Noni – But / Although
Today, I would like to cover “Noni” which means “but / although”. This word is used to combine 2 different subject.
Example
Subject 1. Netsu ga arimasu (I have fever)
Subject 2. Kaisha e ikimasu (I go to office)
The combination of these 2 subjects using “noni” will be :
Netsu ga aru noni, kaisha e ikimasu (I have fever but I am still going to office OR Although I have fever, I am still going to office)
In the above example, you will see that the verb before “noni” must be a normal form. You cannot use “masu” form before “noni”. You may also notice that the English translation consists of still, going which is not in the Japanese sentence. I feel by adding still and going is much more appropriate to represent the meaning. Correct me if I am wrong. However, the direct translation of the above example would be : I have fever but I go to office OR Although I have fever, I go to office
More Examples
Ashita kara ryokō o suru noni, mada junbi o shite imasen.
Although I am going for tour tomorrow, I have not prepare yet.
Tegami o moratta(morau) noni, mada henji o kaite(kaku) imasen.
Although I have received the letter, I have not write a reply yet.
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December 17th, 2007 at 3:18 am
I had geard this in doramas and anime but had thought it a different pronunciation of nani.
I’m so glad you still post!
June 26th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
but i need to ask , so how about keredomo…..
June 26th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Hi,
“Keredomo” also mean “But” but use in a different way. There are some examples here
November 27th, 2011 at 1:09 am
I’m not sure if you’ve discussed this yet, but I understand the meanings of のに、だって、でも、etc. But I don’t know how to differentiate them. When do I use which one?
どうでもいい
I know is literally “however is good” and be technically “I don’t care”.
背が高くないだって可愛いです
That’s basically Even though she’s short, she’s cute. Could I have used でも or のに instead?
質問がたくさんある、済みません！！ＯＴＬ
November 27th, 2011 at 10:57 am
でも is normally used in the beginning of a sentence
のに is used in between 2 sentences
どうでもいい is not the “でも”. in fact it is “で” and “も”. Just like 行ってもいい、行かなくてもいい、食べてもいい. Since “どう” has no -te form, “で” is added to it like “何でもいい、どちでもいい、何時でもいい”
In “背が高くないだって可愛いです”, でも cannot be used. You may use だって, けど
December 13th, 2011 at 8:00 am
Sorry for the late reply!
Thanks, that cleared it up for me.
If it is past tense though, then would you use でも? Because it can’t be in the -て form if it’s in past tense. For example…
迷子だったでも悲しくなかった
(Even though she was lost, she wasn’t sad)
Also, is this right?
実花ちゃんは私の友達ですのに、なんだかうるさい
(Mika-chan is my friend but she’s a bit annoying)
August 23rd, 2012 at 8:17 pm
On above explanation u said that
the verb before “noni”must be in
normal form but u have used (
Tegami o moratta noni) ,does this
mean that ” ta ” form of verb can be
Use before ” noni ” …
August 23rd, 2012 at 8:26 pm
Hi santosh,
Moratta is a normal form – past tense of morau. As such, you may use noni after the “ta”
April 7th, 2013 at 9:45 am
Hi, I’m working on translating a song, but a found a very strange phrase: 「僕なら掴んだ物はすべて…
離さないのに…」or “boku nara tsukanda mono wa subete…hanasanai noni…”
How does that sentence structure work? My guess was that it meant, “If the thing I grabbed hold of was everything…I still wouldn’t let go…” But that seems weird because “nara” is directly after “boku,” which makes it seem like the meaning should be more like, “if it were me…” But that is really hard to express in English and still be able to get the meaning of the rest of the phrase. Also, “noni” makes it seem like the meaning should be more like, “What I grabbed hold of is everything…even though I won’t let go…” And that just doesn’t make sense. In addition, the ellipses imply that this is a fragment, which makes it even harder to translate. Help?
May 25th, 2013 at 8:07 am
はまとよし!
…So please assist me, would ‘Watashi wa nihonjim noni watashi wa nikkei desu’ be considered correct, or am I missing something?
(I am Japanese although I am Japanese diaspora.
ありがとう！