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How to use "though", and the difference between "though" and "although"

"Although" and "though" are confusing. However, "although" is actually very easy. "Though" is a difficult word that can be used in a few ways. We will talk a lot about "though", and then think about "although" at the end.

Though can be used in a few different ways in English:

• as a conjunction to join two sentences
• as an adverb
• in ellipsis
• as though

1. As a conjunction

A conjunction is a word that joins two sentences together. These are words like "and", "but", "because" and so on. This lesson will tell you more about conjunctions:

Conjunctions: An Overview
"Though" is used as a conjunction, and it is a lot like "but" or "however". When you use "though", you need to be careful!

Check these examples:

• Though it was expensive, I bought it;
• It was expensive, but I bought it.

These two sentences mean the same thing, but look where you need to use "though", and where you need to use "but".

Take a look at how we use "though" and "however" to communicate the same idea:

• Though he isn't a nice guy, he is a good salesman;
• He isn't a nice guy, however he is a good salesman.

Again, these two sentences have the same meaning, but we use "though" in a different location in the sentence. This has an interesting result.

You can change the "though" sentences around. This sentence:

• I bought it anyway, though it was expensive;
is the same as this sentence:
• Though it was expensive, I bought it.

You can't do this with "but" and "however". This sentence is OK:

• It was expensive, but I bought it.
This sentence is not OK:
• But I bought it, it was expensive. ← Not possible!

"However" is the same as "but". You can only use "however" one way.

When we use "but", "however", and "though" we show a contrast between two ideas or actions. For example, in the the sentences above it is expensive, so you wouldn't expect to buy it. In the other example, he isn't a nice guy, so it is a surprise that he is a good salesman. If you want to make a stronger contrast, you can use "even though", like this:

Even though it was expensive, I bought it anyway; or
I bought it anyway, even though it was expensive.
Even though he isn't a nice guy, he is a good salesman; or
He is a good salesman, even though he isn't a nice guy.

2. As an adverb

This way of using "though" is related to using it as a conjunction. We usually use "though" at the end of a sentence to mean "however". Again, it makes a contrast.

Take a look at these examples:

• I bought it. It was expensive, though.
• He is a good salesman. He isn't a nice guy, though.

In both these cases, you are saying the same thing as our original sentences:

• Though it was expensive, I bought it;
• Though he isn't a nice guy, he is a good salesman.

However, this way of using "though" is really useful in conversation when you want to react to someone and contrast your idea with theirs. Take sentence 2 first:

A: He is a good salesman.
B: He isn't a nice guy, though.

B is saying, "Yes, he is a good salesman, but he is not a nice guy." Using "though" at the end of your sentence in a reaction like this is a good way to connect the idea of the other speaker. Here are some more examples of "though" in short conversations.

A: Hamburgers are so delicious!
B: They aren't good for you, though.

A: That was a terrible movie.
B: The special effects were good, though, don't you think?

A: These shoes are really cheap.
B: They probably aren't good quality, though, are they?

3. In ellipsis

Ellipsis is when you leave words out and make your sentence shorter, because they are not needed or you don't want to repeat yourself. A good example of ellipsis is from a wedding ceremony. In a wedding, you will hear this:

"Do you take this man to be your husband, to have and to hold, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

Now, the bride can answer like this:

"I take this man to be my husband, to have and to hold, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do we part."

But that is really long! So she says, "I do", because the "take this man to be..." is all understood. That is ellipsis.

Using "though" with ellipsis is common. This is actually just a repeat of point 1 (conjunctions), but it might not be so easy to see. If we look at our original examples, we can rephrase them with ellipsis to make it easier to say (and save us a few words!):

1. Though expensive, I bought it;
2. Though not a nice guy, he is a good salesman.

Remember that (1) was originally "though it was expensive", and (2) was "though he is not a nice guy".

Be careful! You can only do this with "be" and when the things you are talking about in the two parts of the sentence is the same (It was expensive, but I bought it; He is not a nice guy, but he is a good salesman).

Take this sentence:

• Though the weather was fine, Steve didn't go to the beach.
You cannot cut "the weather was". If you do, you get a different sentence:
• Though fine, Steve didn't go to the beach.
This sentence means that Steve was fine (he wasn't sick). Our original sentence was talking about the weather!

4. As though

We use "as though" to talk about how things seem:

• He sounds as though he's got a cold;
• It looks as though she's going to be late.

We also use "as though" when we know that a situation is not true:

• I feel as though my head is going to explode;
• He acts as though he is the king of the world.

In these cases, you can swap "as though" with "like" or "as if", and there is no change in meaning:

• He sounds like he's got a cold;
• He sounds as if he's got a cold.
• It looks like she's going to be late;
• It looks as if she's going to be late.
• I feel like my head is going to explode;
• I feel as if my head is going to explode.
• He acts like he is the king of the world;
• He acts as if he is the king of the world.

Notes:
"Although" can be used as a conjunction, exactly like "though". "Though" is more informal.
Remember our examples from above? You can say the same thing using "although":

• Although it was expensive, I bought it;
• He is a good salesman, although he isn't a nice guy.

This is the only way you can use "although" in English. You cannot use "although" in any of the other ways we used "though" above.

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in spite of / despite / although

In spite of, despite and although are all used to show a contrast but there are differences in the structures used with them.

In spite of / despite
After in spite of and despite we use a noun or a pronoun.

• We enjoyed our camping holiday in spite of the rain.
• Despite the pain in his leg he completed the marathon.
• Despite having all the necessary qualifications, they didn’t offer me the job.
• Remember that the gerund (‘-ing’ form) is the ‘noun’ form of a verb.

If ‘in spite of’ and ‘despite’ are used in front of the phrase ‘the fact that’ then they can be used with a subject and a verb:

• In spite of the fact that he studied very hard, he still didn’t pass the exam.
• Despite the fact that it rained we still had a great time.

The only difference between in spite of and despite is the ‘of’.
Despite of the bad weather, there was a large crowd at the match.

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