📖LearnModule 11 · Lesson 26 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C1, first halfUnit 6 · Argumenter avec nuance
La concession
Module 11 of the free French course (CEFR C1, first half), lesson 26 of 30: . On this page: 7 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 26.
The words
French
English
Say it
il a beau essayer
however much he tries
eel ah boh eh-say-YAY
malgré le prix
despite the price
mahl-gray luh PREE
quoi qu'il arrive
whatever happens
kwah keel ah-REEV
quoique
although (formal)
KWAH-kuh
la concession
the concession
lah koh(n)-seh-SYOH(n)
admettre
to admit
ahd-MEHTR
sauf
except
sohf
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Hear the words
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
La règle · The rule
Granting a point before you turn it is the mark of an argued paragraph: bien que ce soit cher, malgré le prix, quoi qu'il arrive, and the very French avoir beau — il a beau essayer, il n'y arrive pas.
Et aussi · And also
Avoir beau has no English twin: "however much he tries, he cannot manage it." Learn it as a whole and it will sound natural.
Attention · Watch out
avoir beau has no English twin and takes an infinitive: il a beau essayer. quoi qu'il arrive (two words, whatever happens) is not quoique (one word, although).
Do it now — on paper
Say all 7 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with il a beau essayer.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write two sentences of your own that get the watch-out line right, then the two practice pages of workbook lesson 26 in Module 11 are the written half of this page.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.