Contrast & Concession

Introduction

Building on basic contrast, intermediate patterns let you express more complex oppositions and unexpected outcomes. These are common in written Japanese and formal speech.

Mastering these patterns is key to reading news articles and academic texts.

Themes

All Japanese Grammar Intermediate in This Chapter (11)

1. ～ながら（も） ながらも A concessive conjunction meaning 'although' or 'despite,' used to express a contradiction between two coexisting states or actions. It in...
2. ～にもかかわらず にもかかわらず A formal concessive expression meaning 'despite' or 'in spite of.' Used to indicate that something occurs without any relation to or rega...
3. ～くせに くせに A conjunction expressing the speaker's contempt, frustration, or criticism about someone's contradictory behaviour. Equivalent to 'even t...
4. ～というのに というのに A conjunction indicating that an action or state takes place quite contrary to what one would expect from the preceding clause. It emphas...
5. ～たところで たところで A concessive expression meaning 'even if' or 'even though,' used to indicate that even if an action or state were realised, the result wo...
6. ～（よ）うとも とも A literary concessive conjunction meaning 'even if' or 'no matter,' used to express a strong concession. It conveys the speaker's firm re...
7. そうかと言って そうかといって An expression meaning 'but then again' or 'having said that,' used when the speaker acknowledges a situation but indicates they cannot ea...
8. そこを そこを A conjunction used to indicate that despite the negative or difficult situation just mentioned, the speaker is making a request or plea f...
9. だが だが A sentence-initial conjunction meaning 'but' or 'however,' used to express something that contrasts with or opposes what was stated in th...
10. 逆に ぎゃくに An adverb meaning 'conversely' or 'on the contrary,' used to introduce an event or state that occurs contrary to one's expectations or in...
11. 確かに～が たしかに A two-part structure meaning 'indeed ~ but' or 'it's true that ~ but,' used to acknowledge a point before presenting a contrasting or qua...