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Disagreements in Everyday
Conversation |
For VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar.
Imagine that you are walking down the street in an
American city.
You might hear short conversations as you pass people.
One such short conversation might sound like this:
A: Should we try that restaurant? I hear the food is
cheap!
B: Their food is supposed to be bad, though.* There's a
reason the food is cheap!
A: Yeah but I need to save money for my Mom's Christmas
gift!
The point of this conversation is not to teach you that
America has a lot of bad restaurants. In fact, America
does have some very good restaurants!
The point of this conversation is to show you how some
Americans disagree with each other in everyday
conversation. These friendly disagreements, for example,
might be between friends who are trying to decide what
they want to do.
Americans often use the words, though and but, to show
contrast or disagreement. They may use these words in
specific ways to be more or less forceful.
In today's report, we will explore how the words though
and but are used in everyday conversation.
Though
In many grammar books, you will see that though
introduces a clause that shows an unexpected result.
For example, you might read a sentence such as this:
"Though it was raining, we went for a walk."
Though is not commonly used this way in everyday
conversation.
Susan Conrad and Douglas Biber are English grammar
experts. They say that in conversation, though is
commonly used as an adverb. The adverb can show a
transition between sentences. In other words, it links
ideas between sentences. When though is used as a
transition, it shows disagreement or contrast.
It often appears at the end of a sentence.
3 Common Uses of Though in
Conversation
Though has three common uses in conversation, say Conrad
and Biber.
#1 Showing contrast with a previous
statement
First, a speaker can use though to express contrast with
their own statement.
So, for example, a speaker talking about a new pair of
jeans might say the following:
"These jeans are a little loose. I like the color,
though."
#2 Showing contrast with another
speaker's statement
The second common use of though is to show a contrast
with another speaker's point. It does not necessarily
mean that one speaker disagrees with the other, it just
means that one speaker is adding a contrasting point to
the statement of the other speaker.
Here is an example:
"A: These jeans are really nice."
B: Yeah, they're expensive, though."
#3 Showing disagreement with another
speaker
The third common use of though is to show disagreement
with another speaker's previous statement.
Consider this example:
"A: These jeans are really nice!"
"B: They're poorly made, though."
Despite their disagreement, these two speakers are
showing a polite way to disagree.
Why? Because it is a less direct way of disagreeing.
Often, Americans prefer less direct ways of speaking –
particularly when disagreeing.
A more direct and forceful way of disagreeing would be
in the following example:
"A: These jeans are really nice!
B: No, they are not."
Some Americans would consider this to be an impolite way
to disagree – especially if the other person was not
well known to them!
This is because the language is much more direct and
negative.
What about but in conversation?
The word but also shows contrast or disagreement. In
everyday conversation, but is a conjunction that often
appears at the beginning of a sentence.
Although though and but might seem alike, you will learn
that there are important differences between how they
are used in conversation.
Consider this example:
"A: I really like those jeans!
B: But you told me last week that you don't like jeans!"
The second speaker is directly disagreeing with the
first person's statement.
Why did the speaker choose to start the sentence with
but?
The second speaker also could have said, "You told me
last week that you don't like jeans, though!"
The speaker, who disagrees by using the word but,
probably has strong feelings about the jeans.
Starting the sentence with a word – such as but - that
shows disagreement is a stronger and more forceful way
to speak.
Other ways to use ‘but’
One way that Americans reduce the force of the word but
is to put words in front of it. The most common way to
do this is to use the word yeah.
Here is an example of what this sounds like:
A: I really like those jeans!
B: Yeah but you told me last week that you don't like jeans!
This way of disagreeing, even though it is informal,
sounds softer and less forceful. Americans may choose to
say yeah first because it sets a pleasant tone to the
sentence. By beginning the sentence with the agreeable
word, yeah, speakers can show that the strength of their
disagreement is not very strong.
Using yeah but is less polite than using though, say
Conrad and Biber. In addition, it is less forceful than
using but alone.
What can you do?
Think back to the conversation at the beginning of this
story:
A: Should we try that restaurant? I hear the food is
cheap!
B: Their food is supposed to be bad, though. There's a
reason the food is cheap!
A: Yeah but I need to save money for my Mom's Christmas
gift!
You will notice that the two speakers show contrast or
disagreement with the word though. One speaker uses yeah
but when disagreeing with the other.
Learning these ways to disagree is not easy. It can take
a long time to learn how grammar, word choice, and
culture work together.
However, the next time you are watching an American film
or TV show, try to focus on how speakers disagree with
each other. You might notice that they disagree, or show
contrast, in different ways.
Think about the situation to understand how and why the
speakers might be disagreeing with each other.
In future Everyday Grammar stories, we will explore
these issues in more detail.
I’m Anne Ball. And I’m John Russell.
John Russell wrote this story for Learning English.
Mario Ritter was the editor.
*There is a debate about comma placement and the word
"though." We chose to use the comma for the sake of
consistency. A discussion about comma placement is
beyond the scope of this story. |
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Words in This Story |
-
conversation – n.
an informal talk involving two people or a small
group of people
- contrast
– n. something that is
different from another thing
- clause
– n. grammar : a part
of a sentence that has its own subject and verb
- adverb
– n. a word that
describes a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a
sentence and that is often used to show time,
manner, place, or degree
-
transition – n.
grammar a word or phrase that connects ideas
- tone
– n. a quality,
feeling, or attitude expressed by the words that
someone uses in speaking or writing
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