FlexiLingoIn one line
bien quetakes a clause and needs the subjunctive;malgrétakes a noun — and confusing the two is the commonest error in this area.
English marks the same split with "although" and "despite". "Although it was raining" (clause) versus "despite the rain" (noun).
bien queis "although";malgréis "despite". If your English needs "the fact that" after "despite", French needsbien que.
The forms on this page
| Form | Means | Sound |
|---|---|---|
mais | but — the plainest contrast | /mɛ/ |
bien que | although — followed by the subjunctive | /bjɛ̃ kə/ |
malgré | despite — followed by a noun, not a clause | /mal.ɡʁe/ |
The table
| Word | What follows | Mood | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
mais /mɛ/ | clause | indicative | C'est cher mais bon. /sɛ ʃɛʁ mɛ bɔ̃/ |
cependant /sə.pɑ̃.dɑ̃/ | clause | indicative | Cependant, c'est bon. /sə.pɑ̃.dɑ̃ sɛ bɔ̃/ |
pourtant /puʁ.tɑ̃/ | clause | indicative | Il a étudié, pourtant il a raté. /i.l‿a e.ty.dje puʁ.tɑ̃ i.l‿a ʁa.te/ |
toutefois /tut.fwa/ | clause (formal) | indicative | Toutefois, il faut noter… /tut.fwa il fo no.te/ |
néanmoins /ne.ɑ̃.mwɛ̃/ | clause (formal) | indicative | Néanmoins, c'est possible. /ne.ɑ̃.mwɛ̃ sɛ pɔ.sibl/ |
en revanche /ɑ̃ ʁə.vɑ̃ʃ/ | clause (comparison) | indicative | En revanche, Lyon est moins cher. /ɑ̃ ʁə.vɑ̃ʃ ljɔ̃.n‿ɛ mwɛ̃ ʃɛʁ/ |
par contre /paʁ kɔ̃tʁ/ | clause (spoken) | indicative | Par contre, c'est loin. /paʁ kɔ̃tʁ sɛ lwɛ̃/ |
alors que /a.lɔʁ kə/ | clause | indicative | Il dort alors que je travaille. /il dɔʁ a.lɔʁ kə ʒə tʁa.vaj/ |
tandis que /tɑ̃.di kə/ | clause (formal) | indicative | Tandis qu'il se repose, je travaille. /tɑ̃.di kil sə ʁə.pɔz ʒə tʁa.vaj/ |
bien que /bjɛ̃ kə/ | clause | subjunctive | Bien qu'il soit malade, il travaille. /bjɛ̃ kil swa ma.lad il tʁa.vaj/ |
quoique /kwak/ | clause | subjunctive | Quoiqu'il pleuve, je sors. /kwa.kil pløv ʒə sɔʁ/ |
malgré /mal.ɡʁe/ | noun | — | Malgré la pluie, je sors. /mal.ɡʁe la plɥi ʒə sɔʁ/ |
en dépit de /ɑ̃ de.pi də/ | noun (formal) | — | En dépit de ses efforts… /ɑ̃ de.pi də se.z‿e.fɔʁ/ |
même si /mɛm si/ | clause | indicative | Même s'il pleut, je sors. /mɛm sil plø ʒə sɔʁ/ |
quand même /kɑ̃ mɛm/ | adverb | — | Il pleut ; je sors quand même. /il plø ʒə sɔʁ kɑ̃ mɛm/ |
Three structures, one meaning
These three sentences say the same thing:
| Structure | Sentence |
|---|---|
bien que /bjɛ̃ kə/ + subjunctive | Bien qu'il pleuve, je sors. /bjɛ̃ kil pløv ʒə sɔʁ/ |
malgré /mal.ɡʁe/ + noun | Malgré la pluie, je sors. /mal.ɡʁe la plɥi ʒə sɔʁ/ |
même si /mɛm si/ + indicative | Même s'il pleut, je sors. /mɛm sil plø ʒə sɔʁ/ |
Register:
bien queis written and formal,malgréis neutral,même siis more colloquial.
And a subtle difference in meaning:
| Pronunciation | ||
|---|---|---|
bien qu'il pleuve | it is raining — a fact | /bjɛ̃ kil pløv/ |
même s'il pleut | even if it rains — hypothetical | /mɛm sil plø/ |
English makes the same distinction between "although" and "even if".
bien que — and that subjunctive
bien que always takes the subjunctive, without exception:
| ❌ | ✅ |
|---|---|
bien qu'il est malade | bien qu'il soit malade |
bien qu'il a raison | bien qu'il ait raison |
bien qu'il vient | bien qu'il vienne |
This is one of the most reliable subjunctive triggers — there are no exceptions. The detail is in
subjonctif-declencheurs.English gives no signal here at all — "although he is ill" is a plain indicative — so this has to be applied deliberately every time.
