Learn Hardcore Japanese: isogasii hi ga tuduite mo, watasi ha amai mono wo gamansuru you ni site imasu. - Even when busy days continue, I try to resist sweets.

続く is an intransitive verb (“to continue”), and its subject (what is continuing) is 忙しい日.
This first clause is a kind of background condition, not the main topic of the whole sentence.

If you said:

忙しい日は続いても…

it’s not wrong, but it slightly changes the feel:

は would make 忙しい日 more like “as for busy days…” or a contrast topic (“busy days, at least, continue…”).
It can sound a bit more contrastive or thematic than needed here.

So が is the default, neutral subject marker for “busy days continue.”

What exactly does 続いても mean, and how does the ても form work?

続いても is:

続く (to continue) → 続いて (te-form) + も

The pattern verb (て-form) + も means “even if / even though (verb)”.

So:

続いても = “even if (they) continue” / “even though (they) continue”

Therefore:

忙しい日が続いても = “Even if busy days continue” or “Even though the days stay busy.”

This ても form introduces a concession:

“Even under that condition, the following main clause still holds.”

Why not say 忙しくても instead of 忙しい日が続いても?

You could say 忙しくても、甘い物を我慢するようにしています。

Difference in nuance:

忙しくても
- Literally “even if (I am) busy”
- Focuses on the state of being busy.
- More general: any time I’m busy, I still try to refrain from sweets.
忙しい日が続いても
- Literally “even if busy days continue”
- Emphasizes a period of time where busy days go on and on.
- Suggests a longer stretch of busyness, ongoing pressure.

So the original emphasizes continuing busyness over multiple days, not just being busy at a moment.

In 忙しい日が続いても, does も attach to 日 or to 続いて?

Grammatically, も here is part of the set expression:

verb (て-form) + も = “even if / even though (verb)”

So it attaches to 続いて:

続いて + も → 続いても

It is not the same as the も that attaches directly to nouns (like 日も = “also days” / “days too”).
The unit is 続いても, forming a concessive clause (“even if they continue”).

Why is 甘い物 written with the kanji 物 and not もの in hiragana?

In modern Japanese:

甘いもの
甘い物

are both common and correct. The meaning is the same: “sweet things / sweets”.

Nuance:

もの (hiragana): slightly softer, more casual-looking; very common in everyday writing.
物 (kanji): a bit more formal or neutral print style; often seen in books, menus, and more polished writing.

There is no major difference in meaning here. It’s mostly an orthographic (writing-style) choice.

Does 甘い物 mean specifically “sweets like candy and cake,” or just “things that are sweet”?

In context, 甘い物 almost always means “sweet foods / sweets / desserts”.

Literally: “sweet things”
Typical image: cake, chocolate, candy, ice cream, pastries, sweet drinks, etc.

If you wanted to stress snacks/candy in particular, you might say:

お菓子 (snacks, sweets, confectionery)

But 甘い物 is a broad, natural way to say “sugary stuff” that you eat or drink.

What does 我慢する really mean here? Is it “endure,” “resist,” or “put up with”?

我慢する basically means:

“to endure / put up with / tolerate / hold back from doing something”

In this sentence:

甘い物を我慢する = “to resist sweets,” “to refrain from eating sweets”

Nuance:

You want the sweets but you hold yourself back.
There is a sense of self-control or self-denial, not just indifference.

If you simply didn’t like sweets, you might not use 我慢; you might just say you don’t eat them (e.g. あまり食べません).

What is the function of ようにする in 我慢するようにしています?

V-dictionary form + ようにする means:

“to make an effort to (do V)”
“to try to (do V) as a rule / habit”

So:

我慢する = “to refrain / hold back”
我慢するようにする = “to make it so that I refrain,” i.e. “to try to refrain,” “to make a habit of refraining.”

The nuance:

Not a one-time deliberate attempt, but an ongoing effort or policy to behave that way.

Why is it 我慢するようにしています and not just 我慢しています?

Compare:

甘い物を我慢しています。
- “I’m refraining from sweets (these days).”
- Focuses on the current state: right now / these days, I’m not eating them.
甘い物を我慢するようにしています。
- “I try to refrain from sweets.” / “I make an effort to stay away from sweets.”
- Emphasizes the effort / intention / self-imposed habit.

〜ようにしています adds the nuance of “I’m consciously trying to make this my usual behavior,” rather than just describing the fact that you aren’t eating sweets at the moment.

What does the 〜ています at the end of しています add? Is it present continuous?

〜ている / 〜ています can indicate:

Ongoing action (“be doing”)
Habitual action / repeated behavior (“do regularly”)
Resulting state (“to be in the state of having done”)

Here, with ようにする, it’s case (2):

〜ようにしている = “I make a point of doing ~ / I try to do ~ (as a habit).”

So 我慢するようにしています is best understood as habitual:

“I (generally) try to refrain from sweets,” not “I am right now in the middle of trying (this very second).”

Could you say this sentence without 私? When would you keep or drop 私は?

Yes, in natural conversation you would very often drop 私:

忙しい日が続いても、甘い物を我慢するようにしています。

Because:

The subject (“I”) is obvious from context and from the use of 〜しています in a self-referential statement.

You would keep 私は when:

You want to contrast yourself with others:
- 忙しい日が続いても、私は甘い物を我慢するようにしています。
  “Even when busy days continue, I, for my part, try to refrain from sweets.”
You’re introducing yourself, your habits, or it’s otherwise unclear who the subject is.

Is this sentence formal or casual? How would you say it more casually?

The original:

忙しい日が続いても、私は甘い物を我慢するようにしています。

is in polite form because of しています (ます-form).

A more casual version could be:

忙しい日が続いても、甘い物を我慢するようにしてる。

Changes:

しています → してる (spoken contraction, plain form)
Likely drop 私, since plain casual speech often omits the subject when obvious.

You could make it even more colloquial in speech:

忙しい日が続いても、甘いものは我慢するようにしてるよ。

Does 忙しい日が続いても mean “even if busy days continue” (hypothetical) or “even though busy days continue” (actual)?

The 〜ても form can cover both “even if” (hypothetical) and “even though” (real situation).
Context decides which is intended.

In isolation:

忙しい日が続いても、〜
can be interpreted as:
- Hypothetical: “Even if busy days (should) continue, 〜”
- Factual/general: “Even when busy days keep on coming, 〜”

In this kind of lifestyle/habit sentence, it usually feels like a general, often-real situation:

“Even when (as they often do) busy days go on, I still try to refrain from sweets.”

So in natural English, “even when” or “even though” is often a better fit than a purely hypothetical “even if.”