Although
のに is often thought of as a simple combination of the particles
の and
に, it is actually its own particle, with the meaning of ‘despite’, or ‘in order to’. In this lesson, we will focus primarily on the ‘despite’ nuance.
Due to
のに being a 接続助詞(せつぞくじょし) (conjunction particle), it can be linked to almost any word type, to show that ‘despite (A), (B)’. As with many conjunction particles, な will be required after a noun/
な-Adjective, but before
のに.
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明日(あした)テストがあるのに彼(かれ)は勉強(べんきょう)をしないでゲームをしている。
Despite having a test tomorrow, he is playing games without studying.
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何(なん)で納豆(なっとう)は臭(くさ)いのに美味(おい)しいの?
Why does natto taste good, despite smelling bad?
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彼(かれ)はイケメンなのにいつも汗臭(あせくさ)い。
Even though he is a good looking guy, he always smells like sweat.
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この車(くるま)はスポーツカーなのに遅(おそ)い。
Despite being a sports car, this car is slow.
It is also possible to see
だのに, instead of
なのに, but this is something that is only seen in certain dialects, and would be considered incorrect by the vast majority of native speakers.
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虫歯(むしば)だのに、チョコレートを食(た)べたから歯(は)が痛(いた)い。
My tooth hurts because I ate chocolate, despite having a cavity.
Regardless of having two quite different translations (‘despite’, and ‘in order to’), のに always functions in the same way.
In the situation of ‘(A) のに, (B)’, (B) is/will be the result.
The only difference between how the nuance will be read, is whether the (B) statement is a logical conclusion, or an illogical one. When logical, the meaning is usually ‘in order to’, when ‘illogical’, the meaning is usually ‘despite’.