とはいえ details
that said; granted — the point is conceded, then turned against
春とはいえ、朝晩はまだかなり冷え込む。
haru to wa ie, asaban wa mada kanari hiekomu.
It may be spring, but mornings and evenings still get quite cold. neutral
自分で決めたこととはいえ、この忙しさはさすがにこたえる。
jibun de kimeta koto to wa ie, kono isogashisa wa sasuga ni kotaeru.
Granted it was my own decision, but this workload really is getting to me. neutral
- alternant
Examples
that said; even so — grants the stated fact, then denies the conclusion normally drawn from it
春とはいえ、朝晩はまだかなり冷え込む。
haru to wa ie, asaban wa mada kanari hiekomu.
It may be spring, but mornings and evenings still get quite cold. neutral
自分で決めたこととはいえ、この忙しさはさすがにこたえる。
jibun de kimeta koto to wa ie, kono isogashisa wa sasuga ni kotaeru.
Granted it was my own decision, but this workload really is getting to me. neutral
業績は回復しております。とはいえ、楽観できる状況ではございません。
gyouseki wa kaifuku shite orimasu. to wa ie, rakkan dekiru joukyou de wa gozaimasen.
Our results are recovering. That said, the situation is not one that permits optimism. formal
Formation
plain clause + とはいえattaches to plain clause{N}とはいえattaches to noun
Variant notes
- とはいうものの — the unabbreviated shape, same register and same job — 便利だ。とはいうものの、値段が高すぎる。Slightly softer, and commoner sentence-initially than clause-finally.
Notes
Related patterns
Similar
といっても is conversational and normally walks back an overstatement the speaker has just made (社長といっても、社員は三人だ); とはいえ is written-leaning and concedes a fact both sides already accept before pushing against it — reach for といっても when you are correcting your own words, とはいえ when you are conceding someone else's.
ものの must sit between two clauses of one sentence and can never open one; とはいえ does both — it takes a clause in front (値段が高いとはいえ…) or stands at the head of a fresh sentence with the concession left behind in the previous one (…。とはいえ、…), which is where most of its written uses actually occur.
とはいえ concedes something already on the table and can open a fresh sentence with the concession left behind in the previous one; にせよ must keep its own clause in front of it inside one sentence, and what it grants is typically still unsettled (理由がどうであるにせよ).
Lookalikes
The same と…いえ frame with は and ば swapped, and opposite jobs — といえば picks the preceding word up as a TOPIC and adds new information about it (京都といえば、紅葉だ), while とはいえ concedes the preceding material and reverses direction against it; if what follows agrees with what precedes, it was never とはいえ.