Choose the correct option to join the following sentences without using ‘and’, ‘but’ or ‘so’:
He may be blunt. He is at least honest.
Topic: Synthesis — clause of concession
Try it
Pick an option and check your answer. The full worked answer is below either way.
Answer
(a) Although he is blunt, he is at least honest..
The relationship between the two sentences is CONCESSION — granting one thing while asserting another — which is exactly what ALTHOUGH expresses: "Although he is blunt, he is at least honest."
The phrase "may be" in the original is the signal. It concedes a fault before offering a redeeming quality, and "although" carries that movement precisely.
Options (b), (c) and (d) all use "and", which the instruction expressly forbids, and which in any case turns the concession into a simple list — losing the contrast that gives the sentence its point.
The concessive conjunctions worth knowing: although, though, even though, while, whereas, despite, in spite of.
Although he is blunt, he is at least honest..