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Grammar detail: のに

のに  despite
241 words
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plain form clause
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のに
means
despite, in spite of, even though, albeit
さかな
いっぱいいたのに
なに
つれなかった
I didn't catch anything, even though there were many fish.
くるま
あるのにどうして
ある
です
Why do you walk when you have a car?
のに is also often used at the end of casual speech to mean something like 'I wish ...' or 'it would have been good if ...'. For example:
かね
いっぱいあればいいのに
I wish I had lots of money.
When the のに is used in a negative sentence, the English 'although' or 'despite' may not fit, and a more natural translation may be 'because'. For example, in the following sentence, the っこない construction negates the clause containing the のに. So the sentence does not mean 'although there isn't a boat, he can't swim to the island' - it means the opposite, 'because there isn't a boat':
かれ
およ
げない
から
ふね
ないのにそんな
しま
まで
けっこない

He can't swim, and there isn't a boat, so there's no way he can reach that island.
Note: sometimes the particles の (as a nominalizer) and に (indicating the location something takes place at) can appear together! In other words, のに appears, but does not carry the meaning 'despite'. So when you see のに, it's important to review the context. In the following sentences, the nominalizer の happens to be followed by に:
かのじょ
彼女
ろうじん
老人
おうだん
横断
する
してあげた

She helped the old man across.
かのじょ
彼女
しゅくだい
宿題
する
いそが
しかった

She was busy doing her homework.
In the following example, you see a combination of three particles, each bringing its own meaning: の (to turn the verb that precedes it, 'read', into a noun phrase, 'the act of reading'), に (to indicate that the noun phrase 'the act of reading' is the target of the verb 飽きる), and finally も (meaning 'also', which implies that this sentence is part of a broader context).
ほん
きた

I also got tired of reading books.
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Kanji used in this grammar

ホウ   あきる to grow weary of   あかす to feed up; to bore, surfeit   
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ギョ   さかな    うお fish   
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カ   なに    なん what?   
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シャ   くるま car   
ホ   フ   ブ   ある    あゆ to walk   
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キン   コン   かね gold; money   
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ヒ   かれ he   
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エイ   およ swim   
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セン   ふね    ふな- ship   
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トウ   しま island   
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コウ   ギョウ   アン   ゆ    い to go   おこな to take place   
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ジョ   ニョ   ニョウ   woman; female   おんな woman   め woman   
ロウ   old   おいる    ふける to grow old   
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ジン   ニン   ひと person   
オウ   よこ side   
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ダン   ことわ to refuse, to decline   た to cut off   
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シュ   hand   て    た-    
タイ   か to lend   
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宿
シュク   inn   やど an inn   やど to lodge   やど to give lodgings   
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ダイ    topic   
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ボウ   いそがしい busy   
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ホン   book   もと origin   
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ドク   トク   トウ   よ to read   
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