encara que + Indicative/Subjunctive

Indicative and Subjunctive with Encara Que

Level 4

Encara que uses indicative for an asserted concession and subjunctive for an unasserted or hypothetical one.

How It Works

With indicative, the speaker presents the concessive circumstance as a fact: encara que plou, sortim. With subjunctive, the speaker can leave its truth open or treat it as irrelevant to the result: encara que plogui, sortirem.

Subjunctive therefore does not prove that the circumstance is false. It may describe something the speaker knows but chooses not to assert in that clause. The contrast is one of presentation as well as factual versus hypothetical meaning.

The main clause has its own tense. Choose present subjunctive for a prospective concession, imperfect for a remote one, and a compound subjunctive when prior completion matters. Do not mechanically replace every English although with an indicative form.

Examples (3)

  1. Encara que plou, sortim.

    Although it is raining, we are going out.

  2. Encara que plogui, sortirem.

    Even if it rains, we will go out.

  3. Encara que fos barat, no el compraria.

    Even if it were cheap, I would not buy it.

How It Connects

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encara que + Indicative/SubjunctiveLevel 4Indicative and Subjunctive with Encara Que

Learn This First

Recognize subjunctive forms and nonasserted content before extending the mood to new clauses. Recognize asserted factual content before making a mood contrast.

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Words in This Pattern

encara que