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と言っても vs とは言え .
Apparently they mean the same thing (although, that being said) and yet there are cases when only one of them can be used. For example: 梅雨とはいえ、これほど雨が続くのも珍しい。
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2The main difference is that とはいえ is a written/formal form of と言っても. In the above sentence I would of thought its fine to use といっても? – Jeemusu Aug 22 '12 at 03:10
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1This is what I read in one of my reference books, however the teacher was categorically against it. And she was completely certain that only とはいえ can be used here. – buskila Aug 22 '12 at 04:37
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This could have been a duplicate. And I'm using the same book, but there is no answer why in my example sentence といっても can't be used. – buskila Aug 22 '12 at 04:51
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4Ohh what a difficult question... I googled 梅雨とは言え and 梅雨と言っても and read several examples. Then I found that 梅雨とは言え is more followed by phrases such as「よく降ります/降りすぎです/毎日毎日/大雨/豪雨/鬱陶しい/じとじとetc...」and 梅雨とは言っても is more followed by「雨の少ない/晴れるんです/晴れて暑かった/ずっと降るわけではなく/水不足が心配etc...」 – Aug 22 '12 at 09:10
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5So from Chocolate's samples, it looks like とは言え fits overfulfillment of expectations ("the precondition is true, sure, but really, this far!?"), whereas と言っても fits underfulfillment ("given the precondition, this isn't what I expected"). There's probably a nice, technical explanation for why this is, but I don't know it. I just know it sounds right to me. – SomethingJapanese Aug 22 '12 at 09:18
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As written, I think this is a duplicate of the question dainichi linked. However, the original question could be phrased better (and rely less on external sites for examples) and would maybe benefit from additional and more elaborate answers. – Troyen Aug 25 '12 at 22:31
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The subtle difference between the two expressions is that とはいっても sounds a bit more emphatic about providing evidence that appears contrary to the sentence that precedes it. For example, when you say
エール卒とはいえ、ブッシュ大統領は知的にみえなかった。
エール卒とはいっても、ブッシュ大統領は知的にみえなかった。
The latter sounds a bit more emphatic. I am sure these are not the most effective ways to translate them, but you see a subtle difference in the connotations when I translate as follows:
President Bush was a Yale graduate but did not appear intelligent.
Despite being a Yale graduate, President Bush did not appear intelligent.
The former sounds more neutral whereas the latter sounds more emphatic.