And if both halves have the same subject, an infinitive or an adjective is possible:
Bien que fatigué, il travaille.— although tired, he worksTout en étant fatigué, il travaille.— while being tired, he works
même si — which does not take the subjunctive
This is an important exception: despite its hypothetical meaning, même si takes the indicative, like any si.
| ❌ | ✅ |
|---|---|
même s'il soit riche | même s'il est riche |
même s'il vienne | même s'il vient |
The general rule: nothing beginning with
sitakes the subjunctive. Seesi-hypothese.
alors que — two meanings
| Meaning | Pronunciation | |
|---|---|---|
Il dort alors que je travaille. | contrast — he sleeps while I work | /il dɔʁ a.lɔʁ kə ʒə tʁa.vaj/ |
Alors que je sortais, il est arrivé. | simultaneity — as I was going out | /a.lɔʁ kə ʒə sɔʁ.tɛ il ɛ.t‿a.ʁi.ve/ |
Context tells you which: two contrasting actions mean contrast; two simultaneous ones mean time.
English "while" is ambiguous in exactly the same way — "he sleeps while I work" versus "while I was going out" — so no adjustment is needed.
quand même and tout de même
These are adverbs, not conjunctions, and they go at the end:
| Pronunciation | ||
|---|---|---|
Il pleut. Je sors quand même. | I'm going out anyway | /il plø/ · /ʒə sɔʁ kɑ̃ mɛm/ |
C'est cher, mais je le prends quand même. | I'll take it anyway | /sɛ ʃɛʁ mɛ ʒə lə pʁɑ̃ kɑ̃ mɛm/ |
Merci quand même. | thanks all the same | /mɛʁ.si kɑ̃ mɛm/ |
quand mêmeis extremely common in spoken French and carries emotional weight too: surprise, mild protest, emphasis. It is English "anyway", "all the same", "even so" — and, like those, it does a lot of social work beyond its literal meaning.
Examples
| English | French | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| It's expensive but good. | C'est cher mais bon. | /sɛ ʃɛʁ mɛ bɔ̃/ |
| He studied, and yet he failed. | Il a étudié, pourtant il a raté. | /i.l‿a e.ty.dje puʁ.tɑ̃ i.l‿a ʁa.te/ |
| Although he's ill, he works. | Bien qu'il soit malade, il travaille. | /bjɛ̃ kil swa ma.lad il tʁa.vaj/ |
| Despite the rain, I'm going out. | Malgré la pluie, je sors. | /mal.ɡʁe la plɥi ʒə sɔʁ/ |
| Even if it rains, I'm going out. | Même s'il pleut, je sors. | /mɛm sil plø ʒə sɔʁ/ |
| He sleeps while I work. | Il dort alors que je travaille. | /il dɔʁ a.lɔʁ kə ʒə tʁa.vaj/ |
| It's expensive; I'll take it anyway. | C'est cher, je le prends quand même. | /sɛ ʃɛʁ ʒə lə pʁɑ̃ kɑ̃ mɛm/ |
| On the other hand, Lyon is cheaper. | En revanche, Lyon est moins cher. | /ɑ̃ ʁə.vɑ̃ʃ ljɔ̃.n‿ɛ mwɛ̃ ʃɛʁ/ |
| Despite his efforts, it didn't work. | En dépit de ses efforts, ça n'a pas marché. | /ɑ̃ de.pi də se.z‿e.fɔʁ sa na pa maʁ.ʃe/ |
| Although tired, he works. | Bien que fatigué, il travaille. | /bjɛ̃ kə fa.ti.ɡe il tʁa.vaj/ |
Common mistakes
| ❌ | ✅ | Why |
|---|---|---|
Bien qu'il est malade | Bien qu'il soit malade | bien que needs the subjunctive |
Malgré il pleut | Malgré la pluie | malgré takes a noun |
Même s'il soit riche | Même s'il est riche | si never takes the subjunctive |
Bien que la pluie | Malgré la pluie | bien que needs a clause |
Malgré que | Bien que | malgré que is not accepted in writing |
writing quoique as two words | quoique is one word | quoi que means something else |
That last one is a good trap:
quoique= "although" ·quoi que= "whatever" —Quoi que tu fasses, …means "whatever you do".
Why bien que takes the subjunctive but même si does not
one sets a fact aside, the other supposes it
The French subjunctive marks that the speaker is not asserting the clause — not denying it, but taking it off the table.
In bien qu'il soit malade, his illness is a fact — but the speaker is saying "set that aside, it does not change things". That setting-aside is what triggers the subjunctive.
In même s'il est malade, his illness is a hypothesis — and hypotheses in French are expressed with si and the indicative, never the subjunctive. This is one of the language's firmest rules:
After a conditional
si, never the subjunctive and never the future.
But the si meaning "whether" follows a different rule and does take the future: Je ne sais pas s'il viendra. See question-indirecte.
English has a faint trace of the same instinct. "Although he be ill" is archaic but attested, and "be that as it may" survives — English concessives once took the subjunctive too, for the same reason. What English does not do is keep it alive, so there is no live signal to copy.
The practical approach: memorise a short list of certain subjunctive triggers — bien que · quoique · pour que · avant que · jusqu'à ce que · à condition que — and remember that si and its family are never on that list.