たとえ〜ても details
write + (and…) + even if
tatoe kaite mo
even if; even supposing — the concession is announced as purely hypothetical
meaning: even supposing you write
たとえ失敗しても、挑戦した経験は残ります。
tatoe shippaishite mo, chousen shita keiken wa nokorimasu.
The experience of having tried stays with you even supposing you fail. neutral
たとえ高くても、これだけは自分で買いたいんだ。
tatoe takakute mo, kore dake wa jibun de kaitai n da.
Even if it's expensive, this is the one thing I want to buy with my own money. casual
- て-form
- i-adjective stem
- na-adjective
- noun
Examples
even supposing — a hypothetical case is conceded up front and declared not to change the outcome
たとえ失敗しても、挑戦した経験は残ります。
tatoeshippaishitemo, chousen shita keiken wa nokorimasu.
The experience of having tried stays with you even supposing you fail. neutral
たとえ高くても、これだけは自分で買いたいんだ。
tatoe takakute mo, kore dake wa jibun de kaitai n da.
Even if it's expensive, this is the one thing I want to buy with my own money. casual
たとえ冗談でも、言っていいことと悪いことがある。
tatoe joudan de mo, itte ii koto to warui koto ga aru.
Even as a joke, there are things you say and things you don't. casual
たとえどんな事情があっても、無断で欠席することは認められません。
tatoe donna jijou ga atte mo, mudan de kesseki suru koto wa mitomeraremasen.
Whatever the circumstances, absence without notice is not permitted. formal
Formation
たとえ{V-te}もattaches to て-formたとえ{I-stem}くてもattaches to i-adjective stemたとえ{NA-stem}でもattaches to na-adjectiveたとえ{N}でもattaches to noun
Notes
it belongs to writing and to speech that means to be resolute, not to offhand
ても.
Related patterns
Similar
たとえ concedes WHETHER the case obtains, いくら how much of it — which is why a one-off takes たとえ (たとえ一度でも) and refuses いくら.
Bare ても is neutral about whether the case is real and concedes a fact as readily as a supposition; たとえ〜ても buys the hypothetical reading outright, so it cannot report what has already happened.
Combines with
ても alone can concede something that actually happened (薬を飲んでも熱は下がらなかった — the dose was taken); たとえ forces the purely hypothetical reading, and it sits at the front of the clause where ても sits on the predicate.
としても follows a full plain clause with its own subject and tense (彼が来たとしても); たとえ has no host of its own and needs a concessive ending later in the clause — ても, or equally としても, and the two stack (たとえ彼が来たとしても).