Even if with 〜ても

Usage Notes

ても is the て-form plus the particle も. Verbs whose て-form ends in で take でも: 読(よ)んでも, 泳(およ)いでも. い-adjectives take くても, and nouns and な-adjectives take でも. A negative takes なくても: 行(い)かなくても, “even if I don’t go”.

たとえ in front marks the condition as imagined, “even supposing”. いくら and どんなに make it “no matter how much”, and a question word makes it “no matter who” or “no matter what”: 何(なに)を言(い)っても, “no matter what I say”. Two ても clauses in a row cover two cases, as in 勝(か)っても負(ま)けても, “whether we win or lose”.

ても also appears inside other patterns. 〜てもいい gives permission, and 〜なくてもいい or 〜なくても大丈夫(だいじょうぶ) says you don’t have to. Casual speech often uses 〜たって instead of 〜ても.

Noun ＋ でも isn’t always this pattern. お茶(ちゃ)でも飲(の)もう offers tea as one option, “let’s have tea or something”, and 子供(こども)でも分(わ)かる usually reads “even a child understands”. The “even if” reading is clearest when the noun is the predicate of its own clause: 明日(あした)が雨(あめ)でも, “even if tomorrow is rainy”.

Formation

Even If It Happens

In its basic use, the ても clause names something that hasn’t happened, or may never happen. The speaker grants that it could happen and says the main clause holds anyway. The main clause is often a decision, a promise, or a prediction.

• 失敗(しっぱい)しても、あきらめない。
• Even if I fail, I won’t give up.

たとえ in front makes it clear the condition is imagined, like “even supposing”. It’s optional: ても alone already means “even if”.

• たとえ雨(あめ)が降(ふ)っても、花火(はなび)大会(たいかい)は中止(ちゅうし)しません。
• Even if it rains, the fireworks show won’t be canceled.

When the Expected Result Doesn’t Come

The ても clause can also name an established fact or state, or something that happens regularly as a rule. Something would normally follow from it, but it doesn’t. Here ても means “even though”, “even when”, or “even after”.

• 約束(やくそく)の時間(じかん)になっても、一郎(いちろう)さんは来(き)ませんでした。
• Even when the agreed time came, Ichirou didn’t show up.

After a suspect recalls that his call to the victim’s house rang many times before the answering machine picked up, Inspector Megure asks the woman of the house how the machine works.

目暮(めぐれ):

「奥(おく)さん！ここの留守番(るすばん)電話(でんわ)の機能(きのう)は？」

“Ma'am! How does this answering machine function?”

奥(おく)さん:

「は、はい…　十数回(じゅうすうかい)コールしても出(で)ない時(とき)は、自動的(じどうてき)に留守番(るすばん)電話(でんわ)に切(き)り替(か)わるようになってます…」

“Well... When nobody answers even after a dozen or so rings, it automatically switches to the answering machine...”

View Full Example

A suspect has just recalled that his call rang many times before the answering machine picked up. Inspector Megure asks how the machine here works, and the woman he addresses as 奥(おく)さん explains that when a call goes 十数回(じゅうすうかい), “a dozen or so” rings, and still nobody answers, the machine picks up. Ringing that many times should get an answer, and ても marks that this expected result doesn’t come. She is describing a general rule, so both 出ない and the sentence’s ending stay nonpast.

ても doesn’t work when the first clause pins an action to a specific recent moment and the main clause reports what has happened since. のに handles that: 昨日(きのう)買(か)ったのに、もう壊(こわ)れている, “I only bought it yesterday, and it’s already broken”. ても fits when the condition should have brought a result and didn’t: a set time passing, medicine taken, a phone left ringing a dozen times.

No Matter How Much with いくら and どんなに

いくら or どんなに before the ても clause pushes the condition to an extreme: “no matter how much” or “however hard”. The main clause often reports that something still doesn’t work.

• いくら探(さが)しても、出口(でぐち)がない。

• No matter how much I search, there’s no exit.

• どんなに忙(いそが)しくても、朝(あさ)ごはんは食(た)べる。
• No matter how busy I am, I eat breakfast.

いくら also works with a noun: いくら子供(こども)でも, “even for a child” or “child though they are”. It grants the point and says there’s still a limit, as in いくら子供(こども)でも、それはひどい, “even for a child, that’s going too far”.

No Matter Who or What

A question word in the ても clause covers every possible answer: 誰(だれ)が来(き)ても, “no matter who comes”, 何(なに)を言(い)っても, “no matter what I say”, どこへ行(い)っても, “wherever I go”. Keep the particle the question word would normally take.

• 誰(だれ)が選(えら)ばれても、驚(おどろ)きません。
• No matter who is chosen, I won’t be surprised.

何度(なんど) and 何回(なんかい), “how many times”, work the same way: 何度(なんど)やっても同(おな)じだ, “it’s the same however many times you try”.

Either Way with 〜ても〜ても

Two ても clauses naming different conditions say the result holds in either case. With opposites, this is “whether A or B”.

• 勝(か)っても負(ま)けても、これが最後(さいご)の試合(しあい)だ。
• Whether we win or lose, this is the last match.

With a verb and its negative, it’s “whether or not”: 食(た)べても食(た)べなくても, “whether I eat or not”. A related use repeats the same verb to stress effort that goes nowhere: 待(ま)っても待(ま)っても来(こ)ない, “I wait and wait, but they don’t come”.

Further Reading

• ても, Japan Foundation teaching materials (kyozai.jpf.go.jp)
• 譲歩, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (coelang.tufs.ac.jp)
• ても, デジタル大辞泉 (Kotobank) (kotobank.jp)
• ても, Bunpro (bunpro.jp)

Related Grammar

• Permission to do with 〜てもいい
  • The permission pattern built on this same ても. 〜なくてもいい, "you don't have to", is there too.
• Even if with 〜たって
  • A casual equivalent of 〜ても in speech.
• Even though with 〜のに
  • のに reports a real result that contradicts expectations, often with surprise or frustration. ても also covers imagined conditions.
• Offering an example with 〜でも
  • Noun ＋ でも can also offer one option, as in お茶(ちゃ)でも飲(の)もう, "let's have tea or something". That でも isn't concessive.
• Natural result with 〜と
  • と says the result follows the condition; ても says it holds despite the condition.