Toegeving
Hoewel, ondanks and toch: grant the other side a point, then make your own.
Conceding is what makes an argument sound like an adult wrote it. A B2 text that only asserts reads as thin; a text that admits the counter-argument and answers it reads as considered. The Dutch machinery is small and precise: hoewel opens a clause and sends the verb back, ondanks takes a noun and no verb at all, and toch marks the turn in the sentence that follows. Mixing the three is the commonest B2 error, because they translate to the same word.
How the exam tests this
Schrijven, in the medium task above all. Describing a problem and proposing a solution is exactly the situation where a concession earns its place: you acknowledge the objection before it is raised, and the answer reads as reasoned rather than one-sided. Two assessors are weighing the argument, not counting structures, but a concession is what makes an argument visible. In Lezen the same words are load-bearing: everything before hoewel is the position being granted, and the writer's own view is on the other side of it.
What is wrong with this sentence?
Hoewel ik begrijp dat de gemeente weinig budget heeft, ik vind deze bezuiniging onverstandig.
Most candidates write it exactly like this and lose the mark without knowing why.
The rest of this lesson
The rule, the worked examples, the exceptions and what to do in the exam room open with Mastery, together with every other lesson for this exam.
See plans