～でも

How it works

でも is で + も. Attached to a noun it tells the listener that the noun is one case out of many that fit the sentence, and context decides which of three readings you get.

1. Even …

Name the least likely case and the sentence covers all the others: 子供でも分かる (even a child understands, so of course adults do); 日曜日でも働く (I work even on Sundays); 先生でも間違える (even teachers make mistakes). With a negative predicate it stresses how hard something is: 専門家でも分からない (not even experts understand).

2. Any-: question word + でも

何でも (anything), だれでも (anyone), いつでも (anytime), どこでも (anywhere), どれでも (whichever one), どちらでも (either one), いくらでも (as much as you like). These go with an affirmative predicate: 何でも食べます, だれでも入れます, いつでも来てください. Particles other than は・が・を stay in front of でも: どこへでも行きます, だれとでも話せます, いつからでも始められます.

3. … or something: soft suggestions

In an invitation, でも names one option while leaving the door open, which makes the offer lighter and easier to refuse: お茶でも飲みませんか (how about tea or something?), 映画でも見に行こうか, 週末にでも会いましょう. お茶を飲みませんか is fine too, just slightly more pointed.

In all three uses でも replaces は, が and を: 何でも食べます, never 何でもを食べます.

Examples

• この問題は子供でも分かります。（この もんだい は こども でも わかります）— Even a child can understand this problem.
• 今月は忙しくて、日曜日でも働いています。（こんげつ は いそがしくて、にちようび でも はたらいて います）— I am so busy this month that I am working even on Sundays.
• 私は何でも食べます。（わたし は なんでも たべます）— I eat anything.
• 分からないことがあったら、いつでも聞いてください。（わからない こと が あったら、いつでも きいて ください）— If there is anything you do not understand, ask me anytime.
• この図書館はだれでも使えます。（この としょかん は だれでも つかえます）— Anyone can use this library.
• お茶でも飲みませんか。（おちゃ でも のみません か）— How about some tea or something?

Compare with

も ‘also’

子供も分かります adds children to a group that understands (‘children too’); 子供でも分かります picks the unlikeliest case to make a point (‘even a child’). The extra で is what carries the ‘even’.

何も・何か・何でも

Three sisters with different partners: 何か + affirmative (something: 何か食べたい), 何も + negative (nothing: 何も食べていない), 何でも + affirmative (anything: 何でも食べる). The same triad exists for だれ (だれか・だれも・だれでも) and どこ; いつ is the odd one out, because いつも means ‘always’ (いつも遅れる), so ‘never’ is 一度も or 全然 with a negative verb.

～ても and sentence-initial でも

Verbs and い-adjectives express ‘even if’ with ～ても (雨が降っても); nouns and な-adjectives do it with でも (雨でも行く, ‘I will go even if it rains’), so this article and ～ても are two halves of one system. Standing alone at the start of a sentence, でも、 is the conversational ‘but’, a separate word: でも、行きたくないです.

Traps for Spanish, English and French speakers

• English ‘any’ works in both ‘anyone can come’ and ‘I did not see anyone’, so English speakers write だれでも来ませんでした for ‘nobody came’. だれでも and 何でも go with affirmative verbs; with a negative switch to も: だれも来ませんでした, 何も見ませんでした, like Spanish ‘no vino nadie’.
• Spanish ‘incluso un niño’, French ‘même un enfant’ and English ‘even a child’ get rendered with the ‘also’ particle: 子供も分かります, which only says ‘children understand too’. The point of ‘even’ needs でも: 子供でも分かります.
• Learners who know that も replaces を forget that でも does the same and write 何でもを食べます or お茶をでも飲みませんか. It is 何でも食べます, お茶でも飲みませんか; only に・へ・と・から stay, and they go before でも: どこへでも, だれとでも.
• Spanish ‘pero’, French ‘mais’ and English ‘but’ join two clauses, so learners drop the sentence-initial でも into the middle of a sentence: 学生でも、お金がありません, which reads as ‘even a student has no money’. Inside a sentence ‘but’ is が or けど: 学生ですが、お金がありません; でも as ‘but’ only opens a new sentence.