Indeed / admittedly (诚然)

Structure 诚然，A，but / yet B

诚然 (chéngrán) is a cultivated concession that opens a paragraph in essays and journalism: "admittedly, it is true that…". It grants the opponent a point up front in order to qualify or rebut it, so it almost always pairs with 但 (但是) or 然而: 诚然，他有不足，但贡献更大 = "true, he has shortcomings, but his contribution is greater". Unlike a plain 的确 or 确实 ("indeed", which merely confirms), 诚然 signals that a "but" is coming: it's an argumentative move, not just an assertion. It sounds distinctly written.

Examples

诚chéng然rán，他tā有yǒu不bù足zú，但dàn他tā的de贡gòng献xiàn远yuǎn远yuǎn更gèng大dà。
Admittedly he has shortcomings, but his contribution is by far the greater.
诚chéng然rán，技jì术shù带dài来lái了le便biàn利lì，然rán而ér也yě制zhì造zào了le新xīn的de问wèn题tí。
Technology has indeed brought convenience, yet it has also created new problems.
这zhè条tiáo路lù诚chéng然rán艰jiān难nán，但dàn我wǒ们men别bié无wú选xuǎn择zé。
This path is admittedly hard, but we have no other choice.

Levels are indicative: they follow the standard Chinese Grammar Wiki (AllSet Learning) progression, not an official HSK 3.0 mapping. We never assign levels by eye.

This point and the other 370, with audio on every example, inside Wanyu.