Real Grammar - Susan Conrad, Douglas Biber 2009
Though and Anyway
Unit 28 It looks pretty awful though
What have you learned from your grammar textbook?
(1) The word though introduces an adverb clause that shows contrast or unexpected result.
(2) The conjunction but is used in short responses in conversation to disagree with another speaker.
1. Though the weather is bad, we will have a picnic.
2. —This apple does not look very good.
— But this orange does.
What does the corpus show?
A
Though is NOT commonly used in conversation to introduce an adverb clause. But it is very common in conversation as a transition (a word that connects the ideas between sentences).
The word anyway is also common in conversation as a transition.
B
Though is used as a transition in conversation to show contrast or disagreement (like however in writing—see Unit 29). It has three specific functions:
C
The transition though can be used like the conjunction but to show contrast or disagreement. However, these two words have different positions and different impacts.
* Some speakers use yeah but as a very informal, less polite equivalent of though. It is less strong than but alone.
A: You could take the truck.
B: Yeah but my car is more comfortable.
D
Anyway has two common functions in conversation:
Activities
1 Notice in context: Read the conversations. Circle though and anyway
1. Family stories.
Freddie: Do you remember Aunt Blanche now, Uncle Joe?
Joseph: I remember her.
Freddie: That would be Bousha’s brother and his wife. Well, they had this daughter, Gloria ... Remember Gloria? She was Dar’s age. Anyway, she had a baby, but she never got married.
Joseph: Mm.
Freddie: Kathy, that’s her little girl, she graduated this year, but Gloria’s been dating this guy, but I think they were waiting for Kathy to graduate. Well, anyway, they got married this summer.
2. Renting a car at the airport.
Clerk: The Geo Metro station wagon -1 think that would be your first choice.
Orlfndo: No, no, no, I’d rather spend more on the other car.
Leticia: The other car isn’t a wagon.
Orlando: I won’t get into a Geo Metro. I don’t feel safe. It’s like a little two-seater ...
Leticia: Well, those Geo Metro hatchbacks aren’t too bad, though. There’ll be no room in the other car for our luggage.
3. A mother talks to her adult children about relatives.
Son: Well, Mom, do you have any other relatives?
Mother: I don’t know whether dad’s stepmother is alive yet. She couldn’t be, though. No, she couldn’t be alive because.... she might be, though. But I don’t know where she lives or anything. I have to find out where she lives. So I don’t know whether she’s alive.
4. Break time at work.
Jennifer: I’m gonna go have a cigarette. Would anyone like to come with me?
Santos: Smoky treats. It cuts like twenty years off your life or something.
Jennifer: Well, who wants to live to be old, anyway?
2 Analyze discourse: Read the list of functions below. Then look back at Activity 1 and at the transitions you circled. What is the function of each transition? Above each one, write the appropriate letter from the list of functions.
a. expressing contrast with your own previous statement
b. expressing contrast with the previous speaker’s point
c. expressing disagreement with the previous speaker’s point
d. moving back to the main point after a less important discussion
3 Practice conversation: Practice the conversations in Activity 1 with one or two partners.
4 Practice conversation: Change these dialogues to be more conversational and softer in their disagreements. Cross out the sentences that are too formal. Rewrite them in the margin, using though or anyway. When you are finished, practice the dialogues with a partner.
1. A: So how did she get you to buy the pots and pans?
B: Well, she had to cook dinner for six in less than an hour.
A: That, yeah, that sounds like an impossible job.
B: However, she did it. She did it within forty minutes, from start to finish.
2. A: They had the grossest food, like Lisa had a bowl of polenta.
В: I like polenta.
A: But this polenta was mushy. It was like eating soup, and then I had the ravioli, but it was like six raviolis with four pieces of spinach and it was weird, it was like ...
B: Are you serious?
A: Yeah, and we still ended up spending like fifteen bucks ... I ate the polenta.
3. A: I’m thinking that when I graduate and you know, I’m a technical writer and stuff, I’m gonna want to get a nice laptop, just to have around, you know... carry the smaller one ...
B: But they’re expensive. They’re as expensive as a full size computer.
A: Uh, actually they’re more expensive.