Beyond che: subordinating conjunctions — concession

By Sigrid Lee

We have looked at the subjunctive mood (il congiuntivo) and how the conjunction che (that, which) triggers it on so many occasions.

But other conjunctions trigger the subjunctive, as well. Subordinating conjunctions (including che) are used to connect a dependent or subordinate clause (one that can't stand alone) to a main clause in different ways. They're called congiunzioni subordinanti in Italian and are categorized into groups such as concessive (of concession), temporali (of time), causali (of cause), finali (of purpose), etc.

We will go through them one by one over the course of multiple lessons and provide examples from Yabla videos. Knowing the names of the various conjunction types is not the important thing, but recognizing their meaning and being able to use them when needed or desired will enhance your speaking and writing. As you learn more Italian, you will begin recognizing them and incorporating them into your speech and understanding. These conjunctions play a role in instructions, rules, and regulations, so it's a good idea to be familiar with them.

Some are more common than others, and you will hear them again and again in Yabla videos, as well as in everyday speech. Practicing them in Speak, Scribe, and Revo will reinforce your command of them and help them feel natural. To see more examples, do a search of your chosen conjunction on the "videos" page and they will be listed. Open the transcript if you need more context or complete sentences.

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In this lesson, we will deal with some common conjunctions of concession. In English, these are words like "despite," "notwithstanding," "although," "even though," etc. In Italian, they are: benché, sebbene, malgrado che, nonostante, anche se (which doesn't necessarily take the subjunctive depending on the context).

Here's an explanation of what this kind of conjunction is about, in Italian and in English.

Le congiunzioni concessive introducono un ostacolo che non impedisce l'azione principale.

Concessive conjunctions introduce an obstacle that doesn't impede the principal action.

As we will see, some of the conjunctions we encounter already contain the conjunction che. And we can guess that at one time, they were separate words: bene che or se bene. Two of the conjunctions of concession contain the adverb bene (well). With benché, it's at the beginning, whereas with sebbene, it's in second place. Bene (well, good) is generally a positive or reinforcing word. That can help us understand that even though there is an obstacle in the subordinate clause, it doesn't prevent the main clause from being true.

You might be wondering if benché and sebbene are interchangeable. They are indeed. And they both take the subjunctive. In the first example below, the verb in the subjunctive mood is avere (to have), and in the second example, it's essere (to be).

benché (even though, although)

Ho fatto il matto anch'io, benché avessi quindici anni nel quarantacinque,

I went crazy too, even though I was fifteen years old in nineteen forty-five,

Captions 58-59, Vera e Giuliano Montaldo - Part 4
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sebbene

Ma prima nessuno, nessuno aveva visto questa meraviglia, neanche gli uomini preistorici perché, sebbene siano state trovate delle tracce, eh, di, della loro presenza in altri punti, in questi ambienti assolutamente no.

But before that, no one, no one had seen this wonder, not even prehistoric men because, although traces have been found, uh, of, of their presence in other spots, in these chambers, absolutely not.

Captions 5-9, Meraviglie S2EP1 - Part 7
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A way to express the same idea informally, and without needing the subjunctive, is with anche se (even if).

Ci sono certe realtà che vanno raccontate, anche se fa male.

There are certain realities that need to be told, even if it hurts.

Captions 24-25, Liberi tutti EP7 Quanto vale una pera al Milanetto? - Part 6
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nonostante (despite, despite the fact that, notwithstanding)

A dodici anni ha composto la sua prima opera e nonostante fosse un genio, i suoi l'hanno obbligato a studiare da avvocato,

At the age of twelve, he composed his first work and even though he was a genius, his parents forced him to study to be a lawyer,

Captions 7-9, La compagnia del cigno S2 EP 2 - Part 7
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The handy thing about nonostante is that it can be followed by either a verb in the subjunctive mood or by a noun! It works similarly to "despite" in English. When followed by a noun, nonostante works like a preposition.

Pochi sono venuti a trovarlo, nonostante tutto il bene che ha fatto.

Few came to visit him, despite all the good he did.

Captions 8-9, Imma Tataranni Sostituto procuratore S1 EP6 Dalla parte degli ultimi - Part 15
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malgrado (despite, in spite of)

Ecco le campane, oggi è domenica, e malgrado sia un giorno di festa, la città, ehm, si muove in questo momento, forse perché molti son' tornati dalle vacanze.

There go the bells, today is Sunday, and even though it is a non-work day, the city, uhm, is stirring right now, perhaps because many have come back from their holidays.

Captions 16-19, Rosalba al parco della donna gatto - Part 1
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Malgrado can also be followed by a noun.

Malgrado l'ora tarda, giovani dai quindici ai vent'anni hanno invaso la stazione Centrale

Despite the late hour, young people from fifteen to twenty years old invaded the Central Station

Captions 5-6, Guido Crepax Cercando Valentina - Part 3
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Malgrado and nonostante are pretty much interchangeable, but nonostante is more common, and malgrado can seem negative (from the presence of mal = evil), as well as being a bit more formal. These two concessive conjunctions are quite interesting, and we'll delve deeper into them in a future lesson.

Thanks for reading. We hope gathering conjunctions together can help you make sense of them. See also Daniela's video lessons about il congiuntivo and this one about subordinating conjunctions.

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