Linking Words

Linking words are an essential part of the text's meaning.  Watch out for giveaways such as  

bien que, mais, non seulement...

although, but, not only... 

et, aussi, de plus

and, also, as well... 

parce que, pour, si 

because, in order to, if

These words show you whether what follows them is a cause of what came before, a condition, or if it is something added, an opposition, etc. If you understand what comes before, you can better guess what comes after if you know the linking word (or vice-versa: you can sometimes guess the meaning of the linking word if you understand the meaning of the bits that come before and after it).

Il faisait froid, quoique le soleil brillait fort.

It was cold, although the sun was shining brightly.

La fête a continué malgré la pluie.

The celebrations continued in spite of the rain.

Malgré nos ressources frugales, nous avons épargné $12 000.

Despite our frugal resources, we have saved $12, 000.

La commission européenne a décidé qu'il ne serait pas obligatoire d'étiqueter les produits génétiquement manipulés, sauf s'ils avaient subi une transformation substantielle.

The European Commission has decided that it would not be mandatory to label genetically manipulated products, except if they had undergone a substantial transformation.

on these Linking Words.  We will be looking in more detail at some more difficult Linking Words in Lesson 8 of this course (under Conjunctions).