A concessive clause names an obstacle and then overrides it: "although it's raining, we're going out." Romanian's key insight — and the thing English blurs — is that it splits this idea by reality status. When the obstacle is a real fact ("it is raining"), you use deși and its cousins with the indicative. When the obstacle is merely hypothetical ("even if it rains"), you use chiar dacă, which behaves like a conditional. This is the same factual-vs-hypothetical fault line that runs through the whole grammar — and choosing the wrong side of it is the most common concessive error English speakers make.
deși = the factual default ("although / even though")
Deși is the everyday, all-purpose concessive. It marks the obstacle as a fact, so the verb after it is indicative. It can sit before or after the main clause.
Deși plouă, mergem la plimbare.
Even though it's raining, we're going for a walk.
A trecut examenul deși nu învățase aproape deloc.
He passed the exam even though he had hardly studied at all.
Deși e abia mai, deja se simte căldura verii.
Even though it's only May, you can already feel the summer heat.
Note the spelling: deși ends in -și (comma-below ș), and there is no accent on e. The rain in the first sentence is genuinely falling; the not-studying in the second genuinely happened. Deși always concedes something real.
cu toate că and măcar că — same job, different texture
Two near-synonyms of deși also take the indicative:
cu toate că ("despite the fact that") is slightly heavier and more emphatic — literally "with all that". It is fully neutral and very common.
măcar că ("even though", (informal)) has a colloquial, slightly grudging flavor — "even though, for all that". A close relative, chit că (informal/regional), means "even though / regardless".
Cu toate că era obosit, a stat cu noi până târziu.
Despite being tired, he stayed with us late.
Măcar că e mic, apartamentul e foarte luminos.
Even though it's small, the flat is very bright. (informal)
Be careful: măcar on its own means "at least" (măcar un pic — "at least a bit"), and măcar dacă / măcar de introduces a wish ("if only…"). It is the full măcar că that means "even though". Don't confuse the bare adverb with the concessive conjunction.
chiar dacă = the hypothetical "even if"
Here is the fork English speakers miss. When the obstacle is not a fact but a supposition — something that might or might not be true — Romanian does not use deși. It uses chiar dacă ("even if"), built on dacă ("if"), and it behaves like a conditional: a real/likely supposition takes the indicative, and a remote or counterfactual one takes the conditional mood.
Chiar dacă plouă, tot mergem la plimbare.
Even if it rains, we're still going for a walk. (the rain is hypothetical — it may not happen)
Chiar dacă aș avea timp, n-aș veni la întâlnirea asta.
Even if I had the time, I wouldn't come to this meeting. (counterfactual — I don't have time)
Te susțin chiar dacă te înșeli.
I'll back you even if you're wrong. (open supposition)
Compare directly with deși: Deși plouă, mergem presupposes it is raining (fact); Chiar dacă plouă, mergem leaves it open whether it will rain at all (supposition). The first concedes a reality, the second concedes a mere possibility. The main clause of a chiar dacă sentence very often carries tot ("still/anyway") — tot mergem — to reinforce "regardless".
în ciuda + genitive: "despite" a noun
When the obstacle is a noun, not a clause, Romanian uses the preposition în ciuda ("in spite of"), which governs the genitive (see genitive prepositions). A more formal equivalent is în pofida. Because these take a genitive, a following definite noun shows genitive marking, and a possessive becomes the genitive form (în ciuda mea, not în ciuda eu).
În ciuda vremii proaste, excursia a fost minunată.
Despite the bad weather, the trip was wonderful.
A reușit în pofida tuturor obstacolelor.
She succeeded in spite of all the obstacles. (formal)
A plecat în ciuda sfaturilor noastre.
He left in spite of our advice.
So the choice between deși and în ciuda is really clause-vs-noun: deși vremea era proastă (a clause, with a verb) vs în ciuda vremii proaste (a noun phrase, genitive). For a deeper treatment of stacked and mixed concessive-conditional structures (oricât de…, chiar de…, fie că… fie că…), see concessive-conditional clauses.
