Concessive clauses

In short

Word	Register
iako	neutral default
mada	conversational
premda	formal
i pored toga što	'in spite of the fact that'

Concession first → main clause often has ipak: Iako je skupo, ipak ću ga kupiti. Never iako … ali. Comma between the clauses.

B1 · Lesson 40 · Dopusne rečenice: iako, mada, premda

The full explanation, from the lesson that teaches this rule

In an argument you often have to admit something before you make your own point: Although you are right about the price, I still don't like the car. The first half concedes a fact; the second half says that the fact does not change your view. Serbian builds this with a small group of words meaning although: iako, mada and premda. A clause they introduce is called a concessive clause (dopusna rečenica).

The three words for 'although'

All four mean 'although' and are followed by an ordinary verb in any tense.
Word	Feel	Example
iako	neutral, the everyday default	Iako si u pravu, ne slažem se. — Although you're right, I don't agree.
mada	a little more relaxed and conversational	Mada ne volim politiku, gledam debate. — Although I don't like politics, I watch the debates.
premda	more formal, bookish; newspapers and speeches	Premda je predlog dobar, odbor ga nije prihvatio. — Although the proposal is good, the committee did not accept it.
i pored toga što	'in spite of the fact that'; stresses the obstacle	I pored toga što sam ga upozorio, uradio je po svom. — In spite of my warning him, he did it his own way.

The verb after these words is completely normal: present, past or future, positive or negative, exactly as in a statement. Nothing about the verb changes — only the word in front of the clause does the work.

Which half comes first

The concessive clause can stand before or after the main clause. Putting it first is very common in Serbian — you set up what you admit, then answer it. A comma always separates the two clauses.

Concession first: Iako je kasno, nastavićemo razgovor. — Although it's late, we'll continue the conversation.
Concession second: Nastavićemo razgovor, iako je kasno. — We'll continue the conversation, although it's late.

ipak — 'still, nevertheless'

When the concession comes first, the main clause very often contains ipak ('still, all the same'). It underlines that the conceded fact did not win. English says 'although … still …'; Serbian says iako … ipak …. ipak usually opens the main clause or comes right after its first word, and it is optional — it adds emphasis.

Iako je film dugačak, ipak mi se dopao. — Although the film is long, I still liked it.
Mada me nije ubedio, ipak cenim njegovo mišljenje. — Although he didn't convince me, I still value his opinion.

iako is not ali. ali ('but') joins two equal sentences: Film je dugačak, ali je dobar. iako makes its clause depend on the other one: Iako je film dugačak, dobar je. Use ONE of them for the same contrast — never Iako je film dugačak, ali je dobar, which is like saying 'Although the film is long, but it is good.' If you want a word in the main clause, the partner of iako is ipak, not ali.

For recognition: bez obzira na to što ('regardless of the fact that') works just like i pored toga što: Bez obzira na to što kaže šef, ja mislim drugačije. You will read and hear it; you do not need to produce it yet.

Check what you read

3 of the 14 questions this lesson asks in the app. Type the form or pick the answer.

___ je restoran skup, ipak idemo tamo.
Nastavićemo raspravu, ___ nemamo mnogo vremena.
In 'Iako je film dugačak, ipak je zanimljiv', what does ipak add?

Examples from the course

The marked word is where the rule applies. Press play to hear the sentence.

Nastavićemo razgovor, iako je kasno.
We'll continue the conversation, although it's late.
Iako je kasno, nastavićemo razgovor.
Although it's late, we'll continue the conversation.
Mada ne volim politiku, gledam debate.
Although I don't like politics, I watch the debates.
Iako si u pravu, ne slažem se.
Although you're right, I don't agree.
Mada ima dobre argumente, ipak me nije ubedila.
Although she has good arguments, she still didn't convince me.
Iako je film dugačak, ipak mi se dopao.
Although the film is long, I still liked it.
Iako smo dugo raspravljali, ipak nismo našli rešenje.
Although we argued for a long time, we still didn't find a solution.
Premda je predlog dobar, odbor ga nije prihvatio.
Although the proposal is good, the committee did not accept it.
Iako je stručnjak, njegov zaključak mi deluje pogrešno.
Although he is an expert, his conclusion seems wrong to me.
Mada zvuči čudno, verujem da je to istina.
Although it sounds strange, I believe it's true.