📖LearnModule 13 · Lesson 11 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, first halfUnit 3 · Los conectores raros
Ahora bien — el giro que cambia el argumento
Module 13 of the free Spanish course (CEFR C2, first half), lesson 11 of 30: Ahora bien introduces the fact that changes everything. On this page: 10 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
ahora bien
now then, that said
ah-OH-rah byehn
aun así
even so
own ah-SEE
el testigo
the witness
ehl tehs-TEE-goh
mentir
to lie
mehn-TEER
la conclusión
the conclusion
lah kohn-kloo-SYOHN
incómodo
inconvenient
een-KOH-moh-doh
ausente
absent
ow-SEHN-teh
la forma del razonamiento
the shape of the reasoning
lah FOHR-mah dehl rrah-soh-nah-MYEHN-toh
imprescindible
indispensable
eem-prehs-seen-DEE-bleh
ellos mienten al juez
they lie to the judge
EH-yohs MYEHN-tehn ahl hwehs
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.
La regla · The rule
Ahora bien introduces the fact that changes everything. It is not now in time and not however; it is the second premise of an argument. Los testigos mienten. Ahora bien, uno de ellos estaba ausente.
Y también · And also
Spanish essays are built on it, and learners almost never use it because no English word maps onto it. Learn it as a SHAPE: statement, ahora bien + inconvenient fact, conclusion. Aun así (even so) is its gentler cousin.
Ojo · Watch out
ahora bien introduces the fact that turns the argument: statement, ahora bien + inconvenient fact, conclusion. It is not now in time and not however, and it takes a comma after it. mentir changes e to ie: miento, mientes.
mentir, presente — the table
yo miento · tú mientes · él/ella/usted miente · nosotros mentimos · ustedes mienten · ellos/ellas mienten
Do it now — on paper
Say all 10 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with ahora bien.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out mentir, presente in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
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 Spanish 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.