Linking words: although, though, besides, neither, nor and more

Linking words (also called connectors) join ideas. They make you sound clear and professional. Each one has a meaning (contrast, addition, reason…) and a pattern: some are followed by a clause, some by a noun, some stand alone.

Les mots de liaison (connecteurs) relient les idées. Chacun a un sens (opposition, addition, cause…) et une construction : certains sont suivis d’une proposition, d’autres d’un nom, d’autres s’utilisent seuls.

Quick words: a clause is a group of words with a subject and a verb (“it is fast”). A noun is a thing (“the delay”).

Une proposition = sujet + verbe. Un nom = le nom d’une chose.

1. Contrast (Opposition)

Word	Français	Pattern	Example
but	mais	between two clauses	“It’s fast, but it’s expensive.”
however	cependant	new sentence, comma after	“It’s fast. However, it’s expensive.”
although	bien que	+ clause	“Although it’s fast, it’s expensive.”
though	bien que / quand même	+ clause, or at the end (informal)	“It’s fast, though.”
even though	même si (fait réel)	+ clause	“Even though it was late, we finished.”
even if	même si (hypothèse)	+ clause	“Even if it’s late, we’ll finish.”
despite / in spite of	malgré	+ noun or -ing	“Despite the delay, we shipped.”
whereas / while	alors que	+ clause	“The old API is slow, whereas the new one is fast.”
yet	pourtant	between two ideas	“It’s simple, yet powerful.”
nevertheless / nonetheless	néanmoins	formal, new sentence	“It’s risky. Nevertheless, we’ll try.”
on the other hand	d’un autre côté	new sentence	“It’s cheap. On the other hand, it’s slow.”
on the contrary	au contraire	new sentence	“It’s not a problem. On the contrary, it’s a chance.”
instead / instead of	à la place / au lieu de	alone / + noun or -ing	“Use a queue instead of a loop.”

Although, though, even though: what is the difference?

• Although is the normal choice. “Although it’s late, …”
• Though means the same, but it is more informal, and it can go at the end of a sentence: “It works. It’s slow, though.” (Ça marche. C’est lent, quand même.)
• Even though is stronger, like « même si, alors que ». It talks about a real fact.

Despite and in spite of are followed by a noun or an -ing form, not by a clause.

• “Despite the rain, we met.” / “Despite working late, we missed the deadline.”
• If you want a clause, add “the fact that”: “Despite the fact that it was late, …”
• Never say “despite of”.

Piège : on ne combine pas « although » avec « but » dans la même phrase. “Although it’s late, we continue” (pas “Although it’s late, but we continue”).

2. Addition (Addition)

Word	Français	Example
and	et	“We tested it and fixed it.”
also	aussi (devant le verbe)	“We also updated the docs.”
too / as well	aussi (en fin de phrase)	“I’ll join too.” / “I’ll join as well.”
besides	d’ailleurs, de plus	“I don’t want to go. Besides, it’s late.”
apart from / aside from	à part	“Apart from the login page, everything works.”
in addition (to)	en plus (de)	“In addition to the tests, we updated the docs.”
as well as	ainsi que	“She writes code as well as documentation.”
moreover / furthermore	de plus, en outre (formel)	“It’s secure. Moreover, it’s fast.”
what’s more	qui plus est (oral)	“It’s cheap. What’s more, it’s easy.”
not only… but also	non seulement… mais aussi	“Not only does it work, but it’s also fast.”

Besides or beside?

• Besides = en plus / à part: “Besides Sam, nobody came.”
• Beside = à côté de: “The printer is beside the window.”

After “not only” at the start of a sentence, invert the auxiliary and the subject: “Not only did we finish, …” Après « not only » en début de phrase, on inverse l’auxiliaire et le sujet.

3. Reason and result (Cause et conséquence)

Word	Français	Pattern	Example
because	parce que	+ clause	“We rolled back because the tests failed.”
because of	à cause de	+ noun	“Because of the bug, we delayed.”
since / as	puisque, comme	+ clause (reason is known)	“Since you’re here, let’s start.”
due to / owing to	en raison de	+ noun (formal)	“Due to a power cut, …”
thanks to	grâce à	+ noun	“Thanks to the new cache, …”
so	donc, alors	between two clauses	“It failed, so we rolled back.”
therefore / consequently	par conséquent	formal	“The test failed. Therefore, we stopped.”
as a result	résultat :	new sentence	“As a result, the page is faster.”
that’s why	c’est pourquoi	+ clause	“That’s why we need tests.”
so… that / such… that	tellement… que	+ clause	“It was so slow that users left.”

