Although
Although is a conjunction. It is used for introducing a statement that makes your main statement seem surprising.
- Although Jane was the most deserving candidate, she didn’t get the job.
- Although she is rich and famous, she is not happy.
- The soldiers fought bravely, and although they were badly wounded, they refused to surrender.
Though and even though
Though and although are interchangeable. Though is more common.
Though she was poor she would never ask for help.
Though difficult, the journey was not dangerous.
Even though is more emphatic than though and although.
The soldiers went on fighting even though they were badly injured.
Notes
Though, although and even though are subordinating conjunctions. They introduce a dependent clause that needs to be attached to an independent clause.
When clauses introduced by these subordinating conjunctions come at the beginning of a sentence, we usually separate them with a comma. Note that the commas can be left out if the clauses are very short.
The coordinating conjunction but can express the same idea.
The soldiers were badly injured but they went on fighting.
She was poor but she would never ask for help.
The same ideas can also be expressed using the transitional adverbs however, nevertheless and nonetheless.
They were badly injured; nevertheless, they went on fighting.
Jane was the most deserving candidate; however, she didn’t get the job.
It was a difficult race; nonetheless, over 1,000 runners participated.
Note the punctuation. Transitional adverbs do not connect two clauses; they merely facilitate the flow of ideas.
A transitional adverb should be preceded by a full stop or a semicolon. And it should be followed by a comma.
