C1 · Lesson 233 · Argument & nuance (C1)

Advanced connectors

Link ideas like an educated writer: desalniettemin, ofschoon, immers, althans, hetzij … hetzij.

Grammar

Formal connectors: meaning, register and word order

Adverbs — desalniettemin, niettemin (nevertheless), dientengevolge (as a consequence), overigens (incidentally) — take first position and cause inversion, or sit after the verb: Niettemin is het plan aangenomen. = Het plan is niettemin aangenomen.
Ofschoon is a formal hoewel: it starts a subclause, so the verb goes to the end: Ofschoon de resultaten veelbelovend zijn, is verder onderzoek nodig. Mits (provided that) works the same way.
Immers (after all) gives a reason the reader already knows; it normally stands after the verb: Het budget is immers beperkt. Althans (at least) corrects or limits what you just said: Hij komt morgen, althans, dat heeft hij beloofd.
Paired connectors stand before each element: zowel studenten als docenten (both … and), hetzij per post, hetzij online (either … or — formal for of … of). Dan wel is a formal of: schriftelijk dan wel digitaal.
Nochtans (nevertheless, and yet) sounds formal and old-fashioned in the Netherlands, but is everyday Belgian Dutch: Hij is gezakt; nochtans had hij hard gestudeerd. In neutral Netherlands Dutch say toch.

connector	meaning	register	word order
desalniettemin / niettemin	nevertheless	formal	inversion at the start
dientengevolge	as a consequence	very formal	inversion at the start
ofschoon	although	formal (= hoewel)	subclause: verb last
immers	after all	neutral–formal	usually after the verb
althans	at least (correction)	neutral	after a comma / mid-sentence
overigens	incidentally	neutral	usually after the verb
hetzij … hetzij	either … or	formal	before each option
nochtans	nevertheless, yet	formal (NL) / everyday (BE)	inversion at the start

Vocabulary