Conceding a point and defending a position in Portuguese

Level B2

Conceding a point and defending a position in Portuguese

You are choosing a course with another person: a lower price matters, but it may not settle the choice. Acknowledge the point you accept, then explain why your position still stands. Here you separate an accepted fact from a hypothetical objection and support your reply with information from a short source.

Understand does not mean agree

Entendo means “I understand”, discordo “I disagree”, prefiro “I prefer” and concordo “I agree”; the subject “I” can be left unspoken because these forms identify the speaker. Esse ponto is “that point”, escolha “choice”, mas “but”, and quanto à escolha “as regards the choice”: à combines a with the feminine article a. “Entendo esse ponto, mas discordo quanto à escolha” accepts the other person’s reasoning without accepting their decision. To compare arguments, por um lado means “on the one hand” and por outro “on the other”; here we go one step further and explain why a real advantage does not decide everything.

Read the evidence before choosing

The first card is our invented source about two courses and Ana, not Ana’s reply. Curso is “course”, on-line “online”, presencial “in person”, sala “room”, pequena “small”, internet “internet” and em casa “at home”; não means “not”. É means “is”, tem “has”, uma “a”, o “the” before masculine words, and mais barato “cheaper”. In o presencial, the already mentioned noun curso is understood. Read or listen, then identify the online course’s advantage, the classroom limitation and Ana’s personal constraint; the source says nothing about teaching quality.

Three ways to keep your position

Embora introduces a point you accept despite its conflict with your conclusion: “although”. Apesar de is “despite” and introduces the obstacle as a noun or, here, an infinitive expression. Mesmo que means “even if”: you consider a possible objection without needing to assert it as fact. Listen to these expressions, then compare their sentence structures below.

Although: a clause with seja or tenha

In these present-time examples, embora introduces a clause with the subjunctive: seja comes from ser (“be”), tenha from ter (“have”), instead of the direct statements é and tem. The forms may look familiar from wishes such as espero que seja (“I hope it is”), but the function here is concession, not a wish. “Embora seja mais barato” accepts the online course’s lower price; the understood subject is that course. “Embora tenha uma sala pequena” accepts the small room; here the understood subject is the in-person course. Prefiro o curso presencial keeps the speaker’s preference, and the comma separates the opening clause from the main statement; unlike English “although it is”, Portuguese uses seja here even when the fact is accepted.

Embora seja / tenha + …, posição

Despite: a noun or an infinitive

Preço means “price”, minha “my”, and caro “expensive”; de + o becomes do, so apesar do preço means “despite the price”. After apesar de, the infinitive ter names “having”: in “Apesar de ter uma sala pequena, o curso presencial é a minha escolha”, the course is the thing that has the room. Compare embora tenha uma sala pequena: the same accepted obstacle is expressed as a clause with a changed verb form. Keep the constructions distinct: embora tenha, but apesar de ter; English “having” here is ter, not a Portuguese -ndo form. This example has no separate subject inside the infinitive phrase; you need no personal-infinitive endings for this task.

Apesar de nome / infinitivo + …, posição

Even if: the choice survives a possibility

Imagine comparing another online course whose price is not confirmed: “Mesmo que seja mais barato, prefiro o curso presencial”. The lower price is being considered as a possibility, not reported as a new fact. Even if that possibility is true, the preference holds; compare the earlier embora example, where the source already confirms the lower price. Mesmo que also takes the subjunctive in this example, so keep seja rather than copying English “is”.

Acknowledge, delimit, justify

Quanto ao preço means “as regards the price”: ao combines a + o, and quanto à escolha limits the disagreement to the choice. Before listening to Ana’s longer reply, try to acknowledge the cheaper price, keep her preference and give the reason from the source. Porque means “because”, tenho “I have”, and não tenho internet em casa “I have no internet at home”. The model separates the accepted evidence from her conclusion and supports it with her own situation; it does not claim the online course is bad. Read the reply as one argument, then say it again with apesar do preço replacing the embora clause.

A new choice: bus or taxi

Ônibus means “bus”, táxi “taxi”, mais rápido “faster”, mais caro “more expensive”, and tenho pouco tempo “I have little time”; porque connects the reason to the preference. Listen to the first card only: these are the new source facts, and your additional constraint is that you have little time. Before the second card, make a connected reply: acknowledge the bus’s price advantage, delimit your disagreement to the choice and explain why you choose the taxi. One possible start is “Concordo quanto ao preço, mas discordo quanto à escolha”; the second card supplies a possible continuation, not the only answer. Now imagine the taxi price is unconfirmed and use mesmo que; check that your reply still keeps evidence, possibility and preference separate.

Keep the objection and the conclusion distinct

An accepted fact can be introduced by embora seja/tenha, a noun by apesar de, and an action here by apesar de + infinitive. A hypothetical objection can begin mesmo que seja. Entendo esse ponto acknowledges a reason; quanto ao preço or quanto à escolha says where agreement or disagreement lies. Finish with your position and a relevant reason, as in “Embora seja mais caro, prefiro o táxi porque tenho pouco tempo”.

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