• IPA^(key):/a.lɔʁ kə/

• Audio:

  (file)

alorsque(+ indicative)

1. while,whereas,though;expresses a sense of opposition between simultaneous events

   Synonyms:tandis que,cependant que

   • 2020 August 15, “Japon: 75 ans après la capitulation, Shinzo Abe veut réformer l'armée”, inrfi.fr‎^[1],Radio France Internationale:

     Alors que l’archipel commémore la fin de la guerre, le parti du Premier ministre, Shinzo Abe, vient de donner son feu vert à un projet de réforme extrêmement controversé concernant l’armée, un texte belliqueux, selon l’opposition.

     As the archipelago commemorates the end of the war, the party of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has just given the green light to an extremely controversial reform project concerning the army, a warmongering text according to the opposition.

2. (literary orQuebec)when,while

   Synonyms:lorsque,au moment où

• In France,alors que is used in thetemporal sense of "when" in a more formal register to introduce the background (given with a verb in theimperfect) to a specific event (given with a verb in thecompound past orsimple past).
• In Canada,alors que is used more generally.