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Cependant – However, yet, nevertheless

Cependant – However, yet, nevertheless

Today we’ll have a look a more advanced connecting word which is very useful in conversation: Cependant. Meanings include “however”, “yet”, “nevertheless” and “nonetheless”. J’aime préparer les leçons ; cependant le travail est très exigeant (I like preparing the lessons, yet the work is very demanding).

cependant

however, yet, nevertheless

Cependant = "however", "yet", "nevertheless" and "nonetheless"

Word origin

The word cependant dates back to the 18th century and is comprised of two words: ce (this) and pendant (during). Ce comes from eccĕ (behold, here) in Latin. Pendant is the present participle of the verb pendre (to dangle, to hang). Pendre comes form the Latin pendere (to hang, be suspended).

Example sentences

For the following example sentences, the translations of cependant can include everything we listed in our introductory paragraph: yet, however, nonetheless, etc. The main theme for all the sentences is that the two clauses contain an element of contradiction.

For this first example, gagner means “to win” or “to earn (money)”. The reflexive verb s’inquiéter means “to worry”.

Il gagne bien sa vie et cependant il s’inquiète pour l’argent.

He makes a good living and yet he is worried about money.

The adverb beaucoup means “a lot” or “a lot of”. Dernier means “last” but in the sentence below we translated it loosely to “recent”. The ses is a possessive adjective and could mean both “his” or “her”, depending on the context of the sentence.

J’aime beaucoup cet auteur ; cependant ses derniers romans ont baissés en qualité.

I like this author a lot. However, the quality of his latest novels has fallen.

For this next example, we took the liberty to translate cependant to “but nevertheless”.

Il n’a pas de temps libre, cependant il va au café pour voir ses amis.

He doesn’t have any freetime but nevertheless goes to café to see his friends.

For this final sentence, il fait mauvais means “the weather is bad”.

Il fait mauvais, cependant je sors me promener.

The weather is bad yet I’m going out for a walk.

Word of the Day Lessons

Cependant is a French adverb that translates to however, yet and nevertheless.
Cependant is a French adverb that translates to however, yet and nevertheless.

Lessons by David Issokson

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References

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David Issokson
David Issokson is a lifelong language learner and speaks over seven languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private lessons. When not teaching or writing his French Word of the Day lessons, David enjoys his time skiing, hiking and mountain biking in Victor, Idaho.

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David Issokson

David Issokson is a lifelong language learner and speaks over seven languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private lessons. When not teaching or writing his French Word of the Day lessons, David enjoys his time skiing, hiking and mountain biking in Victor, Idaho.

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