～ことは～が — True, But…
A concessive pattern that repeats the same word to admit a fact before adding a reservation. It means 'it's true that…, but…' or 'certainly… however.' The speaker acknowledges something as true, then qualifies or partially retracts it with a contrasting point.
Structure
[Verb/Adj plain] + ことは + [same word] + が
Examples
この店は安いことは安いが、あまりおいしくない。
Kono mise wa yasui koto wa yasui ga, amari oishikunai.
This restaurant is cheap all right, but it's not very tasty.
安い is repeated with ことは…が to concede cheapness before the 'but'
泳げることは泳げるが、あまり得意ではない。
Oyogeru koto wa oyogeru ga, amari tokui de wa nai.
I can swim, sure, but I'm not very good at it.
泳げる repeated to admit the ability, then qualified
読んだことは読んだが、内容はほとんど覚えていない。
Yonda koto wa yonda ga, naiyou wa hotondo oboete inai.
I did read it, but I barely remember the contents.
読んだ repeated to concede the action before the reservation
• The same word must be repeated around ことは…が. • The が can be replaced with けど/けれど in casual speech. • Expresses reluctant or partial agreement — 'yes, but with a catch.'
Commonly confused with
The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones ～ことは～が is tested against.
vs ～が／けど
A plain が simply contrasts; the repeated ことは…が structure strongly emphasizes conceding the first point before qualifying it.
vs ～ものの
ものの is written/formal 'although'; ことは～が is more conversational and requires repeating the word to grant the point first.
More connectives
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