Linking language · Concession

Concession connectors in English

These connectors tell the reader that you accept the other side has a point, and you are about to answer it. Use concession when you want to acknowledge a genuine objection before defeating it. This is what separates an argued position from a one-sided one — and it only works if you then answer the point you conceded.

6 connectorseach with where it goes and how it is punctuated

2 worked examplesthe relationship, explained

2 common mistakeswith the repair

4 exercisesrelationship first, then the word

Start here · the long version

What concession connectors really claim

Concession connectors admit that the opposing point has force, and then go on anyway. They are the vocabulary of an argument that has considered its own weaknesses.

Why conceding makes a position stronger, not weaker

The instinct is that admitting a point against you costs ground. The opposite is true, and it is true for a specific reason: a reader who can think of an obvious objection and does not see you address it assumes you did not think of it. Naming it, granting what is true in it, and then explaining why your position survives is the difference between an argument and an assertion — and it is exactly what the criterion means by considering the issue.

The family is small and the shape is fixed: concede first, then reverse. “Admittedly, the scheme is expensive; it nevertheless offers the only realistic route to lower emissions.” Doing it in the other order does not work, because a concession that arrives after your conclusion reads as an afterthought that undermines it rather than a weakness you had already priced in.

The grammatical trap is the doubled marker. Spanish allows “aunque… pero”, and the carry-over produces “Although the scheme was expensive, but it went ahead.” English uses one or the other and never both — one relationship, one word announcing it.

Concede, then reverse

The order is fixed. A concession after your conclusion reads as a retraction of it.

Grant something real

Conceding a point nobody made is padding. Concede the objection a reader would actually raise.

Never double the marker

“Although … but” is one relationship announced twice. A direct carry-over from “aunque … pero”.

Not the same as contrast

Contrast sets two things side by side. Concession admits one has force and proceeds anyway.

What it costs you to skip this

An essay with no concession reads as one that never considered the other side, which is precisely what a “discuss both views” instruction is checking for — and even in an opinion essay it makes a position look unexamined. The reverse costs too: conceding without reversing leaves the paragraph having argued the opposite of your introduction, and readers take the last thing you said as your view.

Where it stops applying

Concession has a floor and a ceiling. Conceding the central claim of your own position leaves you with nothing to argue, and conceding in every paragraph produces an essay whose position is invisible. One well-chosen concession per essay, or one per body paragraph at most, is what a considered argument looks like; more than that is a writer agreeing with everyone.

Examples · what these words actually do

A connector joins two sentences and names the relationship between them

That is the whole job. The words are not decoration and they are not interchangeable: each one makes a claim about how the second sentence relates to the first, and the reader will read it that way whether you meant it or not. Here is what this family claims.

First sentence

Universal free tuition would place a real burden on public spending.

Admittedly

Second sentence

The long-term return in skills and tax revenue outweighs that cost.

The first sentence is the other side’s point, and you are admitting it is true. The second is your answer to it. Concession only works as a pair: admit, then answer. Admit and stop, and you have written their argument for them.

When you need it
Use concession when you want to acknowledge a genuine objection before defeating it. This is what separates an argued position from a one-sided one — and it only works if you then answer the point you conceded.

The connectors

Where each one goes, and how it is punctuated

They do not all behave the same way. Two connectors can mean the same thing and still be written differently — that is where most linking errors come from.

Admittedly

Formal

Opens the sentence with a comma. The next sentence must answer the point, or you have simply agreed with the other side.

It is true that

Neutral

Opens the sentence and is followed by a clause. Usually paired with a “but” or “however” sentence afterwards.

While this may be true

Formal

Opens the sentence with a comma. Carries the concession and the reversal in one phrase.

Although / Even though

Neutral

Followed by a full clause. The main clause carries your position: “Although the cost is high, the return justifies it.”

Granted

Formal

Opens the sentence. Short and confident; slightly more conversational than “admittedly”.

Of course

Neutral

Opens the sentence. Concedes something the reader already accepts, so the reversal must be worth reading.

Watch one · then do three

See the relationship before you choose the word

The connector is not a decoration. It is a claim about how the two halves relate, and the reader will hold you to it.

Worked example · Admittedly

Universal free tuition would place a substantial burden on public spending.

Admittedly the cost is significant, yet the long-term return in skills and tax revenue outweighs it.

Why this one: The concession is real and the answer follows in the same sentence. A concession with no answer is just the other side’s argument in your essay.

Worked example · Although

Concession and position in one sentence.

Although early specialisation suits a small number of students, most teenagers benefit from a broad curriculum.

Why this one: The subordinate clause holds the concession; the main clause holds your position. That order tells the reader which one you are defending.

What goes wrong

The two mistakes this family produces

Admittedly, home working reduces informal contact between colleagues.

The concession is left standing with nothing after it, so the paragraph ends on the opposing point. The reader last read the argument against you.

Repaired: Admittedly, home working reduces informal contact. Scheduled in-person sessions, however, restore most of what is lost.

Although the cost is high, but the return justifies it.

“Although” already carries the contrast. Adding “but” makes the sentence contrast twice and lose its main clause.

Repaired: Although the cost is high, the return justifies it.

Now you try · with the scaffolding on

Build it one step at a time

Concede the objection and survive it — in that order.

The material

Your position: cities should restrict private cars in the centre. The obvious objection: it penalises people with no public transport alternative.

Step 1State the objection at its strongest

Do not weaken it. A concession to a weak version of the objection convinces nobody.

Your version0 words · minimum 8

8 more words before you can compare. Writing it yourself first is the whole exercise.

Step 2Choose the connector, and check you are not doubling it

Step 3Concede, then reverse, in that order

Exercises · step 1, the relationship

Before the word, the direction

Choosing the connector is the second decision. The first one is noticing where the next sentence is going.

Step 1 · the relationship

Which sentence comes next — and why that one?

The sentence you have: Home working does reduce the informal contact that keeps colleagues connected.

Three sentences could follow. Only one of them you accept the other side has a point, and you are about to answer it. Choose it before you think about any connector.

Exercises · step 2, the word

Choose the connector the sentence actually needs

Now that you can see the direction, pick the word that announces it. The first wrong answer gives you a hint and a second attempt, and every wrong option explains what it would have signalled instead. Nothing here is scored.

Building a comprehensive cycle network requires significant public investment. _______, the long-term environmental, social and economic returns vastly outweigh the initial costs for any city serious about sustainability.

Charging for museum entry does provide a dependable income for conservation. _______, a blanket fee excludes precisely the visitors that public collections exist to serve.

Advertising regulation adds a compliance cost for producers, _______ children cannot reliably recognise persuasive intent, which is why the limits exist.

The other families