The conjunction aunque handles most concessive needs, but advanced Spanish demands a wider toolkit. When you want to say "no matter how much," "even knowing that," or "not even if," you need constructions like por más que, por mucho que, por muy...que, aun + gerund, and ni siquiera si. These patterns almost always require the subjunctive, and they can be chained together for powerful rhetorical effect.
Por más que + subjunctive
Por más que means "no matter how much" or "however much." It introduces a concessive clause that acknowledges effort or intensity while asserting that the result does not change. The verb in the por más que clause is almost always in the subjunctive.
Por más que estudie, no entiende.
No matter how much he studies, he doesn't understand.
Por más que lo intente, no puedo.
No matter how hard I try, I can't.
Por más que le expliques, no va a entender.
No matter how much you explain it to him, he's not going to understand.
Por más que gritemos, no nos van a escuchar.
No matter how much we shout, they're not going to hear us.
Past tense
In past contexts, por más que takes the imperfect subjunctive:
Por más que intentara, no podía resolver el problema.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't solve the problem.
Por más que le pidiéramos, no nos hizo caso.
No matter how much we asked him, he didn't pay attention to us.
Por mucho que + subjunctive
Por mucho que is synonymous with por más que. It means "however much" and follows the same grammatical pattern.
Por mucho que trabaje, no le alcanza.
No matter how much she works, it's not enough.
Por mucho que corras, no vas a llegar.
No matter how much you run, you won't make it.
Por mucho que insistan, no voy a cambiar de opinión.
No matter how much they insist, I'm not going to change my mind.
There is no meaningful difference between por más que and por mucho que. Both are equally common in Latin American Spanish. Choose whichever feels more natural in context.
Por mucho/a/os/as + noun + que + subjunctive
When you want to quantify the concession with a specific noun — "no matter how much money," "no matter how many books" — use por mucho/a/os/as followed by the noun, then que and the subjunctive. The adjective mucho agrees in gender and number with the noun.
Por mucho dinero que tenga, no es feliz.
No matter how much money he has, he's not happy.
Por mucha experiencia que tengas, siempre hay algo nuevo que aprender.
No matter how much experience you have, there's always something new to learn.
Por muchos libros que lea, no aprende.
No matter how many books he reads, he doesn't learn.
Por muchas veces que se lo diga, no me escucha.
No matter how many times I tell him, he doesn't listen.
| Gender/Number | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine singular | por mucho + noun + que | Por mucho esfuerzo que haga... |
| Feminine singular | por mucha + noun + que | Por mucha paciencia que tenga... |
| Masculine plural | por muchos + noun + que | Por muchos amigos que tenga... |
| Feminine plural | por muchas + noun + que | Por muchas horas que trabaje... |
Por muy + adjective/adverb + que + subjunctive
When the concession is about a quality (how smart, how fast, how tall) rather than a quantity, use por muy + adjective or adverb + que + subjunctive.
Por muy inteligente que sea, no puede resolverlo.
No matter how smart he is, he can't solve it.
Por muy rápido que corra, no lo va a alcanzar.
No matter how fast he runs, he won't catch up.
Por muy cansado que estés, tienes que terminar.
No matter how tired you are, you have to finish.
Por muy bien que cocine, nadie le dice nada.
No matter how well she cooks, nobody says anything to her.
Note that por muy works with both adjectives (inteligente, cansado) and adverbs (rápido, bien).
Past tense
Por muy difícil que fuera, no se rindió.
No matter how hard it was, he didn't give up.
Por muy lejos que estuviera, siempre llamaba.
No matter how far away she was, she always called.
Summary of "por" concessive patterns
| Pattern | Structure | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| por más que | por más que + subjunctive | no matter how much (verb) | Por más que intente, no puedo. |
| por mucho que | por mucho que + subjunctive | no matter how much (verb) | Por mucho que trabaje, no le alcanza. |
| por mucho/a/os/as + noun | por mucho(s) + noun + que + subj. | no matter how much/many (noun) | Por mucho dinero que tenga, no es feliz. |
| por muy + adj./adv. | por muy + adj./adv. + que + subj. | no matter how (quality) | Por muy rápido que corra, no llega. |
Chained concessions with aunque
When you want to pile up obstacles that will not change the outcome, you can chain multiple aunque clauses. All take the subjunctive because they present hypothetical obstacles.
Aunque llueva, aunque haga frío, aunque no tenga ganas, voy a ir.
Even if it rains, even if it's cold, even if I don't feel like it, I'll go.
Aunque me pidan perdón, aunque me lo juren, aunque me lo prometan, no les voy a creer.
Even if they apologize, even if they swear it, even if they promise me, I'm not going to believe them.
Aunque no duerma, aunque no coma, aunque tenga que quedarme toda la noche, lo voy a terminar.
Even if I don't sleep, even if I don't eat, even if I have to stay all night, I'm going to finish it.
The parallel structure — repeating aunque with the subjunctive in each clause — creates a rhetorical crescendo. Each clause adds another obstacle, and the main clause asserts determination in spite of all of them.
For the full range of aunque across all tenses, see Aunque in All Tenses.
Aun + gerund
Aun (without an accent — not aún, which means "still") + gerund means "even doing X" or "even knowing/being X." It concedes a circumstance and asserts that the result is unaffected. No subjunctive is needed because the gerund is a non-finite form.
Aun sabiendo la verdad, no dijo nada.
Even knowing the truth, he said nothing.
Aun siendo rico, no es feliz.
Even being rich, he's not happy.
Aun teniendo experiencia, no consiguió el trabajo.
Even having experience, she didn't get the job.
