～ながらも
even though / while
～ながらも is a concessive connector: despite the state described in the first clause, the second clause still holds. It maps to English “even though” or “while (being) ... , still ...”.
Be careful not to confuse it with plain ～ながら meaning “while doing two actions at once” (音楽を聞きながら勉強する). Adding も makes the contrastive, “even though” reading explicit, and ～ながらも attaches not only to verbs but also to adjectives and nouns.
Despite a state, the opposite holds
The first clause sets up an expectation; the clause after ～ながらも goes against it.
彼は若いながらも、経験が豊富だ。
“Even though he is young, he has plenty of experience.”
- 彼（かれ）= he
- は = topic marker
- 若い（わかい）= young
- ながらも = even though
- 経験（けいけん）= experience
- が = subject marker
- 豊富だ（ほうふだ）= is plentiful
彼女は本当のことを知っていながらも、何も言わなかった。
“Even though she knew the truth, she said nothing.”
- 彼女（かのじょ）= she
- 本当のこと（ほんとうのこと）= the truth
- を = object marker
- 知っていながらも（しっていながらも）= even though (she) knew
- 何も（なにも）= nothing (with negative)
- 言わなかった（いわなかった）= did not say
How to form it
Verb ます-stem / い-adjective / noun + ながらも
- 知る（しる）= to know → 知りながらも（しりながらも）= even while knowing
- 若い（わかい）= young → 若いながらも（わかいながらも）= even though young
- 狭い（せまい）= cramped → 狭いながらも（せまいながらも）= cramped though it is
Key idea
～ながらも means “even though” or “despite”. The first part is true, but the second part goes against what you would normally expect.
Built on the same stem
Updated .