～ても／でも
even if / even though
～ても is made by adding も to the て-form of a verb or い-adjective; nouns and な-adjectives take でも. It means “even if” or “even though”: the condition is granted, but it does not change the outcome.
It is the mirror image of the conditional ～ば／～たら: ～たら says “if X, then Y follows”, while ～ても says “even if X, Y still does not change”.
1. Even if (a hypothetical condition)
Use ～ても for something that may or may not happen. Whether it happens or not, the result stays the same.
雨が降っても、行きます。
“Even if it rains, I will go.”
- 雨（あめ）= rain
- が = subject marker
- 降っても（ふっても）= even if (it) falls (降る, to fall)
- 行きます（いきます）= will go
2. Even though (a real or repeated fact)
The same form also covers things that really do happen, where you would say “even though” or “no matter how much” in English.
食べても太らない。
“Even though I eat a lot, I don't gain weight.”
- 食べても（たべても）= even if (I) eat (食べる, to eat)
- 太らない（ふとらない）= don't gain weight (太る, to gain weight)
How to form it
Verb／い-adjective て-form + も; noun／な-adjective + でも
- 食べる（たべる）= to eat → 食べても（たべても）= even if (I) eat
- 高い（たかい）= expensive → 高くても（たかくても）= even if it is expensive
- 雨（あめ）= rain → 雨でも（あめでも）= even if it rains / even in the rain
Key idea
～ても adds the sense of "even". Attached to a condition, it removes that condition's ability to affect the outcome: whether X happens or not, Y stays the same.
Built on the same stem
Updated .