haiyuutati ha namahousou no dorama de serihu wo matigaete mo egao wo tamotimasita.

Even though the actors made mistakes in their lines in the live drama, they kept smiling.

Breakdown of haiyuutati ha namahousou no dorama de serihu wo matigaete mo egao wo tamotimasita.

• は: topic particle
• を: direct object particle
• の: possessive case particle
• で: location particle
• 〜て も: conditional form (even if)
• 間違まちがえる: to make a mistake
• 保たもつ: to keep
• ドラマ: drama
• 生放送なまほうそう: live broadcast
• 俳優はいゆうたち: actor (plural)
• 台詞せりふ: line; dialogue
• 笑顔えがお: smile

Questions & Answers about haiyuutati ha namahousou no dorama de serihu wo matigaete mo egao wo tamotimasita.

What does 俳優たち mean, and is たち necessary here?

俳優 means “actor.”
たち is a plural-like suffix mainly used for people, so 俳優たち means “the actors.”

In Japanese, plural is often left implicit, so 俳優 alone could already mean “actor(s)” from context. Adding たち:

• makes it clear we’re talking about multiple actors
• can add a slight nuance of “as a group” or “all the actors”

So 俳優たち isn’t grammatically required, but it’s natural and emphasizes the group of actors.

Why is は used after 俳優たち, and not が?

は marks the topic: what the sentence is “about.”
Here, 俳優たちは sets up “as for the actors…” / “the actors (on their part)…”

If we used が:

• 俳優たちが 笑顔を保ちました。
  would simply state “The actors kept their smiles” as new information, focusing on who did it.

With は:

• 俳優たちは … 笑顔を保ちました。
  contrasts or highlights the actors as the topic; it feels more like describing their behavior in that situation, possibly contrasting them with others (e.g., staff, audience).

So は fits well because this sentence is “about” how the actors behaved.

What does 生放送のドラマで mean, and what are の and で doing?

Breakdown:

• 生放送 – “live broadcast”
• 生放送のドラマ – “a drama that is (being) live-broadcast,” “a live-broadcast drama”
  
  • の here is like “of / ’s” or an adjectival marker: “live-broadcast drama.”
• 生放送のドラマで – “in/during the live-broadcast drama”

で marks the setting or place where the action happens.
So 生放送のドラマで means “during the live broadcast drama” or “on the live broadcast drama (program).”

Could you also say 生放送でのドラマ? Is that different from 生放送のドラマで?

Both are grammatical, but the focus changes a bit.

• 生放送のドラマで (from the original sentence)

  • First: “a live-broadcast drama” (生放送のドラマ)
  • Then: “in that drama” (…で)
  • Very natural here because the main point is the drama itself as the setting.

• 生放送でのドラマ

  • 生放送で = “by live broadcast / in a live broadcast”
  • ～でのドラマ = “a drama (that takes place) in a live broadcast”
  • Slightly more formal / written, and the phrase is more tightly packed as one noun phrase.

In everyday speech, 生放送のドラマで is simpler and feels more natural in this context.

What does 台詞 mean, and how is it read?

台詞 is read せりふ (serifu). It usually refers to:

• lines in a play, drama, movie, anime, etc.
• someone’s spoken lines or dialogue in a script

You will also often see it written in katakana as セリフ.
So 台詞を間違える means “to get one’s lines wrong / to mess up one’s lines.”

What is the grammar of 間違えても? How does this express “even if they make a mistake”?

間違えても is:

• 間違える – “to make a mistake; to get (something) wrong”
• 間違えて – its て-form
• て + も – gives the pattern Vて(も) = “even if (V) / even though (V)”

So:

• 台詞を間違えても 笑顔を保ちました。
  = “Even if they made a mistake in their lines, they maintained their smiles.”

The pattern is:

[Vて + も] + main clause
“Even if / even when (V), (still) main clause happens.”

Why is も after 間違えて? Does it mean “also”?

In this sentence も is not “also,” it’s part of the Vて + も pattern:

• Vて + も = “even if / even though (V)”

So 間違えても is a single grammatical unit: “even if they make a mistake”.

If も were used in the “also/too” sense, you’d see it attached directly to a noun or another element, like:

• 俳優たちも – “the actors too / the actors also”
• 台詞も – “the lines too / the lines as well”

Here, it’s clearly the conditional ても structure.

Could we say 台詞を間違っても instead of 台詞を間違えても? What’s the difference between 間違える and 間違う?

Both are possible:

• 台詞を間違えても
• 台詞を間違っても

Nuance:

• 間違える often focuses on making a mistake in something:

  • 答えを間違える – “get the answer wrong”
  • 道を間違える – “take the wrong way”
  • 台詞を間違える – “mess up one’s lines”
    This is very natural here.

• 間違う can mean “to be wrong / to make a mistake,” and with ～を間違う it can also mean “to mistake ~,” but 台詞を間違える is a bit more common and natural in the sense of “mess up one’s lines.”

So 台詞を間違えても sounds slightly smoother and more standard, but 台詞を間違っても would still be understood.

What does 笑顔を保ちました literally mean, and how does it compare to “kept smiling”?

Breakdown:

• 笑顔 – “smiling face,” “smile” (as an expression on the face)
• 保つ – “to keep / maintain / preserve”
• 笑顔を保つ – “to maintain one’s smile / to keep a smile on one’s face”
• 笑顔を保ちました – polite past: “(they) maintained their smiles.”

English often says “kept smiling,” but Japanese here focuses on keeping the facial expression rather than the action of repeatedly smiling. It’s a common collocation like:

• 冷静さを保つ – “keep one’s calm”
• バランスを保つ – “maintain balance”

You could also say 笑顔でいました (“they stayed with a smile on”) but 笑顔を保つ gives a nuance of effort: they managed to maintain their smile.

Why is the verb in past polite form 保ちました? Could it be 保ちます instead?

保ちました is the polite past form:

• 保つ (dictionary / plain form) – “to keep / maintain”
• 保ちます – polite non-past (present/future/generic)
• 保ちました – polite past

In this sentence, 保ちました tells us it’s talking about a specific event in the past: some particular live broadcast.

If you said:

• 俳優たちは 生放送のドラマで 台詞を間違えても 笑顔を保ちます。

that would sound more like a general statement or rule:

• “(In general,) even if actors make mistakes in their lines in live-broadcast dramas, they keep smiling.”

So 保ちました is chosen because we’re narrating a past incident.

Is the word order fixed? Could I move 生放送のドラマで or 台詞を around?

Japanese word order is fairly flexible as long as you respect the verb going at the end and keep phrases intact. For example, all of these are possible:

• 俳優たちは 生放送のドラマで 台詞を間違えても 笑顔を保ちました。
• 俳優たちは 台詞を間違えても 生放送のドラマで 笑顔を保ちました。
• 生放送のドラマで 俳優たちは 台詞を間違えても 笑顔を保ちました。

They all mean roughly the same thing, but the nuance of what’s emphasized can shift slightly (putting 生放送のドラマで first can highlight the setting; putting 俳優たちは first highlights the actors).

The original word order is natural and typical: topic → setting → condition → main action.

Could I use plain form instead of polite, like 俳優たちは…笑顔を保った? What changes?

Yes:

• 俳優たちは 生放送のドラマで 台詞を間違えても 笑顔を保った。

This is the plain past form. The difference is politeness level, not grammar:

• 保ちました – polite, used in news, formal narration, talking to people you’re being polite to.
• 保った – plain, used in novels, casual writing, or among friends.

The meaning (past event, “they maintained their smiles”) is the same; only the register changes.