Attach も to a te-form and you get the concessive: "even if / even though X, (still) Y." 雨が降っても、行きます — "even if it rains, I'll go." The main clause holds despite the first — the condition, real or imagined, doesn't stop it. This is the same emphatic も you know from "too / even" (も for emphasis), now bolted onto a verb. The English speaker's job is mainly to stop reaching for the plain "if" conditionals, which mean something different.
The form — verbs, adjectives, and nouns
The concessive attaches to all three predicate types. The pattern is te-form (or its adjectival/nominal equivalent) + も:
| Type | Base | Concessive | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Verb | 降る → 降って | 降っても | even if it rains |
| い-adjective | 高い → 高く | 高くても | even if it's expensive |
| な-adjective | 便利 | 便利でも | even if it's convenient |
| Noun | 学生 | 学生でも | even if / even for a student |
One detail worth flagging up front: for a verb whose te-form ends in で (読んで, 飲んで, 呼んで), you simply add も — 読んでも, 呼んでも. There is no contraction to じゃも. The じゃ contraction belongs to てしまう → じゃう, not here.
雨が降っても、試合は行われます。
ame ga futte mo, shiai wa okonawaremasu
Even if it rains, the match will be held.
どんなに高くても、これだけは買いたい。
donna ni takakute mo, kore dake wa kaitai
No matter how expensive it is, this is the one thing I want to buy.
この問題は、子供でも解ける。
kono mondai wa, kodomo de mo tokeru
Even a child can solve this problem.
Two readings: hypothetical "even if" and factual "even though"
The same 〜ても spans both an unreal, imagined condition ("even if," typically future) and a real, established one ("even though," typically past). Japanese doesn't split these into two words the way English does — tense and context tell them apart.
Hypothetical — "even if" (the outcome is imagined):
明日晴れても、家でゆっくりするつもりだ。
ashita harete mo, ie de yukkuri suru tsumori da
Even if it's sunny tomorrow, I plan to just relax at home.
Factual — "even though" (it actually happened):
あんなに頑張っても、うまくいかなかった。
anna ni ganbatte mo, umaku ikanakatta
Even though I tried that hard, it didn't work out.
何度説明しても、彼は分かってくれなかった。
nando setsumei shite mo, kare wa wakatte kurenakatta
No matter how many times I explained, he wouldn't understand.
The key contrast: ても vs the plain conditionals たら／ば
This is the error that matters most. 〜たら and 〜ば mean plain "if" — the Y clause depends on X. 〜ても means "even if" — Y holds regardless of X. They are near-opposites in logic:
| Form | Logic | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 雨が降ったら、行かない | if → then (X decides Y) | If it rains, I won't go. |
| 雨が降っても、行く | even if → still (X doesn't decide Y) | Even if it rains, I'll go. |
安くても、体に悪いものは食べない。
yasukute mo, karada ni warui mono wa tabenai
Even if it's cheap, I won't eat things that are bad for me.
With たら (安かったら食べる, "if it's cheap I'll eat it"), price decides the outcome. With ても (安くても食べない), price is explicitly ruled out as a factor. Reaching for たら／ば when you mean "even if" quietly reverses your meaning — see the conditionals compared.
ても vs のに — both concede, but のに complains
〜のに also translates as "although / even though," so learners blur it with ても. Two differences keep them apart:
- のに is factual only. It can't do "even if" — it needs something that really happened. For a hypothetical, only ても works.
- のに carries a grudge. It signals the result was contrary to what you'd expect and usually a note of complaint, surprise, or regret. ても is more neutral and matter-of-fact.
せっかく来たのに、店は閉まっていた。
sekkaku kita noni, mise wa shimatte ita
Even though I made the effort to come, the shop was closed. (frustrated — のに)
So "even if you go, it's pointless" must be 行っても無駄だ — you cannot use のに for that hypothetical, because のに can only look back on the real.
Question word + ても: "no matter …"
Pair 〜ても with a question word and you get the sweeping "no matter what / who / where / how much." This is worth previewing here and covered fully on question word + ても:
いくら呼んでも、返事がなかった。
ikura yonde mo, henji ga nakatta
No matter how much I called out, there was no answer.
