Even if: aunque + imperfect subjunctive
You know aunque + indicative for a fact you are reporting, and aunque + present subjunctive for something not yet known, or for a known fact you treat as beside the point (Aunque sea tu jefe, no tiene derecho a gritarte). When you see the situation as unlikely or imaginary, use the imperfect subjunctive, with the conditional in the other half, as after si.
| aunque + | what you mean |
|---|---|
| llueve | it is raining: a fact |
| llueva | it may rain: I don't know, and it doesn't matter |
| lloviera | it probably won't, but even if it did |
He hasn't asked, and he probably won't: a pure hypothesis.
| Even if he asked me on his knees, I wouldn't do it. | Aunque me lo pidiera de rodillas, no lo haría. |
| Even if it rained, I would go running. | Aunque lloviera, iría a correr. |
For the past, the pluperfect subjunctive goes with the perfect conditional.
| Even if you had told me, I wouldn't have gone. | Aunque me lo hubieras dicho, no habría ido. |
Pese a: a shorter a pesar de
Pese a means the same as a pesar de and works the same way: + noun, + infinitive, or + que and a verb. It sounds a little more formal and is frequent in writing and on the news.
| Despite the rain, we went out for a walk. | Pese a la lluvia, salimos a pasear. |
| Despite knowing it, she didn't say anything. | Pese a saberlo, no dijo nada. |
| Despite the fact that she was tired, she came to the dinner. | Pese a que estaba cansada, vino a la cena. |
Aun así: even so
Aun así follows a fact and says the result happens anyway. It has no written accent: this aun means even, as in aun + gerund.
| He was tired; even so, he came. | Estaba cansado; aun así, vino. |
| The hotel was expensive; even so, we stayed two nights. | El hotel era caro; aun así, nos quedamos dos noches. |
Y eso que turns it round and adds the surprising fact at the end: Vino, y eso que estaba cansado.
