connective N4 essential casualpolitewritten
〜ても — even if ~ / even though ~
〜ても ・ ても
Builds on て形
Meaning
- even if ~ / even though ~ — the outcome holds despite the condition
Key sentence
雨が降っても、試合は行われます。
Even if it rains, the match will be held.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb (て-form) | V-て + も (voiced → でも) | 読んで → 読んでも |
| i-adjective | 〜くて + も → 〜くても | 高い → 高くても |
| Noun / na-adjective | + でも | 学生 → 学生でも |
Examples
高くても買います。
Even if it's expensive, I'll buy it.
薬を飲んでも、熱が下がらない。
Even though I took medicine, the fever won't go down.
日曜日でも働くことがある。
Even on Sundays, I sometimes work.
When you can't use it
- ても often pairs with いくら / どんなに / たとえ to stress the concession: いくら呼んでも返事がない (no matter how much I call, there's no answer).
Easily confused with
〜てもいい Same 〜ても base, but followed by いい it grants permission ('it's okay to ~'): 帰ってもいい (you may go home). Alone, 〜ても means 'even if'. でも (particle) The voiced 〜でも (読んでも) is this concessive ても after a voiced verb. The standalone particle でも attaches to a noun to mean 'even ~' as an extreme example (子供でも = even a child). 〜たら たら is a plain conditional ('if/when ~, then ...'). ても is a concessive conditional ('even if ~, still ...') — the result holds against expectation.
See 〜ても in real sentences
Jengo shows 〜ても the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar.