JLPT N3. Slightly informal. Used mainly in conversation.

We have already covered the grammar for this phrase and the usage can be understood with a direct translation because we have similar expressions in English. The phrase is used to caveat a fact that you state in the prior clause.

彼が社長だといっても会社には社員が三人しかいません。
I say he’s a CEO, but the company only has three employees.

日本語ができるといってもまだ漢字を読んだり書いたりすることができない。
I say he can speak Japanese, but he cannot yet read or write kanji.

Note that in most cases we can form the same expression just by using “but” as a conjunction; but といっても has nuance that you are qualifying the prior statement rather than contradicting it.

You May Also Like

Modifying Nouns with Verbs & Adjectives

This is how we add something descriptive to nouns. Verbs To modify a noun with a verb we need…

Similarity & Hearsay in Japanese

There are numerous ways to express “seems like” in Japanese and what makes each of these expressions tricky…

Expected Outcomes: ~そう

When used with the verb stem そう expresses that something is likely to happen or be true based…

About or Approximately: ~ぐらい

くらい is the most common way of saying “about” or “approximately” in Japanese. It will usually be introduced…