のに (Even Though) Japanese Grammar Lesson
Grammar Type: Conjunction
Essential Meaning: Even though / Despite the fact that
Construction:
- (Verb / い-Adjective) informal + のに
- E.g. 話すのに [Even though X speaks]
- E.g. 高いのに [Even though X is expensive]
- (な-Adjective Stem / Noun) + [な / だった] + のに
- E.g. 静かなのに [Even though X is quiet]
- E.g. 先生なのに [Even though X is a teacher]
Notes:
- のに is comprised of the nominalizer の plus the particle に and means “In contrast to the fact that”. In the structure Sentence 1 のに Sentence 2, Sentence 1 sets some expectation, and Sentence 2 describes a situation that defies that expectation. The English equivalent would be “Even though X, Y.“
- E.g. 毎日漢字を勉強しているのによく覚えられない。[Even though I’m studying Kanji everyday, I cannot memorize them well.] In this example, Sentence 1 sets the expectation that the speaker must be good at memorizing Kanji based on the fact that he or she studies everyday. Sentence 2 then defies this expectation by stating that the speaker can’t actually memorize kanji well.
- In the structure Sentence1 のに Sentence2, the speaker is personally involved with the proposition contained in Sentence 1 (although not necessarily the subject of that sentence), and this personal involvement tends to create some emotive overtone. In other words, のに is speaker-oriented and involves his or her emotion.
- E.g. 毎日漢字を勉強しているのによく覚えられない。[Even though I’m studying Kanji everyday, I cannot memorize them well.] This example clearly involves the speaker’s emotions regarding his inability to remember kanji.
- In casual speech, Sentence 2 may drop if it is obvious based on the context.
- E.g. A: そんなもの要らないよ。B: せっかくあげると言うのに? [A: I don’t need that kind of thing. B: Even though I’m saying I’ll give it to you?] In this example, Speaker B doesn’t need to repeat the situation to speaker A because the situation is obvious to both through context.
- けれども is a very similar expression to のに. The difference is that the presence of の in のに indicates that the speaker is emotionally involved with the situation, whereas けれども doesn’t have this nuance. To put it another way, のに is is speaker-oriented and けれども is not. Thus, けれども is prefered over のに in the following hearer-oriented situations:
- (1) When the main clause expresses a request to the hearer:
- E.g. *難しいのにしてみてください。[Even though it’s difficult, please try.]
- E.g. 難しいけれどしてみてください。[Even though it’s difficult, please try.]
- (2) When the main clause makes a suggestion to the hearer:
- E.g. *あまり美味しくないのに食べてみませんか。 [Even though it’s not very delicious, won’t you try eating it?]
- E.g. あまり美味しくないけれど食べてみませんか。[Even though it’s not very delicious, won’t you try eating it?]
- (3) When the main clause asks a question to the hearer:
- E.g. *寒いのに外に出ますか。[Even though it’s cold, are you going outside?]
- E.g. 寒いけれど外に出ますか。[Even though it’s cold, are you going outside?]
- E.g. 寒いのに/けれど外に出るんですか。[Even though it’s cold, you’re going outside?] のに is acceptable with a のだ construction.
- (4) When the main clause makes a command to the hearer:
- E.g. *つまらないのに読みなさい。[Even though it’s boring, read it.]
- E.g. つまらないけれど読みなさい。[Even though it’s boring, read it.]
- (5) When the main clause expresses a request for permission from the hearer:
- E.g. *下手なのにしてもいいですか。 [Even though I’m bad at it, can I do it?]
- E.g. 下手だけれどしてもいいですか。[Even though I’m bad at it, can I do it?]
- (6) When the main clause expresses intention towards the hearer:
- E.g. *分からないのによく考えてみるつもりです。 [Even though I don’t understand, I intend to try and think it through.]
- E.g. 分からないけれどよく考えてみるつもりです。[Even though I don’t understand, I intend to try and think it through.]
- (1) When the main clause expresses a request to the hearer:
- が is another conjunction that is similar to のに, and the two can generally be interchanged. The difference is that が expresses a weaker relationship between Sentence 1 and Sentence 2, and が is free from the speaker-oriented restrictions imposed on のに. Also, が can be preceded by either a formal or informal sentence, unlike のに.
Example Sentences:
毎日漢字を勉強しているのによく覚えられない。[Even though I’m studying Kanji everyday, I cannot memorize them well.]
このステーキは高いのにおいしくない。[Even though this steak is expensive, it tastes bad.]
清水さんはゴルフが下手なのに大好きだ。[Even though Shimizu-san is bad at golf, he loves it.]
ホールさんはアメリカ人なのに肉が嫌いだ。[Even though Mr. Hall is an American, he doesn’t like meat.]
中学と高校で六年間も英語を勉強したのにまだ英語が話せません。[Even though I studied English for as many as 6 years during junior high school and high school, I still can’t speak English.]
寒いのにオーバーを着ないで出かけた。[Even though it was cold, I went out without putting on an overcoat.]
あの人はピアノが上手なのにめったに引きません。[Even though that person is good at playing the piano, he seldom plays.]
父は九十さいなのにまだ働いています。[Even though my father is 90, he’s still working.]
WILD Examples:
***YouTube videos may be region-locked depending on your country of origin. If you experience issues, please try using a VPN set to a United States IP address.***