Published March 27, 2024 • Updated August 8, 2026 — By French teacher David Issokson with native audio by Marie Assel Cambier
Bien que — Meaning and Pronunciation
The French conjunction bien que means “although” or “even though.” It introduces a dependent clause expressing a contrast or contradiction with the main clause. Bien que must always be followed by the subjunctive mood. For example, “Bien que je sois fatigué, je travaille” (Although I’m tired, I work).
The IPA pronunciation of bien que is /bjɛ̃ kə/, which sounds approximately like “byehn kuh.”
Example Sentences
Je travaillerai bien que je sois malade.
I’ll work although I’m sick.
Il gagne beaucoup d’argent bien qu‘il ne fasse pas grand-chose.
He earns a lot of money although he doesn’t do much.
Bien que son accent soit horrible, il parle très couramment.
He speaks very fluently even though his accent is horrible.
Bien que timide, il arrive à parler un peu avec les gens.
Despite being shy, he manages to speak a bit with the people.
This final example sentence uses bien que in a totally different form. In French, aussi bien que translates to “as well as”. This is an example of the French comparative.
Il parle français aussi bien que mon prof !
He speaks French as well as my teacher!
👉 Check out this lesson explaining the meanings of soit.
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🔗 Related words and expressions
- quoique — although, even though
- malgré — despite
- en dépit de — despite, in spite of
- pourtant — however, yet
- cependant — however, nevertheless
- alors que — whereas, while
- tandis que — whereas, while
- même si — even if, even though
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