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それでも details

Examples

even so; and yet — the previous fact would lead you to expect otherwise, but this happens all the same

何度なんど失敗しっぱいした。それでも、彼女かのじょはもう一度いちど挑戦ちょうせんした。

nando mo shippai shita. soredemo, kanojo wa mou ichido chousen shita.

She failed over and over. Even so, she tried one more time. neutral

たかいのはかってる。それでもしいんだよね。

takai no wa wakatteru. soredemo hoshii n da yo ne.

I know it's expensive. I still want it, though. casual

天候てんこう最後さいごまで回復かいふくしませんでした。それでも、大会たいかい予定よていどおりおこなわれました。

tenkou wa saigo made kaifuku shimasen deshita. soredemo, taikai wa yotei doori okonawaremashita.

The weather never improved. Even so, the tournament was held as scheduled. formal

Formation

Notes

それでも grants the previous sentence rather than dismissing it, so it fits
where the speaker admits the obstacle is real — それなのに, by contrast,
complains that the outcome is unfair.

Related patterns

Similar

  • ても packs the concession into one sentence and needs a verb to hang on (けてもつづける); それでも takes the concession from the sentence already finished, so the two facts can be a paragraph apart and the second one can be somebody else's remark.

  • しかし only announces that a contrast is coming, while それでも first grants the previous statement as a genuine reason to expect the opposite and then denies it anyway — あめだ。それでもく claims the rain was a real obstacle, which しかし leaves unsaid.

  • にもかかわらず is a written connective that can also sit inside the sentence after a noun (あめにもかかわらず); それでも stands only at the head of the following sentence and is the form ordinary speech uses.

Lookalikes

  • One kana apart and opposite in direction — それで draws the natural consequence (あめだった。それで中止ちゅうしした), それでも denies it (あめだった。それでも決行けっこうした); reading one as the other reverses the logic of the paragraph.