aunque/a pesar de que

Question

Hola,

-¿Vamos a ver la película? ¡Es muy buena!

-Aunque fuera la única película en cartelera, no iría. No me gusta pasar miedo.

Mi entender para las opiciones:

A. Con tal con que =As soon as

B. De =If

C. A pesar de que =Even as/even though

D. Aunque =Even as/even though

¿Qué es la deferencia entre A pesar de que y Aunque?

Gracias

Emma

Answer 1

Hi, Enma:

As quentin and Iza said, the difference is very subtle in meaning, but the answer can only be D.

Just in order to solve these tests, here you have a rule:

a pesar de que takes the indicative (always)

aunque can take both moods.

Excellent answer, Laura. Straightforward and to the point! - Izanoni1, Oct 28, 2011

Touche! Thank you!! It doesn't untie the knot completely but is enough for tests. Here are couple of counterexamples that I just found, taking Izanoni's advise, from google: http://www.fundeu.es/consultas-A-a-pesar-de-aunque-2248.html - tequiero2011, Oct 28, 2011

Answer 2

Thanks, but then why the answer is aunque if there's no difference?

______ fuera la única película en cartelera, no iría.

This would translate to

______ it were the only movie showing, I wouldn't go.

The expression "a pesar de que," because it generally introduces factual rather than hypothetical conditions, does not always lend itself well to conditional statements such as these; whereas, "aunque" does.

Compare:

A pesar de que:

Despite the fact that it were the only movie showing, I wouldn't go.

Aunque:

Even if it were the only movie showing, I wouldn't go.

Because it describes a factual condition, for "A pesar de que" to work it would need to be followed by a verb in the indicative:

A pesar de que es la única película en cartelera...

Despite the fact that it is the only movie showing....

Answer 3

Hi Emma, and welcome to the forum on SpanishDict!

The short answer is that they are very similar in that they are both expressions which can be used to show concession or to show contrast between ideas.

You might find the dictionary examples to be helpful:

pesar (look down at "prepositional phrases")
aunque

In the future, you might try doing a search of previous threads to see if your particular question has been asked already: la diferencia con pese a que y aunque

Another useful technique when you encounter new vocabulary is to do a google news search to see how an expression or term might be used in various contexts. For example:

A pesar de que
aunque

Answer 4

None. In this context they are synonymous. Look at how although is defined in this dictionary definition.

al·though? ?[awl-thoh]

conjunction

in spite of the fact that; even though; though.

Origin: 1275–1325; Middle English al thogh all (adv.) even + though

Synonyms notwithstanding (that), even if, albeit (that).

Thanks, but then why the answer is aunque if there's no difference? It is from DELE test - tequiero2011, Oct 28, 2011

Answer 5

They are different here, but can be the same. Aunque + subjunctive = even if. Aunque + indicative = even though. A pesar de que = even though, in spite of the fact that. After aunque you have "fuera" which is subjunctive, so your sentence says: "Even if it was the only moving showing, I wouldn't go".