Opinions debate: Intermediate Spanish vocabulary

7 Spanish words about opinions debate at intermediate level. Each entry links to the full meaning, a real example sentence, and usage notes written for English speakers.

• asegurarverbto assert, to assure
• defenderverbto defend, to argue for
• afirmarverbto assert, to state confidently
• mientras queconjunctionwhereas, while
• dudarverbto doubt — inherent subjunctive trigger; dudar que + subjunctive always; no cabe duda de que + indicative
• por otra parteadverbon the other hand, furthermore
• no obstanteadverbnevertheless, notwithstanding — formal register contrastive connector; equivalent to sin embargo but higher register