4. Purpose (But)

• to + verb: “I’m writing to ask about the date.” (pour demander)
• in order to + verb: “We cache the data in order to reduce the load.” (formel)
• so as not to + verb: “We wrote tests so as not to break things.” (pour ne pas)
• so that + clause: “I added logs so that we can debug.” (pour que)
• for + noun or -ing: “This tool is for testing.” (pour, destiné à)

5. Condition (Condition)

Word	Français	Example
if	si	“If the tests pass, we’ll deploy.”
unless	à moins que, sauf si	“We’ll deploy unless the tests fail.”
as long as / provided that	pourvu que, tant que	“You can merge as long as the tests pass.”
otherwise	sinon	“Restart it. Otherwise, it won’t work.”
in case	au cas où	“Take a charger in case the battery dies.”
whether… or	si… ou	“I don’t know whether it works or not.”

• Unless = if not. Do not add another negative: “Unless the tests fail” (not “unless the tests don’t fail”).
• In case ≠ if. “In case” means « au cas où » (just to be ready). “If” means « si » (on a condition).

6. Time and sequence (Temps et ordre)

Word	Français	Example
first, then, next, after that, finally	d’abord, ensuite, puis, après ça, enfin	“First we build, then we test, finally we deploy.”
before / after	avant / après	“Review it before you merge.”
while / meanwhile	pendant que / pendant ce temps	“While it builds, I’ll write the notes.”
as soon as	dès que	“I’ll call you as soon as I know.”
until	jusqu’à ce que	“Wait until the build finishes.”
by the time	le temps que, quand	“By the time I arrived, it was over.”
once	une fois que	“Once it’s merged, we’ll deploy.”
eventually	finalement, à terme	“Eventually, we fixed it.”

Piège : « eventually » ne veut pas dire « éventuellement » (c’est « possibly »). Il veut dire « finalement, au bout du compte ».

After these time words, use the present simple for the future: “I’ll call you as soon as I know.”

7. Examples and explanations (Exemples et reformulations)

Word	Français	Example
for example / for instance	par exemple	“Use a tool, for example Jest.”
such as / like	tel que, comme	“Tools such as Docker help.”
in particular / especially	en particulier, surtout	“I like it, especially the speed.”
namely	à savoir	“One thing is missing, namely tests.”
in other words	autrement dit	“It’s idempotent. In other words, you can run it twice.”
that is (i.e.)	c’est-à-dire	“The next release, i.e. version 3.”
e.g.	par exemple	“Use a linter, e.g. ESLint.”

8. Summary (Conclusion)

• “In short, …” / “In brief, …” (En bref)
• “To sum up, …” (Pour résumer)
• “Overall, …” / “All in all, …” (Dans l’ensemble)
• “In conclusion, …” (En conclusion)

9. Both, either, neither, nor (Les paires)

Pair	Français	Example
both A and B	A et B (les deux)	“Both Sam and Alex are here.”
either A or B	A ou B (l’un ou l’autre)	“You can either call or email.”
neither A nor B	ni A ni B	“Neither the design nor the code is ready.”

Neither / nor with a verb

• “Neither of them is ready.” (Formal: singular verb. In speech, people also say “are”.)
• With “neither… nor”, the verb often agrees with the nearer noun: “Neither the manager nor the developers were there.”
• Do not use a second negative: “Neither of them is ready” (not “Neither of them isn’t ready”).

Agreeing with someone (Répondre « moi aussi » / « moi non plus »)

They say	You say	Meaning
“I like it.”	“So do I.” / “Me too.”	Moi aussi.
“I don’t like it.”	“Neither do I.” / “Me neither.” / “Nor do I.”	Moi non plus.
“I’ve finished.”	“So have I.”	Moi aussi.
“She can’t come.”	“Neither can I.”	Moi non plus.

The rule: use the same helper as in the first sentence (do, have, can, is, will…), and put it before the subject (“So do I”, “Neither can I”). On reprend le même auxiliaire que la phrase de départ, et on l’inverse avec le sujet.

Either at the end of a negative sentence

• “I don’t know either.” (Je ne sais pas non plus.)
• “Nor did he explain why.” (Il n’a pas non plus expliqué pourquoi.) — inversion after “nor”.

Mistakes to avoid (Erreurs fréquentes)

Wrong	Right
“despite of”	“despite” or “in spite of”
“Although it’s late, but…”	“Although it’s late, …”
“in the contrary”	“on the contrary”
“beside” (for « en plus »)	“besides”
“unless it doesn’t work”	“unless it works”
“when I will arrive”	“when I arrive”
“actually” (for « actuellement »)	“currently” (actually = en fait)
“He is agree”	“He agrees”

À retenir

• Pour opposer : but, although, though, however, despite.
• Pour ajouter : also, besides, in addition, moreover.
• Pour expliquer : because, since, so, therefore, as a result.
• Pour la condition : if, unless, as long as, in case, otherwise.
• Pour « moi aussi / moi non plus » : So do I, Neither do I.