けれども / けど (keredomo / kedo) — The Soft "But"
A very common conjunction that joins clauses with contrast ("but/although"). It is also used as a polite softener/buffer to avoid sounding blunt.
Structure
[Clause 1] + けれども / けど + [Clause 2]
Examples
高いけれども、品質がいいです。
Takai keredomo, hinshitsu ga ii desu.
It is expensive, but the quality is excellent.
けれども gives a formal, slightly stiff contrast.
少し遠いけど、歩きましょう。
Sukoshi tooi kedo, arukimashou.
It's a bit far, but let's walk.
けど is the everyday conversational variant.
日本語は難しいけれども、面白いです。
Nihongo wa muzukashii keredomo, omoshiroi desu.
Japanese is difficult, but it is interesting.
けれども joins the two clauses with a soft contrast.
• Formality Spectrum: けれども (formal/written) ＞ けれど (mid) ＞ けど (casual/spoken); けども is also heard. • Buffer Use: It's very common to trail off on けど… ("I'd love to help, kedo…") to imply a negative conclusion politely without stating it.
Commonly confused with
The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones けれども is tested against.
vs が (formal but)
が is the more formal/written contrastive conjunction (高いですが…). けど/けれども are its everyday spoken counterparts with the same core meaning.
vs のに (unexpected but)
けど is a plain neutral "but". のに adds surprise, complaint, or dissatisfaction that the result went against expectation (高いのに、まずい = it's expensive yet it tastes bad!).
vs しかし / でも
しかし (formal) and でも (casual) begin a NEW sentence with "however/but"; けど/けれども connect two clauses WITHIN one sentence.
More conjunctions
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