Meaning of although in English

although

conjunction

/ɔːlˈðəʊ/ us

/ɑːlˈðoʊ/

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despite the fact that:

She walked home by herself, although she knew that it was dangerous.

He decided to go, although I begged him not to.

but:

He's rather shy, although he's not as bad as he used to be.

She'll be coming tonight, although I don't know exactly when.

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Mysteriously, the light came on, although no one was near the switch.
I have the greatest respect for his ideas, although I don't agree with them.
They won the war, although it cost them millions of lives.
In the final straight Meyers stumbled, and although he didn't fall it was enough to lose him first place.
At 84 he's still quite active, although he walks with the aid of a stick.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Linguistics: connecting words which express a contrast

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Grammar

Although or though?

Although and though both mean ‘in spite of something’. They are subordinating conjunctions. This means that the clause which they introduce is a subordinate clause, which needs a main clause to make it complete: …

Although and though meaning ‘in spite of’

Although and though meaning ‘but’

When the although/though clause comes after a main clause, it can also mean ‘but it is also true that …’: …

Though meaning ‘however’

Especially in speaking, we can use though (but not although or even though) with a meaning similar to however or nevertheless. In these cases, we usually put it at the end of a clause: …

As though

As though has a meaning very similar to as if. As if is much more common than as though: …

Conjunctions: contrasting

The conjunctions but and although/though connect ideas that contrast. Whereas is also used but it is not as common: …

But

But is a coordinating conjunction used to connect ideas that contrast. Coordinating conjunctions connect items which are the same grammatical type. …

Although/though

Although/though can be used to contrast ideas. Although/though are subordinating conjunctions used to connect a subordinate clause to a main clause, like after, as, before, if, since, that, even though, even if. …

But or although?

But cannot be used in the same way as although/though. We use but to connect items which are the same grammatical type (coordinating conjunction). …

Even though, even if

Even though and even if are also used as subordinating conjunctions in the same way as although/though. Even though is similar to although but it makes a stronger contrast: …

Conjunctions: typical errors

We use and to connect words in a list and to connect phrases and clauses in a sentence: …

(Definition of although from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

although | American Dictionary

although

conjunction

/ɔlˈðoʊ/

Add to word list Add to word list

despite the fact that, or despite being:

He decided to go, although I begged him not to.

(Definition of although from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of although

although

Although establishing new schools is not permitted, there is always a loophole that can be exploited.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Although it is rarely clearly stated, we implicitly have a predicate whose result tells us when an abstract value permits strictness optimisations.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Although many countries are planning to privatise, there has been little research into the effects of water privatisation.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The studies use a nice mix of qualitative and quantitative measures, although they lack representative samples.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The chapters illustrate a range of methods, although there is an overall emphasis in favour of qualitative approaches.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The qualitative character of men and women's friendships was often distinctive, although mediated by social class and area differences.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Although, in principle, strong objections may be raised against such direct comparisons, some qualitative results have been obtained.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Although parties were relatively quick to form, historians have underscored the importance of the fact that they were not anticipated by the founders.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Although it was well-known that rice is mainly self-pollinating, it was also known that some cross-pollination can take place.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

My judgement is that such experiences are no less vivid than ordinary experience, although of course greatly reduced in informational content.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Mere preferences independent of evaluation are excluded, although they provide goals in the ordinary sense.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Note that this phenomenon has a purely inertial character; viscous forces cannot prevent it, although these forces guarantee the space regularity of the solution.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Related, although somewhat different considerations apply to texts of purely theoretical nature, too.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

I refused, although there was enough of the medicament for her and for myself.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Although some approaches cluster functions under different types, some approaches make use of syntactic representations.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

What is the pronunciation of although?

Translations of although

in Chinese (Traditional)

雖然，儘管, 但是，然而…

Meaning of although in English

Grammar

although | American Dictionary

Examples of although

Translations of although

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