Lesson 21 of 24
Even Though
about 12 minutes
After this lesson you can
- Say that something happened even though you expected otherwise.
- Say that you do not know whether something is so.
Words this lesson teaches
- わかります
- understands, can tell
- あめ
- rain
- おかげ
- thanks to, owing to
- りゆう
- a reason
- かさ
- an umbrella
- ふやします
- increases the number of
- ざんねん
- a shame, disappointing
- たしか
- certain, sure
What it explains
のに: the expectation that failed
Plain form plus のに, with な after a noun or な adjective. The first clause sets up what should have followed; the second says what did. Because that gap is often somebody's fault, のに carries feeling in a way が does not, and a learner who reaches for it in a neutral sentence will sound aggrieved without meaning to.
かどうか: whether or not
Put a plain-form clause in front of かどうか and the whole thing becomes a noun the outer verb can take: 「来るかどうか わかりません」. With a question word inside, drop the どうか and keep just か — 「だれが 来るか わかりません」 — because the question is already open and there is no or not to offer.
The scene itself is in the app.
Lesson one of this track is free to read in full. From lesson two on, the story, the audio and the review are part of a free account.
