～たって・～だって (even if)
Casual way to say even if
You’ll be able to recognize and use a conversational concession that keeps the same result despite a condition.
手を伸ばしたって、高い木のリンゴには届かないよ。
te o nobashitatte, takai ki no ringo ni wa todokanai yo.
What do you think this sentence means?
Even if you stretch your arms, you won't reach the apples high in the tree!
Use a casual spoken form of even if
～たって (and ～だって for voiced verb endings, nouns, and na-adjectives) is the casual, spoken equivalent of ～ても / ～でも, meaning “even if.”
何度聞いたって、教えてくれない。
nando kiitatte, oshiete kurenai.
No matter how many times I ask, they won’t tell me.
雨だって、サッカーの練習には行くよ。
ame datte, sakkaa no renshuu ni wa iku yo.
Even if it rains, I’m going to soccer practice.
Form conversational concessions with たって
Replace the た-form ending of verbs with たって (or だって after んだ/いだ). For い-adjectives, drop い and add くたって (寒い → 寒くたって). With nouns and na-adjectives, use だって.
いくら頼んだって、無理なものは無理だよ。
ikura tanondatte, muri na mono wa muri da yo.
No matter how much you ask, what’s impossible is impossible.
「今さら謝ったって、許してもらえないよ。」
“imasara ayamattatte, yurushite moraenai yo.”
“Even if you apologize now, they won’t forgive you.”
「そんなに急いだって、次のバスは十分後だよ。」
“sonna ni isoidatte, tsugi no basu wa juppungo da yo.”
“Even if you rush like that, the next bus isn’t for ten minutes.”
「高くたって、本当に欲しい物なら買うよ。」
“takakutatte, hontou ni hoshii mono nara kau yo.”
“Even if it’s expensive, I’ll buy it if it’s something I really want.”
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