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I'm a little confused about the word though. I hear it a lot of times in different sentences in different sequences, as well as in speaking and writing.

Sometimes it seems to me that this word is used randomly in a sentence.

Here are some examples:

  1. Thanks though!
  2. It is still pretty weird, though.
  3. Though Gemini love being adventurous, they also crave stability and security in their hectic lives.
Mr.Eee
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    By "randomly" do you mean "inserted without adding any meaning"? Or do you mean "inserted in a random position"? –  Mar 10 '13 at 23:37
  • @snailplane For me it looks like it is inserted often in a random position. Here are some examples: "Thanks though!", "There is a brief description very similar to what Samuraisheep said though", "The fact that a Dutch place-name includes "mountains" of any sort is still pretty weird, though.". – Mr.Eee Mar 10 '13 at 23:49
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    When at the end of a sentence, it's similar to if the speaker started with the word "but". So, "Thanks, though," is roughly equivalent to "But thanks anyway," and, "We never did find any treasure, though," would be the same as "But we never did find any any treasure." – J.R. Mar 10 '13 at 23:56

2 Answers2

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When it's used at the end of a sentence, "though" means approximately "however", or "despite what I just said in the sentence(s) before this one". When it's used at the beginning of a sentence, phrase, or clause, it can also mean "despite the fact that", and means the stuff immediately following it may appear to contradict the rest of the sentence.

It's used when what you want to relate the two and want the reader/listener to realize that they appear to contradict each other, and you know that, but both parts are true.

You can often use "but" to string the two clauses together with a similar meaning. For example:

I don't like pizza. I ate half of one today, though.

means I don't like pizza, but I ate half of one today. Note that without the "though" or "but", you have "I don't like pizza. I ate half of one today.", which appears to be a contradiction. (Pizzas can be pretty big. People who don't like them generally wouldn't eat that much of one.)

Though I don't like pizza, I ate half of one today.

means the same thing.

cHao
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In each of your examples, "though" is used in a different way. To explain each:

Thanks though!

This is equivalent to "Thanks anyway!". An exchange where it could be used:

A: Do you need any help carrying those bags?

B: No, I've got it. Thanks, though!

Person B is declining person A's assistance, but thanking them for the offer to help anyway.

Your second example sentence:

It is still pretty weird, though.

In this case, though is used to emphasize what comes before it (despite information that came previous to that). You are basically saying:

It is still pretty weird, regardless of [whatever the other speaker just said to make it sound less weird].

An example exchange:

A: It looked like a ghost came out of the closet in the documentary! That's so weird.

B: They explained that; it was just a trick of the light.

A: Yeah, I know. Still pretty weird, though.

So even though an explanation was offered for the ghost's appearance, person A still thinks it's weird.

As for your final example:

Though Gemini love being adventurous, they also crave stability and security in their hectic lives.

In this case "though" is being used to reconcile two seemingly contradictory statements. Consider the rewrite:

Gemini love being adventurous, but regardless of that fact they also crave stability and security in their hectic lives.

The idea here is that you might consider the two qualities incompatible at first glance, but nevertheless they are both true.

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WendiKidd
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