Thursday, June 22, 2017

Expressing "Even if" with ても

Adding も to the て form of a word, whether it's a noun, adjective, or verb, will result in an "even if" meaning for that word. Examples will help demonstrate this.

彼女を殺しても、又彼に会いたかったよ。
Even if he killed his girlfriend, I still wanted to meet him.

リーさんは話しすぎても、面白かったね。
Lee-san was interesting, even if he talked too much.

Now may be a good time to review the positive and negative て forms for everything, since I haven't done much practice with those lately.

Positive:
訪ねる  ->    訪ねて
忙しい   ->    忙しくて
好き      ->    好きで
靴下     ->    靴下で

Negative:
訪ねない          ->    訪ねなくて
忙しくない         ->    忙しくなくて
好きじゃない    ->    好きじゃなくて
靴下じゃない   ->    靴下じゃなくて

Words in this ても form don't have a tense, but the clause that follows it can be in either present or past tense.

彼はばかでも、合格できる。
Even if he's an idiot, he can pass the test.

車は利かなくても、ダンスのクラブに行くよ。
We'll go to dance club, even if the car's not working.

お前は忙しくても、宿題をしてほうがいいよね。
Even if you're busy, you should still do your homework.

好きじゃなくても、野菜をたくさん食べたい。
I want to eat lots of vegetables, even if I don't like them.

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