When do you use the word although

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   Identify the contrast you want to communicate. “Although,” similar to “despite” and “in spite of,” is a way explaining a contrast, which is when two things are at odds. If you want to show a contrast, then you may want to use “although” in your sentence. Some examples of contrast sentences that use “although” include:^[1]
   

   • Although the beach was crowded, we still had a lovely day.
   • I ate the whole sandwich, although it tasted terrible.
   • My dog is friendly, although he barks loudly.
   • Although Gloria studied, she still failed.

   Tip: Remember that a contrast is when you want to show that two things are different, whereas a comparison is when you want to show how two things are similar. Don’t use “although” to compare things as this won’t make sense.

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   Position “although” at the beginning or middle of a sentence. “Although” may start a sentence or show up in the middle of a sentence as a conjunction. It cannot end a sentence. Make sure that you are using “although” as your first word of the sentence, or after a comma in the middle of a sentence. Some examples include:^[2]
   

   • “Although Tammy was tired, she continued to study.”
   • “I love pizza, although it gives me heartburn.”
   • “Although my family drives me crazy, I couldn’t live without them.”
   • “We danced all night, although we took several breaks for food and water.”

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   Place the noun or subject after “although.” When writing a sentence that includes “although,” always place a subject after “although.” The subject may be a noun, which is a person, place, or thing, or a pronoun, which takes the place of a noun, such as “he,” “she,” “we,” “it,” or “they.”^[3]
   

   • For example, in the sentence, “Although the beach was crowded, we still had a lovely day,” the noun that follows although is “the beach.”
   • In the sentence, “I ate the whole sandwich, although it tasted terrible,” the pronoun “it” stands in for “sandwich” in the second half of the sentence.

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   Follow the subject or noun with a verb to describe the action. After you place the subject of the sentence, include a verb that describes the subject’s action. The verb goes right after the noun or pronoun in the sentence.^[4]
   

   • For example, in the sentence, “My dog is friendly, although he barks loudly,” the verb that follows the subject is “barks.”
   • In the sentence, “Although I studied, I still failed,” the verb that follows the subject is “studied.”

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   Add qualifiers and adjectives to enhance the contrast. Once you have established a basic sentence that features a subject and verb after although, you can incorporate adjectives and qualifiers.^[5]
   This will help to enhance the contrast and communicate a more detailed idea. Some examples include:

   • Instead of “Although Gloria studied, she still failed,” you could say “Although Gloria studied daily, she still failed the math test.” The addition of “daily” and “the math test” gives more information about how much Gloria studied and what she failed.
   • Instead of “I ate the whole sandwich, although it tasted terrible, you might say, “I quickly ate the whole sandwich, although it tasted like rotten eggs.” The addition of “quickly” describes how you ate the sandwich while swapping “terrible” with “rotten eggs” adds detail about the unpleasant flavor of the sandwich.

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   Use “although” when you want to sound more formal. “Although” appears frequently in English, but it works the same as other contrasting conjunctions, such as “though,” “despite,” and “in spite of.” If you want to sound slightly more formal, then using “although” may be a good choice. However, if you’re trying to sound more casual, then you might want to go with something like “though” instead.^[6]
   

   • “Despite” and “in spite of” may also sound somewhat formal, so you may want to reserve these words for more formal communications as well.

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   Don’t always use “although” interchangeably with “though.” “Although” and “though” can be used in some of the same instances, but “though” also works as an adverb. Since “although” can only be used as a conjunction, you can’t use it in all of the same situations that you can use “though.”^[7]
   

   • For example, you could not swap “although” for “though” in this sentence: “Yesterday, though, the mall was busy.” In this instance, “though” is an adverb rather than a conjunction. Placing “although” in the sentence would not work because the sentence doesn’t need a conjunction.
   • Likewise, you cannot replace “though” with “although” in a sentence that reads, “Things were about to get crazy, though, as a bus full of children arrived at the museum.” Once again, “though” is an adverb and “although” would not work as it is a conjunction.

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   Avoid using “although” in place of “however.” These words have similar meanings but they are not always the same in how you can use them, so don’t use them interchangeably. “However” can function as an adverb and as a conjunction, so sometimes it can take the place of although or vice versa, but not always.^[8]
   

   • For example, a sentence that reads, “Although she was busy, she still made time for lunch,” would not work with “however” in place of “although.”
   • A sentence that reads, “However, there was no need for a second opinion,” would not work with “although” in its place since using “although” would indicate that a contrasting statement will follow this one. That would make the sentence a fragment.

   Tip: “However” can begin a sentence or it may come in the middle of a compound sentence after a semi-colon. Always follow “however” with a comma no matter where it appears. “Although” may begin or divide a sentence into 2 parts, but it doesn’t require a comma after it, only before it if it’s in the middle of the sentence.^[9]
   

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   Place a comma before “although” to use it in the middle of a sentence. “Although” sometimes comes at the beginning of a sentence, but other times it may appear in the middle of a sentence. Since “although” is a conjunction, place a comma before it when it is in the middle of a sentence.^[10]
   

   • For example, in the sentence, “We had a great time at the park, although it rained,” the comma comes before “although.” This creates a pause that makes the sentence flow more smoothly.
   • An exception would be if you included a second conjunction prior to “although,” such as “and” or “so.” In these cases, the comma would go before the other conjunction. For example, “Near the end of the race I fell, and although I got back up right away, I did not win the race.” In this sentence, “and” is also a conjunction, so it requires a comma before it.

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   Watch out for sentence fragments. It’s easy to end up with a sentence fragment when you use “although” since it is sometimes mistaken for other words and it has a very specific usage. Check your writing carefully for fragments whenever you use “although” and correct them if needed. Some examples of fragments include:

   • “Although, the beach was beautiful.”
   • “We had a fun time, although.”
   • “Although, they lost their money.”

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• Practice using “although” in your daily conversations, text messages, emails, and social media. Pay attention to how other people use “although” in sentences as well for more examples.