Even though at the beginning of a sentence

When starting a sentence with "although" or "even though", place a comma after the first clause of the sentence.

When starting a sentence with "although" or "even though", place a comma after the first clause.

Although my husband is rich, he dislikes spending money.

Although my husband is rich he dislikes spending money.

In the middle of a sentence, you can omit the comma if there is not a clear contrast between both clauses.

Mary kept walking although she had no idea where she had to go.

If there is a strong contrast between the two parts of a sentence, add a comma before "although" to separate them.

She was really sad, although she had won the championship.

Never put a comma after "although" or "even though".

Although life is short, you have to enjoy it.

Although, life is short, you have to enjoy it.

Contents

  • 1. Basic Concepts
  • 2. Starting a Sentence with 'Although' or 'Even though'
  • 3. Using 'Although' or 'Even though'in Mid-Sentence
  • 4. More Examples
  • 5. Conclusion

1. Basic Concepts

"Although", "though" and "even though" are subordinating conjunctions:

  • They are followed by a subject and a verb (e.g., "although it is raining").
  • You can use them to show contrast between two parts (clauses) of a sentence.

Commas with conjunctions

"Although" vs. "Though"

There is no significant difference between "although" and "though". The conjunction "though" is slightly more informal, but both have the same meaning and can be used interchangeably.

Although he is tall, he doesn't like playing basketball.

Though he is tall, he doesn't like playing basketball.

They can be placed at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence. You can also end a sentence with "though" (mostly in spoken English); however, you cannot really end a sentence with "although".

Commas with "though".

2. Starting a Sentence with 'Although' or 'Even though'

"Although" and "even though" are used to introduce a dependent clause. When we start a sentence with a dependent clause, we add a comma after it.

Although John exercises and trains every day, he is gaining weight.

Although John exercises and trains every day he is gaining weight.

Exceptions? There are no exceptions. Use a comma to separate both clauses if the clause introduced by "although" comes first.

Follow the same comma strategy when using "even though". "Even though" is simply a stronger form of "although". You can use "even though" to add emphasis. What is the emphasis on? It is on the expectation of the reader. The first part of a sentence expresses an idea, but the second part says something entirely different or unexpected.

Even though he didn't commit the crime, he went to jail.

The prepositions "despite" and "in spite of" are also used to show contrast, but they are not followed by a subject and verb. Instead, "despite" (or "in spite of") is followed by a noun, a noun phrase, a pronoun, or a gerund.

During conversation practice with one of my students, I asked her, “If you won the lottery, would you still do your job?”

She’s a yoga teacher and incredibly passionate about her work, so she answered,

“Of course I’d continue teaching even I didn’t have to work.”

If while reading her answer, you felt like something is wrong with the sentence, you’re right. But why is it incorrect? Let’s find out.

USING EVEN, EVEN IF, EVEN THOUGH, & EVEN SO

Even

We use even when we want to express a surprising extreme or when we want to say that something is more than we expect. For example,

“She’s rude to everyone. She’s even rude to me.“

“He gets up early even on Sundays.“

The problem with the sentence I shared at the beginning of this post is that even is being used as a conjunction. A conjunction is a word that connects two sentences together, such as, ‘and’, ‘because’, and ‘but’. Even alone cannot be used as a conjunction. It needs to be combined with if or though to connect two clauses. So the correction would be:

“Of course I’d continue teaching even if I didn’t have to work.”

Now, do you know why we used even if and not even though here?

Even if and even though are not equivalent. So what’s the difference between them?

Even If

We use even if when we’re talking about an unreal situation. We use it when we’re speculating or when we don’t consider something as a fact. 

To understand this better, let’s look at an example:

“I’m going out tomorrow even if it’s raining.”

In this situation, I don’t know if it’s going to rain tomorrow or not, but I’m still going out.

Here are some other examples,

“She’s leaving the company, even if they give her a promotion.”

“Even if we had the money, we wouldn’t live in a big house.”  

Be yourself, whatever it is. Even if it’s scary.
— Mariacarla Boscono

Even Though

We use even though when we’re talking about a real situation. We use it to express a fact or when we think something is true. 

Let’s look at how the meaning changes when we use even though instead of even if in the examples I used above:

“I’m going out right now, even though it’s raining.”

In this case, I know it’s raining and I don’t care. I’m going out anyway. 

Here are some other examples,

“She’s still leaving the company, even though they offered her a promotion yesterday.”

“Even though we have the money, we don’t want to live in a big house.”

Even though you’re growing up, you should never stop having fun.
— Nina Dobrev

Even So

Even so follows a fact and it means however or in spite of that. So we can say,

“The weather wasn’t great. Even so, we enjoyed our trip.”

“Everyone likes him. Even so, I don’t trust him.”

But even so, I still get nervous before I go on stage.
— Etta James

I hope you found this helpful! If you have any questions, share them with me in the comments. And if you found this useful, please share it with your friends.


Check out our English practice worksheets

Even though at the beginning of a sentence
Even though at the beginning of a sentence

Even though at the beginning of a sentence
Even though at the beginning of a sentence

Even though at the beginning of a sentence
Even though at the beginning of a sentence


About the writer

Sama is the founder of In English With Love and an online English educator from Canada with over ten years of experience in the industry. Her mission is to make quality English learning materials accessible to English learners and teachers everywhere.

Is it OK to start a sentence with even though?

Grammar explanation. Although, even though, in spite of and despite are all used to link two contrasting ideas or show that one fact makes the other fact surprising. They can all be used at the beginning or in the middle of the sentence.

How do you use though in the beginning?

Using 'Though' at the Beginning of a Sentence We use though at the beginning of a sentence where two opposite or contrasting pieces of information are introduced. In this context the speaker is saying that he doesn't usually drink coffee so it is unexpected or strange that they have drunk two cups.

How do you use even though in a sentence?

He distrusted me even though I was trying to help him. He wants to go out, even though it's raining. He went to work even though he was unwell. He's never got any money, even though his parents are quite rich.

What type of clause starts with even though?

(NOTE: Subordinate clauses begin with words such as after, although, as, because, before, even if, even though, if, since, so that, unless, until, when, whenever, whereas, while, etc. Dependent clauses include clauses that may begin with that, who, whom, whose, which, where, when, and why.