01 · Stating a real fact
Aunque llueve, saldremos a caminar.
Although it's raining, we'll go for a walk.
It IS raining — aunque plus the indicative concedes a fact you're not disputing.
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Sub Junction
Layer cause, contrast and concession in one sentence — and defend it out loud.
Aunque + indicative concedes a real fact: Aunque llueve, saldremos a caminar — it IS raining, and we're going anyway. Aunque + subjunctive treats the concession as hypothetical: Aunque lloviera, saldríamos a caminar — even if it rained. The same precision runs through the whole connector set: causal porque is neutral while ya que, puesto que and dado que are formal (and como opens the sentence: Como no tenía coche, fue en autobús); for contrast, mientras que sets two parallel facts against each other, sin embargo and no obstante mark concession after a semicolon, and en cambio flips between alternatives.
Below: the connectors by register, the relative pronouns that keep stacked clauses clear (cuyo, el cual, lo que) — and a way to practice them in live argument, not substitution drills.
The warm-up pack
The connectors that let you argue in one breath instead of three short sentences.
01 · Stating a real fact
Aunque llueve, saldremos a caminar.
Although it's raining, we'll go for a walk.
It IS raining — aunque plus the indicative concedes a fact you're not disputing.
02 · Stating a hypothetical
Aunque lloviera, saldríamos a caminar.
Even if it rained, we'd go for a walk.
Swap in the subjunctive and the same word, aunque, now covers something that isn't happening — just imagined.
03 · The formal because
Puesto que los datos son claros, la decisión es evidente.
Given that the data is clear, the decision is obvious.
Porque works everywhere, but puesto que, ya que and dado que are what you reach for once the register climbs — a report, a meeting, an argument you're building carefully.
04 · The casual because
Como no tenía coche, fue en autobús.
Since he didn't have a car, he went by bus.
Como only works at the very start of the sentence — it sets up the cause before you even get to the result.
05 · Two facts, side by side
España usa el perfecto compuesto, mientras que Latinoamérica prefiere el indefinido.
Spain uses the compound perfect, whereas Latin America prefers the preterite.
Mientras que isn't concession — it's holding two true things up next to each other so the contrast is obvious.
06 · Conceding after a semicolon
El plan es ambicioso; sin embargo, es viable.
The plan is ambitious; however, it's viable.
Sin embargo needs that semicolon (or a full stop) before it — it's answering the first half, not joining onto it.
07 · The flip
Él prefiere el campo; ella, en cambio, prefiere la ciudad.
He prefers the countryside; she, on the other hand, prefers the city.
En cambio flips between two people's choices rather than conceding a point — a smaller, sharper move than sin embargo.
08 · Picking out one detail
El informe que presentaste es excelente.
The report that you presented is excellent.
This que is doing real work — it's picking out which report, out of however many. Drop it and the sentence loses its target.
09 · Extra info, not essential
La empresa, la cual fue fundada en 1990, es líder del sector.
The company, which was founded in 1990, is a sector leader.
The commas change the job of the clause — this is a side note about a company you've already identified, not a way of picking it out.
10 · Naming who owns what
El autor cuyo libro ganó el premio dará una conferencia.
The author whose book won the prize will give a lecture.
Cuyo agrees with the thing owned, not the owner — libro is masculine, so cuyo stays cuyo even though the author might be a woman.
11 · Stacking three clauses at once
Aunque el proyecto fracasó, ya que no había financiación, aprendimos mucho.
Although the project failed, since there was no funding, we learned a lot.
Two subordinate clauses back to back, each doing a different job — concession, then cause — and the main clause still lands clearly at the end.
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First 10 lessons freeandbefluent.com/spanish/sub-junctionRegional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
Watch out
The part no drill site can do
Carla
Your grammar teacher for this pack
Nothing to underline, no conjunction-substitution worksheet. In the Sub Junction lessons you argue — and Carla pushes back. You defend a position, she hands you the counterpoint, and you fold it in out loud with aunque…, choosing indicative or subjunctive as you speak. Then the swap drill, live: she takes one of your own sentences and has you rebuild it three ways — porque, then ya que, then dado que — so you feel the register climb. When you're cruising, she stretches you into cuyo and lo que, until a three-clause sentence comes out in one breath instead of three.
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 6 lessons and Sub Junction is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
When the concession is hypothetical or not accepted as fact: Aunque lloviera, saldríamos a caminar (even if it rained), Aun cuando tuviera razón, debería ser más diplomático. With a real, acknowledged fact, use the indicative: Aunque llueve, saldremos a caminar.
Register, mostly. Porque is the neutral 'because'; ya que, puesto que and dado que sound formal — Puesto que los datos son claros, la decisión es evidente. Como gives a cause only at the start of the sentence: Como no tenía coche, fue en autobús.
Aunque concedes something contrary to your point; mientras que contrasts two parallel facts: España usa el perfecto compuesto, mientras que Latinoamérica prefiere el indefinido. Mixing them up is one of the classic C1 slips.
Cuyo / cuya / cuyos / cuyas, agreeing with the thing possessed, not the owner: El autor cuyo libro ganó el premio dará una conferencia. For a whole-clause referent use lo que: Lo que más me preocupa es la falta de datos.
Sin embargo and no obstante concede after a semicolon: El plan es ambicioso; sin embargo, es viable. En cambio flips between two alternatives: Él prefiere el campo; ella, en cambio, prefiere la ciudad.