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Even

Perfect English Grammar

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'Even' talks about something surprising. It's an adverb.

  • He can't even remember his keys! (= I think it's surprising that he can't remember his keys.)
  • She was so ill she couldn't even drink water.
We can use 'even' in comparisons to say that the comparison is surprising or to make it stronger.
  • She's even more beautiful than her sister (= her sister is really beautiful, so she must be really, really beautiful.)
  • John is even richer than James. (= James is very rich, so I find it surprising that John can be richer than him.)
Even if
'Even' is also used to make conditionals stronger or to say that the conditional is surprising.
  • We can't go to the park, even if it's sunny. (It's surprising that we can't go to the park if it's sunny.)
  • Even if he arrives on time, he will be too late to see Julie.
  • I don't think I can pass the exam, even if I study really hard.
Even though
'Even though' is used to make 'though' stronger. It means 'despite the fact that'.
  • Even though it was sunny, we didn't go to the park. (= despite the fact that it was sunny, we didn't go to the park = although it was sunny, we didn't go to the park.)
  • I love London, even though the weather is really bad in the winter.
Even so
'Even so' also tells us about something that is surprising. It's used in the same was as 'despite what I just said'. It needs to go in the middle of two pieces of information.
  • It was really cold. Even so, we walked around all day. (= despite the fact that it was cold, we walked around all day.)
  • I was awake until 4 am but even so I managed to get up at 7 am.
Try an exercise about 'even' here.