Question 1

Wait, doesn't пусть normally mean "let"? How does it mean "even if" here?

Accepted Answer

You're right! You probably first learned пусть as a way to say "let" (like пусть он войдёт - let him come in). But when it is paired with но (but) or всё же (still) in the following clause, it creates a concessive meaning. It translates best to "granted that," "although," or "even if" when accepting a known fact.

Question 2

Is it mandatory to use both но and всё же in the second part of the sentence?

Accepted Answer

No, you can use just но (но он очаровательный) or just всё же (он всё же очаровательный). Using both together (но он всё же...) simply makes the contrast stronger, emphasizing that his charm completely makes up for his bad temper.

Question 3

Could I use the short adjectives капризен and очарователен instead of the long forms here?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you could say Пусть её кот капризен, но он всё же очарователен. The meaning is identical, but the short forms make the sentence sound more formal or bookish. The long forms used here (капризный, очаровательный) are much more natural in everyday spoken Russian.

Question 4

Can I use this пусть structure for hypothetical situations, like "Even if her cat were capricious [but he isn't]"?

Accepted Answer

No, пусть in this structure is used to concede a real, existing fact (her cat actually is capricious). If you want to talk about a purely hypothetical situation, you would need to use даже если бы plus the past tense (Даже если бы её кот был капризным...).

Пусть её кот капризный, но он всё же очаровательный.

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