Japanese from zero · N3 Lesson 11
And yet
〜くせに ・ 別に〜ない ・ 〜ことは〜が ・ 〜ながらも ・ 〜と言っても
In this lesson, you will learn to complain that someone does one thing and yet does another with 〜くせに, to brush a question off with 別に, to admit something only halfway with 〜ことは〜が and 〜と言っても, and to say 'although' in a more written way with 〜ながらも. Lisa is keeping a promise, and Minju wants to know where she was.
By the end you will be able to say
知って いる くせに、何も 言わない。You know, and yet you say nothing.
別に 怒って いないよ。I'm not particularly angry.
会った ことは 会ったけど、少し 話した だけだ。I did meet him, but we only talked a little.
悪いと 思いながらも、本当の ことが 言えなかった。Although I knew it was wrong, I couldn't tell the truth.
買い物と 言っても、見た だけだよ。I said shopping, but I only looked.
The grammar in this lesson
- 〜くせに — and yet (blaming someone) — Plain form + くせに says 'you do X, and yet Y', and blames the person for it.
- 別に〜ない — not particularly — 別に with a negative means 'not particularly'; said alone, it closes the subject.
- 〜ことは〜が — it's true that..., but — Say a word, ことは, the same word again, then が or けど: 'I did X, but...'.
- 〜ながらも — although — ます-stem, an adjective or a noun + ながらも means 'although', in a more written style.
- 〜と言っても — I say X, but — X と 言っても takes back part of X: 'it's X, but not as much as you'd think'.