Aun + gerund vs. aunque + subjunctive
These two patterns are close in meaning but not identical:
| Pattern | Example | Nuance |
|---|---|---|
| Aun sabiendo la verdad | Aun sabiendo la verdad, no dijo nada. | He DID know the truth (factual concession) |
| Aunque supiera la verdad | Aunque supiera la verdad, no diría nada. | Even IF he knew the truth (hypothetical concession) |
| Aunque sabía la verdad | Aunque sabía la verdad, no dijo nada. | He DID know the truth (factual, with aunque + indicative) |
Aun + gerund always presents a factual concession (the person really does/did know, have, be). For hypothetical concessions, use aunque + subjunctive.
Ni siquiera si + subjunctive
Ni siquiera si means "not even if." It presents an extreme hypothetical condition and asserts that even under that extreme, the result would not change. The clause always takes the subjunctive.
Ni siquiera si me pagaran iría.
Not even if they paid me would I go.
Ni siquiera si lloviera cancelarían el partido.
Not even if it rained would they cancel the match.
Ni siquiera si me lo pidiera de rodillas lo perdonaría.
Not even if he begged me on his knees would I forgive him.
Note the inverted word order in the main clause: iría comes before any other element, creating emphasis. This inversion is common but not required: Ni siquiera si me pagaran iría is also possible without the inversion.
Past context
Ni siquiera si me hubieran pagado habría ido.
Not even if they had paid me would I have gone.
Ni siquiera si se lo hubieran pedido habría aceptado.
Not even if they had asked him would he have accepted.
Combining concessive patterns
In natural speech and writing, these patterns can combine for emphasis or nuance.
Por más que lo intente, por muy preparado que esté, aunque practique todos los días, no logro mejorar.
No matter how hard I try, no matter how prepared I am, even if I practice every day, I can't manage to improve.
Aun teniendo razón, por mucho que insistiera, ni siquiera si mostrara las pruebas le iban a creer.
Even being right, no matter how much he insisted, not even if he showed the evidence, they weren't going to believe him.
These combinations are not unusual in emotionally charged speech — they pile up concessive layers to express frustration, determination, or resignation.
All concessive patterns at a glance
| Pattern | Mood required | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| aunque + subjunctive | Subjunctive | even if (hypothetical) | Aunque llueva, voy. |
| aunque + indicative | Indicative | even though (factual) | Aunque llueve, voy. |
| por más que | Subjunctive | no matter how much | Por más que intente, no puede. |
| por mucho que | Subjunctive | no matter how much | Por mucho que trabaje, no le alcanza. |
| por mucho/a/os/as + noun + que | Subjunctive | no matter how much/many + noun | Por mucho dinero que tenga... |
| por muy + adj./adv. + que | Subjunctive | no matter how + quality | Por muy inteligente que sea... |
| aun + gerund | N/A (gerund) | even doing/being | Aun sabiendo, no dijo nada. |
| ni siquiera si | Subjunctive | not even if | Ni siquiera si me pagaran iría. |
| chained aunque | Subjunctive (all) | even if X, even if Y, even if Z | Aunque llueva, aunque haga frío, voy. |
Common errors
Error 1: Indicative after por más que
Por más que intento, no puedo. ✗ → Por más que intente, no puedo. ✓
The subjunctive is the standard choice in the concessive clause.
While the indicative is not strictly ungrammatical (it can convey a factual repeated attempt), the subjunctive is overwhelmingly preferred and is the safe choice.
Error 2: Accent on aun in concessive gerund constructions
The concessive aun (even) has no accent mark. Writing aún sabiendo is an error in this construction — aún means "still" and would not make sense before a gerund in a concessive context.
Error 3: Forgetting noun agreement with por mucho/a/os/as
Por mucho horas que trabaje... ✗ → Por muchas horas que trabaje... ✓
Muchas agrees with horas (feminine plural).
Summary
- Por más que / por mucho que
- subjunctive: "no matter how much" (verb-focused)
- Por mucho/a/os/as + noun + que
- subjunctive: "no matter how much/many" (noun-focused, with agreement)
- Por muy + adjective/adverb + que
- subjunctive: "no matter how" (quality-focused)
- Chained aunque clauses
- subjunctive: pile up hypothetical obstacles
- Aun + gerund: "even doing/knowing/being" (factual concession, no subjunctive needed)
- Ni siquiera si
- subjunctive: "not even if" (extreme hypothetical)
- Nearly all concessive constructions require the subjunctive; the main exception is aun + gerund, which uses a non-finite form
For the basics of aunque with indicative and subjunctive, see Concessive Conjunctions. For aunque across all tenses, see Aunque in All Tenses.
Related Topics
- Concessive: Aunque, A pesar de queB2 — How to express although, even though, and even if with aunque, a pesar de que, and related conjunctions.
- Adverbial: Concession (Aunque, A pesar de que)B2 — Concessive conjunctions that take either the subjunctive or indicative in Spanish, depending on whether the clause is factual or hypothetical.
- Subjunctive vs Indicative: Key ContrastsB2 — Side-by-side comparisons of the indicative and subjunctive in Spanish across the most common triggers.
- Gerund Usage and RestrictionsB1 — The Spanish gerund describes actions in progress or adverbial manner but cannot be used as an adjective, a noun, or after prepositions.
- Aunque Across All TensesB2 — A systematic side-by-side comparison of aunque with every mood and tense combination, with a decision tree for choosing the right form.
- Nested Subjunctive ClausesC1 — How to handle sentences where multiple subjunctive triggers stack inside each other, with concordance rules and common patterns.
- Type 2: ImprobableB2 — Pair an imperfect-subjunctive si-clause with a conditional result clause for hypothetical or unlikely present situations.