Concession adverbs (quand même)

Whether you drop a stitch or mess up a pattern, sometimes you just have to keep knitting anyway.

Expressing Concession: "quand même"

To express contradiction or unexpected resolve—doing something "anyway" or "even so"—use the adverb quand même. In French, this adverb is placed immediately after the conjugated verb.

She makes mistakes, but she knits anyway.
Elle fait des erreurs, mais elle tricote quand même.
I lost a needle, but I am knitting anyway.
J'ai perdu une aiguille, mais je tricote quand même.

A Variation: "tout de même"

You can also use tout de même to mean "all the same" or "anyway." It functions exactly like quand même and is completely interchangeable in everyday speech.

I drop stitches, but I continue all the same.
Je lâche des mailles, mais je continue tout de même.
My sweater is ugly, but I am keeping it all the same.
Mon pull est laid, mais je le garde tout de même.

Placement in Compound Tenses

When using these adverbs in a compound tense like the passé composé, place quand même or tout de même between the conjugated auxiliary verb and the past participle.

The ball of yarn is small, but he finished the sweater anyway.
La pelote est petite, mais il a quand même fini le pull.
I didn't undo anything, but I kept the piece of work all the same.
Je n'ai rien défait, mais j'ai tout de même gardé l'ouvrage.