connective N3 common casualpolitewritten
〜ても〜なくても — whether or not ~
〜ても〜なくても ・ てもなくても
Meaning
- whether ~ or not / regardless of whether ~ — both the positive and the negative case lead to the same result
Key sentence
君が行っても行かなくても、結果は同じだ。
Whether you go or not, the result is the same.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb (て-form) + も, then the same verb's negative (なくて) + も | V-ても V-なくても | あってもなくても / 賛成してもしなくても |
Examples
雨が降っても降らなくても、明日は出発する。
Rain or no rain, we leave tomorrow.
好きでも好きでなくても、やらなければならない。
Whether you like it or not, you have to do it.
Easily confused with
〜ても Single 〜ても concedes one case ('even if ~'). Pairing it with the negative なくても (〜ても〜なくても) covers both cases at once — 'either way, the same.' どんなに〜ても どんなに〜ても means 'no matter how much' (degree). 〜ても〜なくても means 'whether or not' (the yes-case and the no-case both), covering a binary rather than a range of degrees.
See 〜ても〜なくても in real sentences
Jengo shows 〜ても〜なくても the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled from published Japanese grammar references.