だけど

Hey, got a question about だけど. From the dictionary, だけど means 'however', and that the けど is used for sentences like "but". However, how do sentences with だけど work? What do they exactly mean?
I found these examples from www . alc.co.jp dictionary...
ここだけの話だけど。
Between you, me, and the bedpost [four walls, lamppost].
そうだといいんだけど。
I hope you are right about that.
もしもし、私だけど。
Hello, it's me.
Why is it that だけど is put at the back of the sentence? what does it actually mean or do? Thanks a lot.

けど is a particle that is like "but"

だ is just the dictionary form of です, and when used with the particle, must be placed after a noun or な-adjective. When けど follows an い-adjective or a verb, だ is not necessary.

In examples where だけど or its variants comes at the end of the sentence, it doesn't necessarily translate to "but" or "however," but is often used to indicate that it's the other person's turn to speak. I often use it when asking for directions: すみません、ｘｘまで行きたいんですけど。。。 and it's implied that I'm asking how to get to ｘｘ location.

けれど、けど are the informal form (砕けた言い方) of けれども. they have many functions and meanings. I found some of them from meikyou. In Japanese though. ^_^
I'd like to translate it but
翻訳したいのはやまやまだが。。。

Meikyou:
[接助]
①対比的な関係にある二つの事柄を結び付ける。…が。 「頑張ったけれども認めてもらえなかった」「稚拙だけれども力強い」
②前置きを示す。…が。
㋐補足的説明を示す。 「その件ならさっき聞きましたけれども」
㋑自分の立場や心情、また、自分が推測した相手の立場や心情を示す。 「率直に言いますけれども」「失礼ですけれども」「ご存じとは思いますけれども」
㋒話題の前提となる物事を表す。…が。 「目が赤いけれども、どうしたんですか」「調査の結果だけれども、予想通りだね」
[終助]
①状態や心情などを言いさして、自分の考えをほのめかす。…が。
㋐心情を示して、実現を望む意をほのめかす。 「うまくいくといいけれども」「手伝ってくれるとありがたいんだけれども」
㋑事情を示して、拒絶の意をほのめかす。 「もう閉店なんですけれども」
㋒現状への関わりや認識などを示して、現状が期待通りでない意をほのめかす。 「日ごろから注意していたんですけれども」「もう帰ってくる時間なんだけれども」
㋓未実現の事柄を示して、至らない点を悔いる意をほのめかす。 「これさえ片づけば、あとは簡単なんだけれども」「もう少し早めに手当てをしておけばよかったんだけれども」
㋔相手の立場を示して、自分は同意できない意をほのめかす。 「君にも言い分はあるだろうけれども」「それはそうだろうけれども」
②状況を示し、相手に反応を求める。…が。 「もしもし、田中ですけれども」「荷物が届いていますけれども」

Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for the quick reply. Unfortunately, i don't think my Japanese is that good enough to understand the those description. でも ありがとうね。

Trying hard to understand Japanese. The grammar is kind of complicated though.

けど is like 'but' though not in a strong sense, and is close to 'and' sometimes, in between two sentences where background info is written before it in the first sentence.

けど used at the end of the sentence is a variant of the above, and can prompt a response from someone else or where the implied meaning is apparent to the listener without the need to say more. It's rather indirect and softer this way. This applies to が as well which is more formal than けど.

Might help if you think about it in these terms.

You're at a store, and you're looking for socks. So you stop a clerk and ask him:

靴下を探してるんですけど。
(くつしたをさがしてるんですけど。)

"I'm looking for socks, but..." Which begs the question, but *what?*

"I'm looking for socks, but..." (do you think you could tell me where they are?)

The latter is the subtext. It's implied, right? Not actually spoken, but the clerk knows what you're getting at. This kind of thing happens all the time in English, right?

Well, it happens in Japanese too. The reason "けど" placed at the end of a sentence is said to soften the sentence is that it implies a follow-up or subtext that is not directly expressed. This type of indirect expression is not unique to Japanese, but it is one notable characteristic.

Another example, taken from your post:
"そうだといいんだけど。"

"I hope you are right about that, but..." (I'm not entirely convinced it will come to pass.)

To express such a doubt so directly would be borderline-rude. On the other hand, implying it with no other word than "but" is highly ambiguous. Any number of things could go between those parentheses.

"I hope you are right about that, but..." (I have no way of knowing, so I defer to your opinion.)

...would be an equally valid interpretation. See how the ambiguity makes it more indirect and polite?


edit: why in the world does previewing the post remove all spacing? pain in the butt...

Try this out.

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Glenn said:

Try this out.

Click to expand...

Tried it. Thanks.

It works sometimes, but it seems I still have the same problem, other times. I'm using Firefox.

From the thread you linked to, it looks like this is an *old* problem! What gives?

Don't know. I guess it's either something that can't be fixed, or just hasn't been gotten around to yet.

I'm using Firefox too, and I haven't had any problems recently that I can recall. When do the problems occur?

I'm pretty sure it's when I click the go advanced button instead of doing a quick reply.
Let's find out here...
Yep, that's it. (This used to be three paragraphs.)

I suppose you don't mean that you type something up in the "quick reply" window and then hit "go advanced" to preview it, do you? If that's the case, then I would say that to avoid that you'll have to just post it, and then edit if afterwards, or "go advanced" from the start (or quote the post you're replying to). If that's not the case, then I have no idea what's going on. But I do remember having issues like the one I described above.

I'm going advanced from the start right now.
Ok, here's paragraph 2.
And 3...
There should now be four lines with 3 spaces between them. Let's see how it works.

I just tried it too, and "going advanced" from the start didn't work for me either. Quoting works, though. So does quick reply. So I guess you're limited to those two options, although it's better than nothing.