Contrasting ideas with "sin embargo"
When discussing urban planning and architecture, you will often want to point out unexpected contrasts—like a dark building that is surprisingly bright inside. To express "however" in Spanish, use the connector sin embargo.
You will usually place it at the beginning of a new sentence, or right after a semicolon, followed by a comma.
| The skyscraper is made of dark steel. However, it is very bright. | El rascacielos es de acero oscuro. Sin embargo, es muy luminoso. |
| They built a new skyscraper. However, the neighbors do not like it. | Construyeron un rascacielos nuevo. Sin embargo, a los vecinos no les gusta. |
| The park is urban; however, it has a lot of nature. | El parque es urbano; sin embargo, tiene mucha naturaleza. |
Formal contrasts with "no obstante"
Another excellent way to introduce a partial opposition is with no obstante, which translates to "nevertheless."
It functions exactly like sin embargo and uses the same punctuation rules, but it sounds slightly more formal.
| The government wanted a park. Nevertheless, the architect built a skyscraper. | El gobierno quería un parque. No obstante, el arquitecto construyó un rascacielos. |
| They kept the old structure. Nevertheless, the building is safe. | Conservaron la estructura vieja. No obstante, el edificio es seguro. |
| We want to preserve the facade. Nevertheless, it is extremely difficult. | Queremos conservar la fachada. No obstante, es dificilísimo. |
Contrast: en cambio and mientras que
Mientras que joins two clauses into one sentence: La fachada es antigua, *mientras que la estructura es moderna. *En cambio is a connector: it opens the second sentence or sits inside it between commas: Él prefiere la ciudad; yo, *en cambio, prefiero el campo. *Mientras on its own mostly means while (at the same time); for a pure contrast, use mientras que.
