尽管

Etymology & Components

The Chinese word 尽管 (jǐnguǎn) is a conjunction that means "although" or "even though". It is composed of two characters: 尽 (jǐn), which means "all" or "completely", and 管 (guǎn), which means "to care about" or "to mind". Together, these two characters create the meaning of "even though" or "in spite of".尽管 is often used to introduce a concessive clause, which is a clause that expresses a condition that is contrary to the main clause. For example, the sentence "尽管我很忙，我还是会去看你" (jǐnguǎn wǒ hěn máng, wǒ hái shì huì qù kàn nǐ) means "Even though I am very busy, I will still go to see you". In this sentence, the concessive clause is "尽管我很忙" (jǐnguǎn wǒ hěn máng), which expresses the condition that the speaker is very busy. The main clause is "我还是会去看你" (wǒ hái shì huì qù kàn nǐ), which expresses the speaker's intention to go see the person even though they are busy.尽管 can also be used to introduce a conditional clause, which is a clause that expresses a condition that must be met in order for the main clause to be true. For example, the sentence "尽管你很聪明，你还是需要努力学习" (jǐnguǎn nǐ hěn cōngmíng, nǐ hái shì xūyào nǔlì xuéxí) means "Even though you are very smart, you still need to study hard". In this sentence, the conditional clause is "尽管你很聪明" (jǐnguǎn nǐ hěn cōngmíng), which expresses the condition that the person is very smart. The main clause is "你还是需要努力学习" (nǐ hái shì xūyào nǔlì xuéxí), which expresses the speaker's advice that the person still needs to study hard even though they are smart.尽管 is a versatile conjunction that can be used to express a variety of different meanings. It is an important word for HSK learners to know, as it is used frequently in both spoken and written Chinese.