군만두 and grammar

I made 군만두 (goon mandu) for the first time yesterday. They are fried (and part-steamed) Korean dumplings filled with all sorts of yummy stuff. I was surprised how well they turned out. I should have taken my own photo, but here from the web is a photo of ones that look very similar…

Yummacious! Really! With some dipping sauce (soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, sliced green onion etc etc)… mmmm….

And on to grammar:

~ても

“even if, although”  - used when that which is expressed in the main clause is not what is expected from the content of the dependent clause. (huh? what? eh???)

私は雨が降っても行く

I’ll go even if it rains

私は寒くても出かける

I’ll go out even if it is cold

To me, it seems almost the same as saying “despite” (though I’m sure there’s a different phrase for that in Japanese.. ^.^)

Some more examples:

中山さんは本を買っても読まない

Mr. Nakayama doesn’t read books even if he buys them

私は四時間歩いても疲れなかった

I didn’t get tired although I walked for four hours

〜てもいいですか？

^ this is an idiomatic expression used to request permission to do something.

ても can also mean “no matter what, who or where”

だれに話しても = no matter who someone talks to

何を話しても = no matter what someone talks about

どこで話しても = no matter where someone talks

It seemed a little confusing to me at first, but it is pretty easy to use this formation in every day speech. It comes quite naturally, since in English we often say “although x I still y” or “even if x I will still y”

That being said, I am going to go finish my coffee and play some pointless video games. I studied so hard for my linguistics exam (and got a 92%!!) so I feel justified in my slacking!! ^^;