でも (demo)
名詞でも — “~ or something / how about ~?”
Pattern
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名詞+でも+動詞(誘い・提案)noun + でも + verb of suggestion (お茶でも飲みませんか)
Structure
Attach でも to the noun you are offering as an example: お茶でも, コーヒーでも, 映画でも. Then follow with a verb of suggestion: ~ませんか, ~ましょう, ~(よ)う.
Nuance
You are not saying only this thing; you are naming one idea among others, which makes your offer soft. Replace を with でも (お茶を → お茶でも). It sounds friendly, not pushy.
Different from other でも
でも also means ‘but’ at the start of a sentence, and ‘even’ after a noun (子どもでもできる, ‘even a child can’). Here it is the ‘or something’ use, found in suggestions and invitations.
Examples
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お茶(ちゃ)でも飲(の)みませんか。
Ocha demo nomimasen ka.
How about having some tea or something?
お茶を → お茶でも.
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少(すこ)し休(やす)んで、コーヒーでも飲(の)もう。
Sukoshi yasunde, kōhī demo nomō.
Let's take a short break and have some coffee or something.
飲もう is the casual ‘let's’.
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週末(しゅうまつ)に映画(えいが)でも見(み)ませんか。
Shūmatsu ni eiga demo mimasen ka.
How about watching a movie or something this weekend?
A friendly invitation.
Common mistakes
- Use でも instead of を, not together with it: お茶でも, not お茶をでも.
- It fits suggestions and invitations, not plain statements of fact.
More grammar points
- ではないか ~ではないか — “isn’t it ~? / isn’t that so?”
- が必要(がひつよう) ~が必要だ — “~ is necessary / needed”
- がする ~がする — sensing a smell, sound, taste or feeling
- じゃないか ~じゃないか — “isn't it?” / “let's ~, shall we?”
- かどうか ~かどうか — “whether (or not) ~”
- から作(つく)る ~から作る — “made from ~ (raw material)”
- こと こと — turning a verb into a noun
- ことがある ~ことがある — “there are times when ~”
- ことになる ~ことになる — “it has been decided that ~ / it ends up that ~”
- ことにする ~ことにする — “decide to ~”
- くする ~くする — “make it ~” (with i-adjectives)
- まま ~まま — “as it is / left as ~”
- または または — “or”
- など など — “and so on / things like ~”
- ながら ~ながら — doing two things at once
- に気(き)がつく ~に気がつく — “notice ~ / become aware of ~”
- にする ~にする — “decide on ~ / make it ~”
- のに ~のに — “even though ~” (against expectation)
Practice this in the app
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