Quick selector
| You want to say… | Use | Verb / case |
|---|---|---|
| "although / even though" (a real fact) | deși · cu toate că · măcar că | indicative |
| "even if" (a supposition, may not be true) | chiar dacă | indicative (likely) / conditional (remote) |
| "despite + noun" | în ciuda · în pofida |
|
Common Mistakes
❌ Deși ar ploua, mergem la plimbare.
Wrong mood for a fact — deși takes the indicative: deși plouă. If you mean the hypothetical 'even if it rains', switch to chiar dacă.
✅ Deși plouă, mergem la plimbare.
Even though it's raining, we're going for a walk.
❌ Chiar deși plouă, tot mergem.
Incorrect — chiar combines with dacă for 'even if', not with deși. Either deși plouă (although) or chiar dacă plouă (even if).
✅ Chiar dacă plouă, tot mergem.
Even if it rains, we're still going.
❌ În ciuda vremea proastă, am ieșit.
Incorrect case — în ciuda governs the genitive: în ciuda vremii proaste.
✅ În ciuda vremii proaste, am ieșit.
Despite the bad weather, we went out.
❌ Măcar e mic, apartamentul e luminos.
Incomplete — bare măcar means 'at least'; the concessive is măcar că. Add the că: Măcar că e mic…
✅ Măcar că e mic, apartamentul e luminos.
Even though it's small, the flat is bright.
Key Takeaways
- deși (plus cu toate că, măcar că) concedes a real fact → indicative. This is your default "although".
- chiar dacă concedes a hypothetical → conditional-style ("even if"); the main clause often adds tot ("still/anyway").
- The choice tracks reality status: it is the case (deși) vs it might be the case (chiar dacă) — the same factual/hypothetical split as elsewhere in the grammar.
- For "despite + noun", use în ciuda / în pofida
- genitive, not a deși-clause.
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Start learning Romanian→Related Topics
- Conjunctions: An OverviewA1 — A map of the Romanian conjunction system — the coordinators (și, sau/ori, dar/iar/însă, deci, nici) that join equals, and the subordinators (că, să, dacă, când, pentru că, deși) that hang one clause off another. The organizing insight is the că vs să split: că introduces asserted facts and takes the indicative, while să introduces wanted, possible, or commanded actions and takes the conjunctiv — the very same fact/non-fact decision that runs the whole mood system.
- Conditional and Temporal Conjunctions (dacă, când, până, după ce)A2 — The inventory of Romanian time-and-condition connectors — dacă (if / whether), când (when), în timp ce / pe când (while), până (until) and până să (before), după ce (after), de când (since), îndată ce (as soon as), ori de câte ori (whenever) — and the tense logic each one needs.
- Concessive-Conditional and Free-Choice (oricât, oricine)C1 — Romanian fuses a wh-word with the particle ori- into a single free-choice item — oricât (no matter how much), oricine (whoever), orice (whatever), oricum (anyhow), oriunde (wherever), oricând (whenever) — and pairs it with the conjunctiv or conditional to mean 'no matter how/who/what': Oricât ar costa, îl cumpăr; Orice ar spune, nu-l cred. Where English spreads this across 'no matter what / however / whoever', Romanian packages it into one morphological word.
- Mixed and Implicit ConditionalsC1 — Conditional meaning in Romanian is not confined to dacă-clauses. This page covers the implicit conditionals — imperative-and-result (Spune-i și o să vină), coordinate-and chains (Mai mergi puțin și ajungi), gerund conditions, the literary de-conditional (De-ai ști!) — and the genuinely tricky mixed-time counterfactual (Dacă aș fi plecat ieri, aș fi acum acolo), where the if-clause and the result clause sit in different time frames.
- Prepositions Governing the GenitiveB2 — A class of spatial and relational prepositions — deasupra, în fața, în jurul, împotriva, de-a lungul — require the genitive, while datorită/grație/mulțumită take the dative; how to recognize and use them.