Ganz generell:
1) Wort, für das Synonym gesucht wird, in LEO eingeben
2) Gewünschte Bedeutung in der anderen Sprache anklicken
3) Passendes Synonym in der Zielsprache heraussuchen

Findest Du so etwas?

ich nehme oft
though
still
yet
aber das kommt auch immer auf den Satz drauf an.

Hallo Strathy, mein Lieblingsfüllwort ist thus (nicht ganz der gleiche Sinn, aber egal, Ingrid gat ja schon so viele gegeben)

emarie, 'thus' wouldn't work in this case. 'thus' is 'because of,' but 'however' is 'in spite of.'

All of the above suggestions, however, are fine :-)

"Lieblingsfüllwort", genau das ist es. Ich habe außerdem den Eindruck, dass diese Satzanfänge mit "however, thus, hence" v.a. von Nicht-Englisch-Muttersprachlern geschrieben werden. Ich meine, dass es zu "however" am Satzanfang auch schon mal eine Diskussion in "General Discussion" gab, die zum Ergebnis kam, es entweder wegzulassen, oder in die Satzmitte zu schieben: "These findings, however, support the view that...".
Mein Word bietet u.a. "on the other hand", "still" und "conversely" an, zur Not würde ich davon was nehmen.

@Mattes
ich dachte bisher, das wär stilistisch gut, nachdem man das in der Schule lernt (zumindest ich) und in Büchern liest.
Hab gerade versucht, den Thread zu finden, leider erfolglos. Kannst du ihn bitte posten? Ich würde ihn nämlich gerne lesen! Danke!

Bevor ich den Thread jetzt suche, kurz die Warnung, dass ich nur interessierter Laie bin!

das Risiko geh ich ein :-)

albeit

Je nach Kontext natürlich

Ich find's nicht mehr :-(
Dafür aber sehr viele Beispiele von native speakers, die "However" am Satzanfang verwenden.

Hier ein Fundstück aus dem Netz (http://www.brocku.ca/history/writing.html):
"However" is a problematic connector.Fowler's English Usage says:
Avoid at all costs the illiteracy of using however as a simple substitute for but, or of allowing a sentence to run on when However should have had a capital H at the start of a new sentence. Examples of wrong use: Resources for doing so are not available, however, the matter will be reviewed at a later date; It was hoped that New HAG rents could be pooled to equalize rents, however a recent review has concluded that this will not be possible.

Und hier weitere Links zum Thema. Man ist sich nicht einig:
http://www.languagehat.com/archives/001762.php
http://www.lgta.org/write/wrw.aug971.htm
http://www.michbar.org/journal/article.cfm?ar...

Do not begin a sentence with however. However is a postpositive conjunction and is always improper at the start of a
sentence. For most good editors your placing however at the start of a sentence is simply a red flag, and you never want to
wave a red flag before an editor (or a professor)!

(www.geosociety.org/grants/04gw_wkshp/04-Preparing_essays.pdf )
Von einem Workshop der "Geological Society of America": "How to improve your writing"..

@ Mattes

Is it ALWAYS improper to use "however" at the beginning of a sentence?

I think there are times when it is quite legitimate to start a sentence with "however" (or "but" or "and").

@Felix K.: Ich zitiere nur Fundstücke aus dem Netz, die unterschiedliche Meinungen dazu wiedergeben.

@ Mattes

Pardon, ich hatte nur Dein letzes Comment gelesen.

Das hier passt auch super:
>But/however: Starting a sentence with “But” is deeply troubling to many would-be business writers. They rush to change it for “However,”, magnifying all the little shifts of direction that “but” can signal into great, portentous reversals. “However” should only be used when what comes next is a flat and unexpected contradiction of the previous idea, or when you are about to unleash a massive irony. Business writing has far too many howevers and far too few buts, just as it has far too many writers seeking gravitas and far too few seeking simple, easily-read, unpretentious clarity.
(aus http://www.e-edit.co.uk/myths.htm)

@Felix: No prob :-)

However much someone may object to starting a sentence with "however", it is actually allowed in some cases.

However much someone may object to starting a sentence with "however", it is actually allowed in some cases.

Try "anyway", "anyhow", "in any case", "all the same", "still", "yet" -- they are all mostly mouth-fillers, mere weak bonds to the previous sentence.
Married men will be sadly familiar with the traditional "Anyway I'm right, not you" :)
(Forgive me, ladies...:)

you might turn the sentence round.
in stead of
"bla bla bla is the situation, however bla bla bla is also true"
you could say:
"although bla bla is the situation, bla bla is also true".

