The world is a contradictory place, and that’s why we should know how to express opposing ideas in French.
Also, the French like to argue, so you better arm yourself with the proper munition.
Today, we’ll learn how to use express opposing ideas, by using coordinating and subordinating conjunctions in French.
How to express opposition in French?
Two opposing ideas can be expressed in the same sentence as opposition. You begin first with opposing ideas.
Let’s take a look at this example.
Mon mari habite en France alors que moi j’habite en Italie.
My husband lives in France, while l live in Italy.
As a result of using the opposition, we will have more complex sentences, that have a structure similar to this one.
Sujet + verbe + object or adjective + coordinating conjuction + subject + verbe + object or adjective
The following will explain how to use opposition connectors to express opposition.
French Coordinating and Subordinating Conjunctions
Coordination conjunction connects two or more words or phrases.
Depending on what kind of phrases it connects, we distinguish two types of conjunctions.
- coordinating conjunctions (connect words or two equal independent phrases)
- subordinating conjunctions (connect one independent and one subordinating phrase )
Coordinating Conjunctions
As we mentioned, coordinating conjunctions connect two completely independent phrases. If the words are equal and serve the same purpose, it doesn’t matter whether they’re adjectives, nouns, adverbs, verbs, or even independent clauses.
There are many coordinating conjunctions in French (car, donc, ensuite, et, ni, or, ou bien, plus, puis, mais), but only mais is used to express opposing ideas. The most common coordinating conjunction is mais.
Mais
but
En juillet, c’est l’été en Europe, mais en Australie, c’est l’hiver.
In july, it’s summer in Europe, but in Australia, it’s winter.
We have our first idea: En août, c’est l’été en France, then we place our opposition connector “mais” and we have our second idea opposite to the first one: en Australie, c’est l’hiver.
A comma is normally placed before the “mais” connector.
Here, you can find our Ultimate guide to French conjunctions.
Subordinating conjunctions
There are actually just a few subordinating conjunctions: comme, quand, lorsque, puisque, que, quoique, si.
There are however many examples of “conjunctive phrases” (locations conjunctive). A conjunction is a term used to describe a group of two or more words that function together. Conjunction in French usually ends in “que”.
Alors que
while, as, whereas
Je voulais manger de la pizza, alors qu’il voulait manger des pâtes.
I wanted to eat pizza, while he wanted to eat pasta.
Alors que, can also be used to express simultaneous actions. You can learn more about it, here.
Au lieu de
instead of
Contrary to the other connectors, “Au lieu de“, will be constructed differently. “Au lieu de“. An infinitive verb or a noun will always follow.
- Following a noun
Tu peux prendre ta robe blue au lieu de ta robe vert.
You can take your blue dress, instead of a green dress.
- following a verb in the infinitive
Lave la vaisselle au lieu de regarder la télé.
Wash the dishes, instead of watching tv.
Au lieu de pleurer, tu ferais mieux d’étudier.
Instead of crying, you better study.
Contrairement
contrary, adversely
Contrairement à la croyance populaire, l’Afrique est un continent en développement.
Contrary to popular culture, Africa is a continent in development.
Au contraire
rather, on the contrary, in contrast
Au contraire, on choisit plutôt des endroits difficiles.
On the contrary, we rather choose difficult places.
Cependant, toutefois
however, but, nevertheless, though
Mon train a du retard. Cependant, j’arriverai assez tôt.
My train is delayed. However, I will be there soon enough.
Quoique
eventhough
Indicates two ideas in opposition.
Je commence à progresser quoique le chinois soit une langue difficile.
I start to make some progress eventhough Chinese is a difficult language.
Bien que
although, while, even though
Bien que je préfère le petit dejeuner salé, je prends toujours du croissant aussi.
While I prefer a salty breakfast, I always take a croissant too.
Bien que chaud, ce plat est delicious.
Although hot this dish is delicious.
En revanche
however, in contrast
Le temps est ensoleille aujourd’hui. En revanche, il va neiger la semaine prochaine.
The weather is sunny today. However, it will snow next week.
Tandis que
while, wheras
Ma soeur est devenu la maitresse, tandis que je suis devenu ingénieur.
My sister became a teacher whereas I became an engineer.
Malgré
despite
Montre-la que tu fais confiance malgré ses difficultés.
Show that you trust her despite her difficulties.
En comparaison
comparatively
L’autre vin est toujours moins bien noté en comparaison du premier.
The other wine is always a poor performer in comparison to the first.
Pourtant
yet, however, though, but
Il faut pourtant mesurer les dépenses.
However, the expenses must be measured.
Avoir beau
whatever, no matter what (even though) someone does/says, etc.
On a beau dire que c’était fini.
It is all very well to say it’s finished.
More expressions and conjunctions
- Quand même – all the same.
- Pour contre – as against
- Comme si – as though
- En revanche – by contrast
- Contrairement à – contrary to.
- Même si – even if
- Alors même que – even though
- Cependant, toutefois – however
- In comparison – en comparaison
- Malgré, en dépit de – in spite of
- Instead of – au lieu de
- Toutefois – nevertheless
- Néanmoins – nonetheless
- Malgré, néanmoins – notwithstanding
- Au contraire – on the contrary
- Sinon, sans quoi – otherwise
- Pourtant – still
- Cependant, bien que – though
- Contrairement à – unlike
- Tandis que – whereas
- Tandis que, même si – while
- Pourtant – yet
Don’t forget to practice! Here, you’ll find tons of great exercises to practice expressing opposing ideas.
Difficult but Useful
That concludes our lesson about French coordinating and subordinating conjunctions. There are so many different conjunctions you can use to express the opposite opinion in French.
It can be difficult to memorize them all, but it is possible. We believe, with practice, that every little piece comes into place. In a sentence. Of course.