In short

Japanese has three different “but”. けど／が (kedo / ga) is the neutral one - it just joins two clauses that clash, and it also works as a polite preface (すみませんが、……). のに (noni) is “but” with a face on it: the result was contrary to expectation and you are annoyed, surprised or sorry about it - so it can never be followed by a request or an invitation. ても (te mo) is “even if / even though”, built on the て-form, and it is the only one that handles a hypothetical.

The rule

Step 1 - けど／が: the neutral clause-joiner

The pattern is simply [clause A] + けど／が、[clause B]。 Clause B is what you actually want to say; clause A is the concession you make first.

• この部屋は狭いですけど、明るいです。 (Kono heya wa semai desu kedo, akarui desu.) - “This room is small, but it’s bright.”

Like から (lesson 21), けど／が are among the very few connectives that accept a polite predicate mid-sentence. Both 高いけど takai kedo and 高いですけど takai desu kedo are correct - the second matches a polite sentence and is the safer default. After a noun or な-adjective you need a copula: 学生だけど gakusei da kedo / 学生ですけど gakusei desu kedo - never a bare 学生けど.

Step 2 - The register ladder: けど -> けれど -> けれども -> が

These four are one word at four levels of formality, and the rule is counter-intuitive: the longer it is, the more formal it is. が is the written and formal member - it dominates in reports, announcements and careful speech, while けど dominates in conversation. Do not read けれども as “casual” because it is long.

Note the difference from でも (lesson 22): でも starts a new sentence, けど／が join clauses inside one sentence. ×高いでも買いました is wrong; ○高いですが、買いました。

Step 3 - けど as a softener, with the second clause left unsaid

This is the highest-frequency use of けど／が in real Japanese, and it is not really “but” at all. A けど-clause sets the scene, then you stop - leaving the request itself to politeness rather than saying it bluntly:

• すみませんが、…… (Sumimasen ga, ……) - “Excuse me, but…”
• ちょっと聞きたいんですけど、…… (Chotto kikitai n desu kedo, ……) - “I’d like to ask something…”
• 予約したいんですが。 (Yoyaku shitai n desu ga.) - “I’d like to make a booking.” (nothing follows - the trailing が is the politeness)

The 〜んですけど／〜んですが opener combines this with the explanatory 〜んです (lesson 20) and is the standard way to begin a request to a stranger. Learn it as a fixed phrase.

Step 4 - のに: counter-expectation, plus a feeling

のに attaches to the plain form - it is the nominalizer の plus に, so it takes exactly the noun-modifying shape that ので takes:

V-plain / い-adj + のに - 行くのに iku noni, 待ったのに matta noni, 高いのに takai noni Noun / な-adj + なのに - 雨なのに ame na noni, 静かなのに shizuka na noni

Because it is a subordinate clause, the verb inside is plain even when the sentence ends politely: ○高いのに買いました。 ×高いですのに買いました。

のに says two things at once: (1) B did not follow from A, and (2) the speaker minds. That feeling is dissatisfaction, surprise or regret, so のに is emotionally coloured in a way けど never is. It pairs naturally with せっかく sekkaku (“after going to the trouble of”): せっかく来たのに。 (Sekkaku kita noni.) - “And after I came all this way…” - a complete complaint with the main clause dropped.

Step 5 - The hard restriction on のに

Because のに reports on something that already went wrong, the main clause must be a statement of fact. It cannot be:

• a request - ×高いのに、買ってください。
• an invitation 〜ましょう - ×雨なのに、出かけましょう。
• a command or prohibition - ×寒いのに、窓を開けるな。
• a volitional statement of your own intention - ×日曜日なのに、会社へ行こうと思います。

In every one of those, swap in けど or ても. This restriction is the single most reliable test: if the second clause tells someone to do something, のに is wrong.

Step 6 - ても: “even if / even though”

ても is the て-form + も (lesson 13). Take any て-form and add も:

• 降る -> 降って -> 降っても futte mo, 食べる -> 食べて -> 食べても tabete mo, する -> して -> しても shite mo
• Negative: 行かない -> 行かなくて -> 行かなくても ikanakute mo (“even if you don’t go”)
• い-adjective: drop い, add くても - 高くても takakute mo, いい -> よくても yokute mo
• Noun / な-adjective: でも - 雨でも ame demo, 静かでも shizuka demo

ても is the only one of the three that covers a hypothetical: 明日雨が降っても、試合をします。 (“Even if it rains tomorrow…”) - the rain has not happened. It also covers real facts, and it puts no restriction on the main clause, so requests and invitations are fine: 雨でも、出かけましょう。

Step 7 - 疑問詞 + ても: free choice

Put an interrogative word inside a ても-clause and you get “no matter what / where / how much”:

何を言っても nani o itte mo (no matter what you say), どこへ行っても doko e itte mo (wherever you go), 誰が来ても dare ga kite mo (whoever comes), いくら考えても ikura kangaete mo / どんなに高くても donna ni takakute mo (however much / however expensive).

いくら and どんなに are the standard partners for degree, and they signal the ても before the listener reaches it.

Step 8 - Delegated to B1

The formal and written members of this family - 〜ものの, 〜つつ（も）, 〜にもかかわらず, 〜反面 - all belong to Advanced concession and contrast. At A2, けど／が／のに／ても cover everything you need.

Forms & patterns

Attachment - what each one takes:

Register ladder - one word, four levels:

Choosing between them - three axes:

Examples

Common mistakes

• 雨だのに、出かけました。 (Ame da noni, dekakemashita.) -> 雨なのに、出かけました。 (Ame na noni, dekakemashita.) - after a noun or な-adjective, のに takes な, exactly like ので. Only けど takes だ: 雨だけど.
• 高いですのに、買いました。 (Takai desu noni, kaimashita.) -> 高いのに、買いました。 (Takai noni, kaimashita.) - のに attaches to the plain form. The sentence still ends politely; politeness lives in the final verb, not in the subordinate clause.
• 高いのに、買ってください。 (Takai noni, katte kudasai.) -> 高いですけど、買ってください。 (Takai desu kedo, katte kudasai.) - のに cannot be followed by a request, invitation or command. Use けど／が there.
• 明日雨が降るのに、行きます。 (Ashita ame ga furu noni, ikimasu.) -> 明日雨が降っても、行きます。 (Ashita ame ga futte mo, ikimasu.) - “even if” about something that has not happened is ても; のに only reports facts that already clashed.
• 安いでも、買いません。 (Yasui demo, kaimasen.) -> 安くても、買いません。 (Yasukute mo, kaimasen.) - でも is for nouns and な-adjectives; an い-adjective becomes 〜くても. Likewise ×行くても -> ○行っても: ても is built on the て-form, never the dictionary form.

Tips

• The one-line test. けど is a comma; のに is a complaint. If you are not annoyed, surprised or disappointed, use けど - のに sounds accusatory in neutral contexts, and learners over-use it badly.
• ても has no past tense. ×待ったても does not exist. The て-form carries no tense, so time is set by the main clause alone: 待っても分かりませんでした (“even though I waited, I didn’t understand”).
• Two different が. After a noun, が marks the subject (雨が降ります); after a complete predicate, が means “but” (雨が降りますが、行きます). The word in front tells you which - the same trick that separates the two から.
• 疑問詞＋でも vs 疑問詞＋ても. 何でも nandemo is a single word meaning “anything at all” (lesson 19); 何をしても nani o shite mo is a clause meaning “no matter what you do”. Same kana, different structure - check whether a verb is attached.