Poll: ..... it was expensive, they still bought it.

Be advised that this is a public poll: other users can see the choice(s) you selected.

Page 1 of 4 1234 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 35
Like Tree12Likes

Thread: Although or However?

  1. #1
    Tdol is offline Editor, UsingEnglish.com
    • Member Info
      • Member Type:
      • English Teacher
      • Native Language:
      • British English
      • Home Country:
      • UK
      • Current Location:
      • Philippines
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Posts
    38,633

    Default Although or However?

    Why?
    blakley, Thoruk and easybreakable like this.

  2. #2
    RonBee's Avatar
    RonBee is offline Moderator
    • Member Info
      • Member Type:
      • Other
      • Native Language:
      • American English
      • Home Country:
      • United States
      • Current Location:
      • United States
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Posts
    16,557

  3. #3
    Anonymous Guest

    Default Re: Although or However?

    Quote Originally Posted by tdol
    Why?
    Synonyns in this position:

    They still bought it, although, it was expensive.
    They still bought it, however, it was expensive.

    Synonyns in this position:

    It was expensive. They still bought it, (al)though.
    It was expensive. They still bought it, however.

    Although it was expensive, they still bought it.
    However it was expensive, they still bought it. ungrammy

    Why
    Math

    Within a given sentence, the word 'although' can modify A or B

    [although A] + B
    A + [B although]

    Within a given sentence, the word 'however' can modify B
    A + [however + B]
    A + [B however]

    Hypothesis: Both 'although' and 'however' function as conjunctions, but 'however' functions in a way similar to that of a pronoun: it needs a referent. Placing 'however' before its referent produces a result kind of like:

    ? He's the guy I told you about, John. semantics

    wherein the intended meaning is 'He' and 'John' are the same person (co-referent), but the order of the pronouns tells us that 'He' and 'John' are not the same person. The reason being that pronouns need their referents to come before them, so as they have something to anchor to, to refer to.

    In that 'He' to refer to 'John', we need to place 'John' before
    'He':

    John Smith is his name. He's the guy I told you about.

    It's that kind of distribution, I believe, that makes 'however' similar to a pronoun. That is, "However it was expensive, they still bought it" is ungrammy 'cause 'however' needs to come after A and before B:

    A + [however + B] (wherein "A" is a referential sentence)

    It's the order, not the semantics, per se, that's important.

    In short, 'however' needs a referent. 'although' doesn't.

  4. #4
    Anonymous Guest

    Default Re: Although or However?

    I dunno why it posted me as 'guest'.

    There's a typo:

    synonyns [sic] should read as synonyms. Is that right? It's like 4 am here and me eyes are falling out.

    By the way, since I be a guest, could I get some extra hand towels :D

    Cas

  5. #5
    RonBee's Avatar
    RonBee is offline Moderator
    • Member Info
      • Member Type:
      • Other
      • Native Language:
      • American English
      • Home Country:
      • United States
      • Current Location:
      • United States
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Posts
    16,557

    Default

    Yes, it should be synonyms. Also, I don't think you can use altogether and however synonymously.

    :)

  6. #6
    Tdol is offline Editor, UsingEnglish.com
    • Member Info
      • Member Type:
      • English Teacher
      • Native Language:
      • British English
      • Home Country:
      • UK
      • Current Location:
      • Philippines
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Posts
    38,633

    Default

    Synonyns in this position:

    They still bought it, although, it was expensive.
    They still bought it, however, it was expensive.

    They're not synonymous here to me. The second doesn't work, IMO, and I'd delete the second comma in the first.

    Synonyns in this position:

    It was expensive. They still bought it, (al)though.
    It was expensive. They still bought it, however.

    These wok, although I'd say that 'though' is the form to use in the first.
    g.sonmez likes this.

  7. #7
    RonBee's Avatar
    RonBee is offline Moderator
    • Member Info
      • Member Type:
      • Other
      • Native Language:
      • American English
      • Home Country:
      • United States
      • Current Location:
      • United States
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Posts
    16,557

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by tdol
    Synonyns in this position:

    They still bought it, although, it was expensive.
    They still bought it, however, it was expensive.

    They're not synonymous here to me. The second doesn't work, IMO, and I'd delete the second comma in the first.

    Synonyns in this position:

    It was expensive. They still bought it, (al)though.
    It was expensive. They still bought it, however.

    These work, although I'd say that 'though' is the form to use in the first.
    That's what I would have said, but I was too lazy.

    :wink:

  8. #8
    Tdol is offline Editor, UsingEnglish.com
    • Member Info
      • Member Type:
      • English Teacher
      • Native Language:
      • British English
      • Home Country:
      • UK
      • Current Location:
      • Philippines
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Posts
    38,633

    Default


  9. #9
    Mad-ox's Avatar
    Mad-ox is offline Key Member
    • Member Info
      • Member Type:
      • English Teacher
      • Native Language:
      • Hungarian
      • Home Country:
      • Romania
      • Current Location:
      • Romania
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Posts
    3,466

    Default Re: Although or However?

    however is always isoleted by a comma.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    wq.denis and gulesin like this.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Posts
    1

    Default Re: Although or However?

    Quote Originally Posted by Tdol View Post
    Why?
    how to use although

Page 1 of 4 1234 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Hotchalk

Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.1