"Nevertheless" (or even "nonetheless") are good alternatives to "however" if you want a slightly higher register.

in spite of this
be that as it may
by contrast

albeit, never-/nonetheless, anyway, but etc. - alles cool.
@mattes: kenne das problem gut, aber oft gibtŽs echt keine wirkliche alternative. und: es scheint nicht ganz unüblich zu sein einen satz mit however zu beginnen-schreibe ziemlich viele englische Texte, bislang hat sich kein Editor wirklich beschwert, auch nicht in high-class journals wie lancet, die ein super-strenges language-editoring haben. könnte man es stattdessen nicht so formulieren: versucht es zu vermeiden, aber wohl dem dem das auch gelingt:)
was hält denn das forum von "But even if..."?

na da hab ich wohl was Falsches gelernt. Wir haben nur die Auflage bekommen, BUT niemals am Satzanfag zu verwenden, HOWEVER als Ersatz dafür war immer OK. Muss mich wohl näher damit beschäftigen.

Danke für die Infos an Mattes und all die anderen!

I don't think there's any reason to bend over backwards to avoid starting a sentence with 'however.' The rule against doing so (except in sentences such as Tom's where the meaning is 'wie auch immer') is one of those rather old-fashioned style preferences that has already mostly disappeared from modern English, perhaps especially AE.

As Ingrid says, starting a sentence with 'however' is considerably more acceptable in writing than starting a sentence with 'but.' However, I agree completely with Claire that for a more formal tone, 'nevertheless' is a good, safe choice, and as such the best answer to Strathy's original question.

I would disagree with several other suggestions:

'Albeit' is very formal, even literary, and requires its own special syntax which is very different from that of 'however,' so it's probably only confusing in this discussion.

'Anyway' (or BE 'anyhow') is rather casual, normally used in speech rather than writing, and has a slightly different meaning, similar to 'be that as it may.'

'On the other hand,' 'conversely,' 'in contrast,' etc. express a different argument or option rather than a different opinion or result, so they're not quite the same either.

'Thus' and 'hence' express conclusion rather than contrast, and are both quite formal, so they're doubly out of place here.

A bigger problem for people learning English (and sometimes native speakers as well) may be choosing the right punctuation to match the part of speech. Ghol's post above was confusing because he mispunctuated the sentence with 'however,' creating a common error known as a run-on sentence. That's the same mistake described in Mattes's Fowler quote as 'using _however_ as a simple substitute for _but_.'

Here's an overview for reference.

A) coordinating conjunctions (but, yet)

The results were generally disappointing, but the study paved the way for further research.
The results were generally disappointing, yet the study paved the way for further research.
The results were generally disappointing. But the study paved the way for further research.
The results were generally disappointing. Yet the study paved the way for further research.

(Beginning a new sentence with a coordinating conjunction can seem abrupt, casual, unpolished, rough, jolting. Many writers avoid it in formal writing except to give an occasional unusual emphasis.)

B) subordinating conjunctions (although, while)

Although the results were generally disappointing, the study paved the way for further research.
While the results were generally disappointing, the study paved the way for further research.

('While' is more casual; many writers prefer to use it in formal writing only in a temporal sense.)

C) adverb (however, nevertheless, nonetheless, still)

The results were generally disappointing; however, the study paved the way for further research.
The results were generally disappointing; nevertheless, the study paved the way for further research.
The results were generally disappointing. However, the study paved the way for further research.
The results were generally disappointing. Nevertheless, the study paved the way for further research.
The results were generally disappointing. The study, however, paved the way for further research.
The results were generally disappointing. The study nevertheless paved the way for further research.

(Moving the adverb into the middle of the main clause can seem rather formal, sometimes even stilted. 'Nonetheless' is quite formal and not very common. 'Still' is more casual; many writers prefer to use it in formal writing only in a temporal sense.)

D) preposition (despite, in spite of)

Despite disappointing results, the study paved the way for further research.
In spite of disappointing results, the study paved the way for further research.

Be a devil and stsrt a new sentence with 'But,'.
I was told by John himself that he was going to sell up and move to Canada and he seemed quite set on the idea. But, you know John. He's been saying that for years.