～たところで

～たところで is a grammar construction that combines the simple-past form of a verb, the noun ところ 'place', and the case-marking particle で.

As with most other grammar patterns that ところ is seen with, the focus is on the situation of the verb occurring. ～たところで is often translated as 'even if (A), not (B)', or 'even if (A), it won't be (B)'.

This 'even if' nuance is created by the fact that ～たところで sentences will never have something in the past tense in the second half of the sentence, despite using the past tense before ところ. This is similar to the English 'even if (A) were to happen, (B) would still not occur'.

As can be seen by the examples above, ～たところで will convey things that are counter to what the speaker either wants to, or wishes would happen. Due to this, the (B) half of the sentence will almost always be something unfavorable.

Fun Fact

Due to ～たところで always marking some kind of negative result in (B), (A) will often be preceded by words such as 今(いま)さら, いくら, or どんなに. These usually just emphasize the frustration that the speaker feels about the inevitable result.