. Although I am very poor I spend a lot of money on sweets. I spend a lot of
money on sweets although I am very poor. Is there any difference between although and even though?
Grammatically there is no difference at all and in terms of meaning even though has a little bit more
emphasis maybe. For example: even though I've never met you I love you because you watch my
videos! And I especially love ANDSKA! Because even though my videos are free she decided to
donate to the channel! Oh my god! Seriously? ANDSKA donated to the channel even though the
videos are free because she wants me to continue helping you? ANDSKA, you're basically a hero! And
of course if you want to be a hero just like ANDSKA then consider donating yourself! The
links will be in the comments and description as always and I really really love you. Thanks. Bye.
THOUGH is far more common in spoken English and to make your life much much easier the grammar
rules are exactly the same as EVEN THOUGH and ALTHOUGH. It's just another one of the thoughs.
Even though there is no al or even, though is the same as even though and although,
though. That's... sorry. Though I smell terribly I will never wash.
I will never wash though I smell terribly. And I said that though it's not true because
oh boy oh boy do I love the smell of onions! Oh yeah and we can also use THOUGH at the end
of a clause and here though means the same as however. I never shower. I smell great though.
Obviously. So to recap with THOUGH: you can use THOUGH at the beginning or in the middle of a
sentence and here it means the same thing as EVEN THOUGH and ALTHOUGH or you can put
THOUGH at the end of a sentence and now it means HOWEVER. Wasn't that great? Yeah let's go ahead!
Okay girls and guys, guys and girls, this is very very important so please I need your head,
your mind and your brain working together! Students often get confused between
EVEN THOUGH and EVEN IF. And that's a terrible thing. Just remember that they're not the same.
Seriously EVEN THOUGH and EVEN IF are not the same! EVEN IF is a concessive clause but also
a conditional. Toby, Toby, Toby, what does that mean? I don't know but don't worry because you're
going to tell me right now! I will buy you that toy porcupine even if it's really expensive.
In this example the speaker does not know the price of the porcupine but the speaker
will buy it anyway. There is speculation here. If we say "I will buy you that toy porcupine
even though it is really expensive" it means that we know the toy porcupine is very expensive but
we will buy it anyway. Another example is with the second conditional. We can use EVEN
IF to talk about unreal present situations and also imaginary impossible future situations.
Um, Monica, um can I kiss you on the face? Oh my god! You know that is so gross! Like, even if you
were the last guy on earth I still wouldn't kiss you! I mean look at me! I'm so out of your league!
I'm sorry! I was just asking! In this example Monica is talking about an imaginary situation.
EVEN THOUGH would not be appropriate here as we use EVEN THOUGH to talk about a real situation.
So please please remember we use EVEN IF for potential futures, imaginary presents
or very unlikely futures. Right? Right! I'll go to the party even if Toby isn't there.
So the speaker will go to the party regardless of whether Toby will be there or not
but the speaker does not know if Toby will be there or not. And of course this is a stupid
example because there is no such thing as a party without Toby. A party without Toby is a flop!
And that means that every party ever in history has been a flop... And that's a terrible thing.
Before we begin here is something that you must remember and seriously you must remember this.
If you forget this the examiner will go mental and they'll probably kill you and I don't want you to
die. I want you to live, have a prosperous life with your B2 First certification. Oh
that's what I live for. I live for you living with your B2 First certification! Very important to me!
So remember you can say DESPITE or IN SPITE OF. But you cannot, cannot, cannot say DESPITE
OF. No. No. Please do not make that mistake! That mistake happens all the time and I go crazy! The
examiners go crazy! You will go crazy when you see your terrible mark and then we're all crazy
and what is a world where everyone is crazy? It's an asylum and we don't want the world to become an
asylum. That would be awful. That would be really really problematic. So again remember! DESPITE and
IN SPITE OF but not DESPITE OF! OK, I think we can continue now. After DESPITE and IN SPITE OF
we have two options: object or gerund. Despite my love of SMASH English I stopped watching to
get some water. Or: Despite loving SMASH English I stopped watching to get some water. Here we have
replaced the object MY LOVE with the verb love in the gerund. Of course, and obviously we can
replace DESPITE with IN SPITE OF. The grammar does not change and neither does the meaning.
But this presents a problem. What do we do if the subject is different in each clause?
For example: I hate Justin Bieber, she loves Justin Bieber but she loves me anyway.
Despite hating Justin Bieber she loves me. Now this concessive clause here presents a problem
because from this concessive clause, to me, it suggests that she hates Justin Bieber and she
loves me but that's not the meaning at all. I want to say that I hate Justin Bieber but in spite of
this she loves me. So how can we do that? How can we change this sentence to convey that meaning? Uh
well we can't add a subject because after DESPITE or IN SPITE OF we cannot use a subject. So what
do we do? We must use an object pronoun! We put an object pronoun after DESPITE or IN SPITE OF which
gives us: Despite ME hating Justin Bieber she loves me. Or: in spite of ME hating Justin Bieber
she loves me. Oh wow Toby! That's amazing! So if the subject is not clear in the concessive clause
we use the object pronoun plus the gerund. Let's look at some more examples. In spite of it raining
I went out anyway. Here IT is not the subject. IT is the object pronoun. In spite of him trying his
best the teacher gave him terrible feedback. Despite them losing the donkey the farmer was
not angry. Yeah. Another structure that you need to know with DESPITE and IN SPITE OF for the B2
First Cambridge exam is IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT or DESPITE THE FACT THAT. This is really really
easy and simple to use because the grammar rules are exactly the same as with ALTHOUGH and EVEN
THOUGH. Although I have given her lots of money she still doesn't love me. Even though I have
given her lots of money she still doesn't love me. In spite of the fact that I have given her lots of
money she still doesn't love me. and Despite the fact that I have given her lots of money she still
doesn't love me. And oh by golly, what can I do to make her love me? I've got no personality,
I'm incredibly ugly and money is all I have and I haven't even actually got that and now I'm in debt
and life is very very tough! But despite the fact that my life is difficult I will continue making
videos for you guys because it's... Seriously, it's all I've got. Wow... Make sure you learn all
of these. These are super important for your writing, for your speaking but also for your
Use of English. Seriously a concessive clause comes up in every single Use of English paper
somewhere. So be on the lookout! And now you know all of the ones that you need to know for the
B2 First Cambridge exam. If you liked the video don't forget to SMASH that like button, subscribe
if you haven't already, leave a comment down below! My name is Toby and this was SMASH English.