Learn Italian: Pur condannato all'ergastolo, spera nella libertà. - Although sentenced to life imprisonment, he hopes for freedom.

When the subject of both halves of the sentence is the same, you can use pur + past participle (or gerund) as a shortcut for 'even though' or 'although'. It is a more elegant, concise way of saying anche se è stato condannato (even if he has been sentenced).

I learned that 'although' is sebbene or anche se. Could I use one of those here?

Yes! You could say anche se condannato or sebbene condannato, which are both grammatically correct and mean the same thing. Pur is very common in written Italian for these shortened phrases, but they are largely interchangeable here.

Why does the sentence use nella libertà when the English translation says 'hopes for freedom'?

When the verb sperare (to hope) is followed by a noun, it acts as an indirect-transitive verb, meaning it requires a preposition rather than a direct object. For sperare, that preposition is in. Since libertà is a feminine noun, in + la becomes nella.

Why is it condannato all'ergastolo? Does ergastolo just mean prison?