Grammar Info

N3 Lesson 6: 19/24

たとえ〜ても

Even if…is the case, Supposing that

Sometimes seen as「たとい」

Structure

たとえ + Verb［ても］
たとえ + ［い］Adjective［ても］
たとえ + ［な］Adjective + でも
たとえ + Noun + でも

Details

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    Standard

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    一般

Rare Kanji

仮令

About たとえ〜ても

たとえ, coming from 例(たと)える, a る - Verb meaning 'to speak figuratively', is a word in Japanese that is often used with ても (or でも), in order to present possibilities. たとえ is primarily seen at the beginning of a sentence, before some kind of possibility, comparison, or supposition will be stated.
  • 空手(からて)ではたとえ試合(しあい)で勝(か)っても、ガッツポーズをしてはいけない。
    Even if you win in a karate competition, you should not celebrate visibly.
  • たとえ暑(あつ)くても、虫(むし)が入(はい)ってくるのでこの窓(まど)は開(あ)けないで下(くだ)さい。
    Even if it is hot, bugs will come in, so please do not open this window.
  • たとえ好(す)きでも、そんなことをされたら、嫌(きら)いになる。
    Even if I like them, if someone says such a thing, I will start to dislike them.
  • たとえ電車(でんしゃ)でも30分(ぷん)はかかる。
    Even by train, it will take at least 30 minutes.
たとえ tends to be used to present situations where 'even if they were true, (B) still may/may not happen'. This is called a 'contrastive' example. もし on the other hand tends to be used for examples in which (A) will directly result in (B). This is called a 'resultative' example.
  • たとえ来年(らいねん)までに完成(かんせい)したとしても、中(なか)に入(はい)る店(みせ)が決(き)まっていないから来年(らいねん)中(じゅう)にはオープンされないだろう。
    Even if it is completed by next year, the shops that it is going in have not been decided, so it is unlikely that they will open next year.
  • もし今年(ことし)中(じゅう)にモールの工事(こうじ)が終(お)わったら、来年(らいねん)の頭(あたま)にはオープンするはず。
    If the construction for the mall finishes within this year, it should open at the beginning of next year.

Examples

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    仮令(たとえ)雪(ゆき)が降(ふ)らなくても、スノーボードをしに行(い)く。

    Even if it doesn't snow, I'm going snowboarding.

    仮令(たとえ)彼(かれ)が太(ふと)っても力士(りきし)にならないだろう。彼(かれ)は相撲(すもう)向(む)きではないから。

    Even if he gains weight, he will never be a sumo wrestler. He's just not cut out for it.

    仮令(たとえ)コーヒーを５杯(はい)飲(の)んでも、眠気(ねむけ)が取(と)れない。

    Even if I drink 5 cups of coffee, I can't get rid of this sleepiness.

    仮令(たとえ)あなたが行(い)かなくても、僕(ぼく)は行(い)きます。

    Even if you don't go, I will.

    仮令(たとえ)嬉(うれ)しくても、笑(わら)ってはいけない時(とき)もある。

    There are times when you cannot laugh, even if you are happy.

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たとえ〜ても – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (10 in total)

  • Clornhole

    Clornhole

    Alright, that makes sense. I had forgotten it before my original reply, but I had the same confusion with もし too, so I’m glad you included it in your reply.
    I think it might help me out–with my English-orientated brain–to mentally add parentheses around the たとえ, sort of like one does for English phrases like “for instance”, “case in point”, “for example”, or many sentence opening adverbs like “additionally”.
    I really appreciate the effort you put into your reply; it’s been a great help!

  • Buby690

    Buby690

    Please does that mean with にしても, he is most likely to gain weight but with たとえーでも he is unlikely to gain weight

  • djp

    djp

    仮令忙しくても、責任はちゃんと果たさなければいけない

    I’m posting in regard to the たとえ〜ても grammar point. When I read this sentence I want to interpret this as “Even if you are busy you must properly fulfill/meet your responsibilities” but the bunpro translation is " Even if** you are busy, you will get in trouble if you don’t fulfill your responsibilities."

    There are a lot of sentences I come across like this where I don’t know if there is a cultural context at play. In this sentence where does the “you’ll be in trouble if you don’t” meaning come from? Sure, if you must do something I suppose you’ll be in trouble for not doing it but that’s reading extra into the sentence (in my opinion). I could see that being a proper translation if there were extra context but it seems like a leap.

    As I’ve progressed through bunpro I’ve mostly considered things like this as a misunderstanding on my part but when I’ve used grammar points properly according to bunpro ( the ご覧 points as an example) I...

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