Conceding a point before countering it is what separates a nuanced argument from a one-sided rant — and both TEF and TCF examiners reward it. This lesson teaches the moves: acknowledge that an opposing view has some merit, then pivot back to your own position.
The core pattern is simple: certes (admittedly) opens the concession, and a contrast connector from Lesson 12 — mais, toutefois, cependant — closes it with your counterpoint.
| Admittedly..., but... (concession-pivot pattern) | Certes..., mais... |
You will use exactly this structure in the TEF letter to a newspaper (Lesson 15) and the TCF Expression Écrite synthesis (Tâche 3, Lesson 20), where you must represent both sides of a debate fairly before arguing your own. It works out loud too, in the TCF Expression Orale monologue on giving and defending an opinion (Lesson 21) — defending a position under follow-up questions almost requires conceding something first.
This lesson gives you several ways into the move, not just one. D'autre part and je comprends parfaitement ceux qui affirment que... open a concession without certes; d'une part... d'autre part... lays two sides out side by side before you pick one. S'il est vrai que... and il est vrai que...; toutefois... concede a specific fact rather than a whole viewpoint, and il n'en demeure pas moins que... reasserts your point after the concession lands. Bien que and même si build the concession into the grammar of the sentence itself — bien que takes the subjunctive, même si does not. And quant à, or, and malgré tout help you address a specific counter-argument once the concession is made.
Exam-prep sources are clear on one thing: concession is a technique for raising your register, not a box to tick in every paragraph. Use it where it genuinely strengthens the piece — a letter or synthesis built only from concessions reads as wishy-washy, not nuanced.