何を言っても、彼女の決心は変わらなかった。
nani o itte mo, kanojo no kesshin wa kawaranakatta
No matter what I said, her mind wouldn't change.
(Notice 呼んでも again — で te-form, plain も, no contraction.)
The same structure builds permission: 〜てもいい
Once 〜ても clicks, permission falls out of it for free. 〜てもいい literally reads "even if you do X, it's fine" → therefore "you may do X." Prohibition is its mirror, 〜てはいけない ("as for doing X, it won't do" → "you must not"). The concessive て+も is the engine underneath the everyday permission you already use — covered in Nuance & Modality under 〜てもいい: permission.
ここに座ってもいいですか。
koko ni suwatte mo ii desu ka
May I sit here? (lit. 'even if I sit here, is it fine?')
Register
〜ても is register-neutral — natural in conversation, essays, and news alike. The intensifiers どんなに〜ても and いくら〜ても ("no matter how…") are extremely common and belong in both speech and writing. There's no casual/formal contraction to worry about; ても stays ても everywhere.
Common mistakes
❌ 雨が降ったら行く。
ame ga futtara iku
Wrong for 'even if it rains, I'll go' — たら is plain 'if,' so this means 'if it rains, I'll go,' making rain the trigger.
✅ 雨が降っても行く。
ame ga futte mo iku
Even if it rains, I'll go.
❌ 行くのに無駄だ。
iku noni muda da
Incorrect for 'even if you go, it's pointless' — のに can't take a hypothetical; you need ても.
✅ 行っても無駄だ。
itte mo muda da
Even if you go, it's pointless.
❌ どんなに高いても、買う。
donna ni takai te mo, kau
Incorrect — い-adjectives drop 〜い to 〜く before ても: 高くても.
✅ どんなに高くても、買う。
donna ni takakute mo, kau
No matter how expensive, I'll buy it.
❌ 学生ても、責任はある。
gakusei te mo, sekinin wa aru
Incorrect — nouns and な-adjectives take でも, not ても: 学生でも.
✅ 学生でも、責任はある。
gakusei de mo, sekinin wa aru
Even a student has responsibilities.
❌ いくら呼んじゃも、返事がなかった。
ikura yonjamo, henji ga nakatta
Incorrect — で-ending te-forms just add も (呼んでも); there is no じゃも contraction here.
✅ いくら呼んでも、返事がなかった。
ikura yonde mo, henji ga nakatta
No matter how much I called, there was no answer.
Key takeaways
- te-form + も = concessive "even if / even though" — Y holds despite X.
- One form covers both the hypothetical ("even if," imagined) and the factual ("even though," real); tense and context decide which English word fits.
- Adjectives and nouns join too: 高くても (い-adj → 〜く), 便利でも / 学生でも (な-adj & noun → でも).
- Don't confuse it with plain たら／ば ("if," X decides Y) or with のに ("although," factual-only and complaint-tinged).
- で-ending te-forms simply add も (読んでも, 呼んでも) — no じゃも contraction.
- The same て+も builds permission 〜てもいい ("even if you do X, it's fine → you may").
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Start learning Japanese→Related Topics
- Question-word + 〜ても: 'No Matter What'N3 — How a question word plus the concessive 〜ても builds the 'no matter what / who / how' meaning that sweeps across the question word's entire range.
- 〜てもいい: Permission ('may')N4 — How 〜てもいい grants and asks permission — literally 'even if you do it, it's fine' — the polite variants 〜てもいいでしょうか and 〜てもかまいません, and the も/は symmetry with prohibition.
- Cause & Reason with 〜てN4 — How the て-form expresses a soft 'because' for feelings, abilities, and spontaneous results — and why its result clause can never be a command, request, or intention.
- も: Emphasis — 'Even', 'As Many As'N4 — How も after a quantity means 'as much/many as' (a surprised 'that's a lot'), how minimal-quantity も plus a negative means 'not even one', and how 何も/誰も build 'nothing/nobody'.