Home Forums The Japanese Language Differences in "but"

This topic contains 5 replies, has 2 voices, and was last updated by  Joel 7 years, 8 months ago.

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  • #50227

    I was playing Resident Evil 7 a couple of nights ago but had to stop because I got too scared (yeah, I know). Anyway, I decided to post about this on HelloTalk (it’s a bit like a cross between Twitter and Lang-8, if you haven’t used it). What I put was this:

    私はバイオハザード7というゲームを遊びますが怖いです。

    Which I think should be “I’m playing Resident Evil 7 (Biohazard 7 in Japanese) but it’s scary”. Actually, just noticed I should have made that past tense as I’d stopped playing so it should probably have been this:

    私はバイオハザード7というゲームを遊びましたが怖かったです。

    As you can see I used the が version of “but” because I’ve actually just learned about it. But previously I would have probably used けど like:

    私はバイオハザード7というゲーム遊びましたけど、怖かったです。

    Or maybe でも like:

    私はバイオハザード7というゲーム遊びました。でも、怖かったです。

    Are all of these valid? What’s the difference between them?

    • This topic was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by  Darrell Blake.
    #50230

    Joel
    Member

    They convey the same general idea, but the precise meaning of けど is closer to “although”, while でも is something like “however”. They’re all valid sentences, though – aside from the fact that you’ve used the wrong verb (should be します).

    #50232

    Which part should be します?

    #50233

    Joel
    Member

    Instead of 遊びます.

    The Japanese verb 遊ぶ, which we translate as “to play”, actually just means general playing around and having fun. When we say “play (something)” in English, the verb they used in Japanese tends to be します (unless it’s play an instrument, in which case, the verb used depends on the type of instrument).

    Play tennis = テニスをします
    Play a game = ゲームをします

    #50234

    Ah, yes I see. That makes sense. You’re essentially “doing” the noun. Thanks :)

    So would this be valid?

    私はバイオハザード7というゲームをしましたが怖かったです。

    #50235

    Joel
    Member

    Yep. =)

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