Demo in Japanese can be used as the three different parts of speech

What does “demo” mean in Japanese?

In the Japanese language, there is an imported word which originally came from the word, “demonstration”. In this blog, however, I will focus on “demo” as a pure Japanese word. Japanese people normally use as three different parts of speech. As a conjunction, it is used like the English conjunction, “but”. As a conjunctive particle, it is used to connect two sentences. As a binding particle, it is often used to provide an extreme example or to make a simple offer. I will explain these three different types of Japanese “demo” with example sentences. Let’s get started!

Contents

• “Demo” as a Japanese conjunction
• Example #1: how to use “demo” at the beginning of a sentence
• “Demo” as a conjunctive particle
• Example #2: how to use “demo” as a conjunctive particle
• “Demo” as a binding particle
• Example #3: how to use “demo” as a binding particle
• Summary: “demo” in Japanese

“Demo” as a Japanese conjunction

Let me start with “demo” as a conjunction.

• demo – でも : a conjunction used at the beginning of a sentence which has a different meaning than the preceding sentence does. It is often translated into English as “but”, “yet”, or “however”.

The usage of “demo” is quite similar to those of the English conjunctions. So, Japanese learners, especially those who are familiar with the English language, can easily understand how to use it, I think. Let me explain its usage through the example sentence below.

Example #1: how to use “demo” at the beginning of a sentence

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

• anata – あなた : a pronoun meaning ‘you’ in Japanese.
• to – と : a case particle used to indicate a person being together with the speaker or someone else. It is similar to the English preposition, “with”. In the example, it is used after the pronoun, “anata”, to indicate the person with whom “watashi” wants to go to the sea.
• umi – 海 (うみ) : a noun meaning ‘(the) sea’ in Japanese.
• ni – に : a case particle used to indicate a particular place to which someone or something goes. In the example, it is put after the noun, “umi”, to indicate the particular place to which “watashi” wants to go.
• iki – 行き (いき) : one conjugation of the verb, “iku”, which means ‘to go’ in Japanese. It has been conjugated for the better connection with its following word.
• tai – たい : an auxiliary verb put after a verb to make its desire form. Probably it is well known as a part of Japanese tai form. In the example, it is put after the conjugated verb, “iki”, to make its desire form, “iki tai”, which means ‘to want to go’.
• ashita – 明日 (あした) : a noun meaning ‘tomorrow’ in Japanese. It is a noun, but can be used like an adverb and inserted almost anywhere in a sentence to say “tomorrow”. In the example, it is used as an adverb.
• wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, it is put after the noun, “ashita”, as a topic marker to put a focus on “tomorrow”.
• shigoto – 仕事 (しごと) : a noun meaning ‘work’ or ‘job’ in Japanese.

This is a typical usage of “demo” as a conjunction. It is used at the beginning of the second sentence to tell the fact which does not match with the desire described in the first sentence. We need to notice that the conjunction is not put at the end of the first sentence to connect it to the second one. In this regard, “demo” as a conjunction is different from that as a conjunctive particle.

Each Japanese sentence in this example doesn’t have the subject word, as it has been omitted. Japanese people often omit the subject word in a sentence when it can be understood from the context. In addition, they prefer indirect expressions to direct ones which contain words referring to people.

“Demo” as a conjunctive particle

Next, then, let me explain “demo” as a conjunctive particle.

• demo – でも : a conjunctive particle connecting a conditional sentence to its following sentence with adding the meaning of ‘even if’ or just ‘if’. Normally, the two sentences have different or opposite meanings. When this particle follows a simple declarative sentence, it can add the meaning of ‘but’ or such. But, it quite often follows a conditional.

“Demo” as a conjunctive particle can be considered as the voiced sound version of “temo”. This unvoiced particle can also do the same job. Depending on the last word in the first sentence, we need to pick a proper one.

Then, let me explain how to use this conjunctive particle through the example sentence below.

Example #2: how to use “demo” as a conjunctive particle

Below are the new words and particles used in the example sentence.

• ga – が : a case particle used to make the subject word or the object word in a sentence. In the example, it is put after the noun, “ashita”, to make the subject word in the first clause.
• ame – 雨 (あめ) : a noun meaning ‘rain’ in Japanese.
• kare – 彼 (かれ) : a pronoun meaning ‘he’ in Japanese.
• wa – は : the same as explained in the last example. In this example, it is put after the pronoun, “kare”, to make the subject word in the second clause.
• iku – 行く (いく) : a verb meaning ‘to go’ in Japanese.

This is a typical usage of “demo” as a conjunctive particle. It has connected the two individual sentences: “ashita ga ame” and “kare wa umi ni iku”. The first sentence is a conditional. The second sentence says something unlikely to happen after the first one. So, these sentences can be connected smoothly via “demo”, with the meaning of ‘even if’.

“Demo” as a binding particle

So far, I’ve explained the two different types of “demo”. In the rest part of this blog post, I will explain another type of “demo” – it is a binding particle. Strictly speaking, it is not really the same as the others because it consists of the two smaller parts: “de” and “mo”. Let me explain both parts in detail, one by one.

• de – で : one conjugation of the auxiliary verb, “da”, which is used after a noun, adverb, or word equivalent to a noun to make a declarative sentence.
• mo – も : a binding particle often used to add the meaning of ‘also’, ‘as well’, or ‘too’ to the preceding word.

Japanese native speakers normally use these two parts together: the formed particle behaves like one word. So, it looks and sounds the same as the other two “demo” do. In addition, the formed particle doesn’t have the original meanings any longer, and is often used to provide an extreme example or to make a simple offer. Let me explain how to use it through the example sentence below.

Example #3: how to use “demo” as a binding particle

Below are the new words and particle used in the example sentence.

• natsu – 夏 (なつ) : a noun meaning ‘summer’ in Japanese.
• wa – は : the same as explained in the last examples. In this example, it is put after the noun, “natsu”, to make the subject word in the sentence.
• yoru – 夜 (よる) : a noun meaning ‘night’ in Japanese.
• atsui – 暑い (あつい) : an i-adjective meaning ‘hot’ in Japanese.

This is a typical usage of “demo” as a binding particle. In this example, it is put after the noun, “yoru”, to provide the extreme example to say how it is hot in the summer.

Summary: “demo” in Japanese

In this blog post, I’ve explained the three different types of “demo” in detail, one by one. Let me summarize them as follows.

• demo – でも : a conjunction used at the beginning of a sentence which has a different meaning than the preceding does. It is often translated into English as “but”, “yet”, or “however”.
• demo – でも : a conjunctive particle connecting a conditional sentence to its following sentence with adding the meaning of ‘even if’ or just ‘if’. Normally, the two sentences have different or opposite meanings. When this particle follows a simple declarative sentence, it can add the meaning of ‘but’ or such. But, it quite often follows a conditional.
• demo – でも : a binding particle often used to provide an extreme example or to make a simple offer.

Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.