だから, でも, だって, けど: how spoken Japanese links ideas

The short words that start lines in real conversation, and how to tell a reason (だから) from a contrast (でも, けど) and an excuse (だって).

Ukeru notes · counts are from the current library (2,334 routines, 215,569 machine-transcribed lines) and update as it grows

From しかし and なぜなら to でも and だって

Textbooks teach connectors that work well on paper: それで, しかし, けれども, ですから, and the "because" word なぜなら. They are all real Japanese, but in a fast conversation people mostly reach for a few short, plain words instead. A line starts with だから, でも or だって, and from that first word the listener already knows what kind of sentence is coming: a result, a contrast or objection, or a self-defense.

The counts below come from machine-made transcripts of the 2,334 routines in our library, so read them as rough guides rather than exact figures.

だから: "so", "that's why"

だから points forward. It takes what was just said as the reason and gives the result:

• 雨だった。だから行かなかった。 (It rained. So I didn't go.)
• だから言ったでしょ。 (See, I told you.)
• だから何？ (So what?)

The second example shows a use that is easy to miss. At the start of a reply, だから often means "like I said" and sounds impatient: だから、違うって！ is "I keep telling you, no!" When a speaker repeats themselves with rising frustration, だから is often the first word. The third example turns だから into a challenge: "and your point is?" See 〜でしょ for the 言ったでしょ part.

In our library, 1,333 lines start with だから, from 211 comedians.

でも: "but", "still"

でも introduces a contrast. Use it when the next sentence goes against what came before:

• 高いね。でも、おいしい。 (It's pricey. But it's good.)
• でもさ、それって無理じゃない？ (But, you know, isn't that impossible?)

The second example shows でも used for objecting to what someone else just said. It is often followed by さ or ね to soften it a little. See 〜さ.

Lines starting with でも are more common than lines starting with だから: 1,666 lines, from 215 of the 284 comedians. One caution: after a noun, でも has other jobs, like "even" or "or something" (お茶でも飲む？, "want some tea or something?"). The count above covers only lines that begin with でも.

だって: "but… because"

The textbook "because" word なぜなら is rare in conversation. In casual speech, people use だって. But だって is not just a neutral "because". It usually gives your own reason, in response to a question, complaint or criticism. It often comes after なんで, and often ends with から or もん:

• なんで食べたの？ — だって、おなかすいてたんだもん。 ("Why did you eat it?" "Well, I was hungry!")
• 行かない。だって寒いもん。 (I'm not going. It's cold, OK?)

The direction is the opposite of だから. だから goes from reason to result: 寒い。だから行かない. だって goes from result back to reason: 行かない。だって寒いもん. And だって has a defensive tone: "but…!", "it's not my fault, because…". A lone だって…, trailing off, can carry a whole protest. The 〜だもん page covers the もん ending that often goes with it.

In our library, 385 lines start with だって, from 130 comedians. Lines starting with でも outnumber them by about 4 to 1. Like でも, だって also has other uses later in a sentence: "even" (子どもだって分かる, "even a kid gets it") and "I heard" (行くんだって, "apparently they're going"). The count covers only lines that start with it.

けど: contrast inside the line

けど is a contracted form of けれども, through けれど. Where でも usually starts a new sentence, けど joins two halves of the same one:

• 行きたいけど、時間がない。 (I want to go, but I don't have time.)

Put だ in front and it can start a line: だけど works much like でも. けど also has a third job: ending a sentence without finishing it. すみません、ちょっと聞きたいんですけど… ("Excuse me, I wanted to ask something, but…") leaves the actual request unsaid, and the listener fills it in. This trailing けど is one of the most common ways to sound polite and indirect in spoken Japanese.

けど appears somewhere on 6,368 lines in our library, from 262 comedians. That count includes every position in the line, including だけど and ですけど, so it is not directly comparable with the line-start counts above.

じゃあ and っていうか: two more openers

Two more words often start lines. じゃあ ("well then", "so") picks up what was just said, often by the other person, or the situation itself, and draws a conclusion or moves things on: 雨らしいよ。— じゃあ、やめようか。 ("Looks like rain." "Then shall we skip it?") だから usually reasons from your own point; じゃあ usually builds on someone else's. Of the openers counted in this note, じゃあ starts the most lines: 2,814.

っていうか／てか ("I mean", "or rather") corrects or reframes what was just said instead of linking to it. For more short words like these, see Japanese filler words.

A quick map

Using them yourself

• だから is fine with friends; the polite version is ですから. Be careful starting a reply to a superior with it. It can sound like "as I already told you".
• でも is safe almost anywhere, including polite speech. In formal writing, use しかし or ですが. Objecting with a bare でも can sound argumentative, so soften what follows: でも、それは難しいかもしれません.
• だって belongs with friends, family and partners. To a teacher, customer or boss, it sounds like making excuses. Explain with 実は… or 〜ので instead. だって with もん can also sound childish or sulky, sometimes on purpose.
• けど is casual; ですけど is normal in polite conversation, and けれども or ですが is used in more formal settings.
• じゃあ is everyday speech; では or それでは is the polite form.

Try it

• Search the library for だって and, for a few lines, guess what question or complaint the speaker is answering. Then do the same with だから and find the reason behind each result.
• Make pairs in both directions: 眠い。だから寝る。 / 寝る。だって眠いもん。 Say each out loud and notice how the tone changes.
• Watch the scenes on だって and じゃあ, and search for だけど to hear けど start a line.