Demo in Japanese – how to use it as a particle, explained in detail

Demo in Japanese

Japanese people quite often say “demo”. It is usually used as a particle to connect two sentences. In this blog post, I will explain its usage in detail. And also, I will explain its other usages through examples.

To tell the truth, “demo” can also be used as a noun to mean ‘demonstration’ , ‘protest march’ or ‘political march’. Nevertheless, I will focus only on its particle side since its usage as a noun is quite limited. Japanese people don’t talk about ‘demonstration’ or ‘protest march’ that often.

Then, let’s get started!

Contents

• Demo as a conjunctive particle
• Example: how to use “demo” as a conjunctive particle
• Demo as a binding particle
  • Demo with an extreme condition
  • Demo with an indefinite pronoun
  • Demo to make a simple offer
• Summary of demo in Japanese

Demo as a conjugative particle

As I mentioned above, Japanese people quite often use “demo”. Yet, it’s not always used in the same way. Actually, there are two different definitions for “demo”. Let me start with one definition and meaning.

• demo – でも : a conjunctive particle used to connect two sentences which have different or opposite meanings. In this regard, its role is quite similar to that of the English conjunction, “but”.

As a conjugative particle, “demo” can be used in more or less the same way as the English conjunction, “but”. Sometimes, it is put at the beginning of a sentence which has a different or opposite meaning of its prior sentence. Sometimes, it is put between two sentences which have different or opposite meanings.

Japanese native speakers use “demo” more often in speaking than in writing. Also in this regard, it’s quite similar to “but”, I think.

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

Below are new words used in the example sentence.

• soto – 外 (そと) : a noun meaning ‘outside’ in Japanese.
• wa – は : a binding particle working as a case maker or topic maker. In the example, it is put after the noun, “soto”, to make the subject word in the sentence.
• ii – 良い (いい) : an i-adjective meaning ‘good’, ‘well’ or some such in Japanese. In the example, it is put before the noun, “tenki”, to describe it.
• tenki – 天気 (てんき) : a noun meaning ‘weather’ in Japanese. Learn more about “tenki”.
• da – だ : an auxiliary verb put after a noun, verb or adjective to make a simple assertive or declarative sentence. In the example, it is put after the noun, “tenki”.
• watashi – 私 (わたし) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese.
• heya – 部屋 (へや) : a noun meaning ‘room’ in Japanese. These two kanji characters mean ‘part’ and ‘building’ respectively. So, “heya” literally means a part of building. It can be considered as a room.
• de – で : a case particle put after a noun to indicate a place at which someone or something is. In the example, it is put after the noun, “heya”, to indicate the particular place where “watashi” will read a book.
• hon – 本 (ほん) : a noun meaning ‘book’ in Japanese. It can also be used as the plural. Learn more about Japanese singular and plural.
• wo – を : a case particle put after a noun to make the object word. In the example, it is put after the noun, “hon”, to make the object word in the sentence. It’s written as “wo”, but its actual pronunciation is “o”.
• yomu – 読む (よむ) : a verb meaning ‘to read’ in Japanese.

This is a typical usage of “demo” as a conjunctive particle. It is used to connect two sentences which have different meanings.

As I mentioned above, its usage is quite similar to that of the English conjunction, “but”. In this example, actually, it has been translated as “but”. So, Japanese learners who are familiar with English can understand its usage relatively easily, I think.

I’ve explained the “demo” usage as a conjugative particle. Then, let me explain another definition of it.

Demo as a binding particle

“Demo” can also be used as a binding particle.

• demo – でも : a binding particle. First, when it is put after a noun expressing an extreme or unexpected condition, it means ‘at minimum’, ‘at least’, ‘even if’ or ‘no matter how’. Second, when it is put after an indefinite pronoun, the formed phrase means ‘whoever’, ‘whatever’, ‘whenever’, ‘wherever’ or some such depending on the indefinite pronoun used together. And third, when it is put after a normal noun (not expressing an extreme condition), it just makes a simple offer or proposal.

As you can see here, the binding particle, “demo”, can be used in several different ways. For a better understanding, I will explain all usages through examples.

Demo with an extreme condition

Let me start with the first usage. In the example below, “demo” is put after the noun, “saitei”, which expresses a kind of extreme condition.

Below are new words used in the example.

• saitei – 最低 (さいてい) : a noun meaning ‘the worst’, ‘the lowest’, ‘minimum’ or some such in Japanese. Learn more about “saitei”.
• ichi – 一 (いち) : a numeral meaning ‘one’.
• jikan – 時間 (じかん) : a noun meaning ‘time’ in general. When it is put after a numeral, it can work as a suffix to mean ‘hour’ or ‘hours’. Learn more about “jikan”.

Again, but the binding particle, “demo”, is put after the noun, “saitei”, which expresses a kind of extreme condition. The formed phrase, “saitei demo”, can mean ‘at least’, ‘at minimum’ or some such. Actually, it has been translated as “at least” in the example.

Demo with an indefinite pronoun

Below is the example of the second usage.

Below are new words used in the example.

• dare – 誰 (だれ) : an indefinite pronoun meaning ‘who’.
• kangei shi – 歓迎し (かんげいし) : one conjugation of the verb, “kangei suru”, which means ‘to welcome’ in Japanese. Its conjugation is basically subjected to those of “suru”.
• masu – ます : an auxiliary verb put after a verb or auxiliary verb to make it polite. In the example, it is put after the conjugated verb, “kangei shi”, to make it sound polite.

In this example, “demo” is put after the indefinite pronoun, “dare”, which means ‘who’ in Japanese. In this case, “demo” can work like “-ever” in English. Actually, the formed phrase, “dare demo”, has been translated as “whoever” in the example.

When “demo” is put after an indefinite pronoun, most probably its role is the same as that of “-ever” in English. So, we need to pay attention to its prior word.

Demo to make a simple offer

Below are new words.

• eiga – 映画 (えいが) : a noun meaning ‘movie’ in Japanese. It can also be used as the plural.
• mi – 見 (み) : one conjugation of the verb, “miru”, which means ‘to see’ or ‘to watch’ in Japanese.
• ka – か : a sentence ending particle put at the end of sentence to make a simple question. In the example, it is put at the end of the sentence to change it to a question.

In this example, “demo” is put after the noun, “eiga”, which means ‘movie’. Unlike “saitei” which expresses an extreme condition, “eiga” is a very usual noun. In other words, it doesn’t express an extreme condition. In this case, “demo” works to make a simple offer or proposal. So, here, it hasn’t been translated as “even if” or such, but as “how about”.

Summary of demo in Japanese

In this blog post, I’ve explained “demo” in Japanese through some examples. Let me summarize them as follows.

• demo – でも : a conjunctive particle used to connect two sentences which have different or opposite meanings. In this regard, its role is quite similar to that of the English conjunction, “but”.
• demo – でも : a binding particle. First, when it is put after a noun expressing an extreme or unexpected condition, it means ‘at minimum’, ‘at least’, ‘even if’ or ‘no matter how’. Second, when it is put after an indefinite pronoun, the formed phrase means ‘whoever’, ‘whatever’, ‘whenever’, ‘wherever’ or some such depending on the indefinite pronoun used together. And third, when it is put after a normal noun (not expressing an extreme condition), it just makes a simple offer or proposal.

Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.