There are many different usages of a Japanese word, “demo”. First, it’s used to mean ‘protest/political march’. Second, it’s used to mean ‘teaching something through a performance’. And third, it’s used as a particle. As a particle, it can be used in four different ways at least.

In this blog post, “demo” in Japanese will be explained as detailed as possible. After reading following explanations, you will be able to use it properly.

Contents

• Background of demo in Japanese
• Demo as a noun
  • Protest march
  • Teaching something through a performance
• Demo as a particle
  • Demo as a conjunctive particle
    • Example as a conjunctive particle
  • Demo as a binding particle
    • At minimum
    • Whoever
    • Simple offer
• Summary

Background of demo in Japanese

Japanese people usually use the word, “demo”, as a particle in daily conversation, so Japanese learners need to understand it correctly. On the other hand, Japanese people rarely use it as a noun. In this blog post, therefore, I’d like to focus on its usages as a particle. As a particle, there are two different definitions and both of them have their own meanings. So their explanations would be long. Before them, let me start with small ones, namely, explanations of “demo” as a noun.

Demo as a noun

As a noun, the word, “demo”, can mean two different things. I will explain them one by one.

Protest march

• demo – デモ : a noun which is a katakana abbreviation for a “demonstration”. It means ‘protest march’ or ‘political march’.

When Japanese people use the noun, “demo”, in purely political context, it would mean ‘protest march’ or ‘political march’. However, usually Japanese people don’t talk about politics with others, so Japanese learners would rarely face situations where they need to understand this usage.

Teaching something through a performance

• demo – デモ : a noun which is a katakana abbreviation for “demonstration”. It means ‘teaching something through a performance’ to instruct how to use something or how to do something.

When Japanese people use the noun, “demo”, in commercial, educational or technical context, it would mean ‘teaching something through a performance’. When it is used as a noun, most probably its usage is this one. Again, but Japanese people usually don’t talk about politics.

Demo as a particle

We’ve just finished small ones, namely, explanations of the noun, “demo”. Now it’s time for the main part.

As I mentioned above, there are two different definitions for the particle, “demo”. One is a conjunctive particle and the other is a binding particle. I will explain them through examples below.

Demo as a conjunctive particle

As a conjugative particle, “demo” corresponds well to an English conjunction, “but”. Below are its details.

• demo – でも : a conjunctive particle which corresponds well to “but” or “yet”.

In this case, “demo” is almost the same as “but”. Sometimes it is put at the beginning of a sentence which means something different from the prior one. Sometimes it is put between two sentences which have different or opposite meanings. Japanese people often use it in conversation rather than on paper. They are very similar on this point as well.

Example as a conjunctive particle

Below are new words.

• soto – 外 (そと) : a noun to mean ‘outside’.
• wa – は : a binding particle working as a case maker or topic maker. It works as a case maker to help the noun, “soto”, to become the subject in the sentence. But, depending on context, it could behave like a topic maker as well.
• ii – 良い (いい) : an i-adjective to mean ‘good’.
• tenki – 天気 (てんき) : a noun to mean ‘weather’. Japanese people often use it with the i-adjective, “ii”, to mean ‘good weather’. Learn more about “tenki”.
• da – だ : an auxiliary verb put at the end to make a simple assertive or declarative sentence.
• watashi – 私 (わたし) : a pronoun to mean ‘I’.
• heya – 部屋 (へや) : a noun to mean ‘a room’. Kanji components mean ‘a part’ and ‘a building’ respectively. So the noun, “heya”, literally means ‘a part of a building’. It could be ‘a room’.
• de – で : a case particle put after a noun to indicate a place where someone is or some acts are carried out. Here, “heya de” is translated to “in a room”.
• hon – 本 (ほん) : a noun to mean ‘a book’ or ‘books’. Learn more about Japanese singular and plural.
• wo – を : a case particle put after a noun to make the object in a sentence. Here, it is used to make the noun, “hon”, the object of an act described by the verb, “yomu”, meaning ‘to read’.
• yomu – 読む (よむ) : a verb to mean ‘to read’. This is a plain form of this verb itself.

This is a typical use of “demo” as a conjunctive particle. It is put between two sentences which have different meanings. Or perhaps I should say the second sentence tells us something unexpected.

As I mentioned above, its use is quite similar to the English conjunction, “but”. Therefore, Japanese leaners who are familiar with English would understand it easily.

Its usages as a binding particle are a bit more difficult. I will explain them in the next paragraphs.

Demo as a binding particle

As a binding particle, “demo” can be used in three different ways at least.

• demo – でも : a binding particle. First, when it’s put after a noun expressing an extreme or unexpected condition, it means ‘at minimum’, ‘at least’, ‘even if’ or ‘no matter how’. Second, when it’s put after an indefinite pronoun, it means ‘whoever’, ‘whatever’, ‘whenever’, ‘wherever’ or some such depending on the indefinite pronoun used together. And third, when it’s put after an expectable noun, it just makes a simple offer or proposal.

I covered almost all I want to say about “demo” as a binding particle. Yet, these explanations could be confusing. So, let me explain their details though examples for a better understanding.

At minimum

First, let’s check an example of “demo” to mean ‘at minimum’.

Below are new words.

• saitei – 最低 (さいてい) : a noun meaning ‘the worst’, ‘the lowest’, ‘minimum’ or such. Learn more about “saitei”.
• ichi – 一 (いち) : a numeral meaning ‘one’.
• jikan – 時間 (じかん) : a noun meaning ‘time’ in general. When it follows a numeral directly, it normally means ‘hour’.

Now the binding particle directly follows the noun, “saitei”, meaning ‘the worst’, ‘the lowest’ or such. This noun expresses an extreme condition. Here, therefore, the noun and the particle mean ‘at minimum’ together. In general, nouns used together have a significant effect on its meaning and translation. Sometimes, its translation would be ‘at least’, ‘even if blah blah’ or ‘no matter how blah’. When Japanese learners find it, they need to check if its prior noun expresses an extreme condition.

Whoever

Second, below is an example of “demo” to mean ‘whoever’.

New words used here.

• dare – 誰 (だれ) : an indefinite pronoun meaning ‘who’.
• kangei – 歓迎 (かんげい) : a noun meaning ‘welcome’. It’s often used together with a verb, “suru”, to mean ‘to welcome’.
• shi – し : one conjugation of a verb, “suru”, meaning ‘to do’. It’s often put after a noun to make its verb form.
• masu – ます : an auxiliary verb used after a verb to make its polite form.

Translations don’t match really. The verb, “comes”, does not appear in the Japanese sentence. This kind of mismatching could happen to translations of simple short sentences or commonly used idioms.

Now, the particle directly follows the indefinite pronoun, “dare”, meaning ‘who’. Therefore, its translation is “-ever”. The pronoun now exactly corresponds to “who”. So both words are translated together to “whoever”. When Japanese learners find “demo”, they need to check if its prior noun is an indefinite pronoun or not. Plus, they should check what kind of pronoun is used since it would affect result of translation.

Simple offer

Below are new words.

• eiga – 映画 (えいが) : a noun meaning ‘a movie’ or ‘movies’.
• mi – 見 (み) : one conjugation of a verb, “miru”, meaning ‘to see’ or ‘to watch’.
• ka – か : a sentence ending particle used to make interrogative sentences.

“Demo” is put after the noun, “eiga”, which means ‘a movie’ or ‘movies’. Unlike “saitei” meaning ‘the worst’, it is a very usual and expectable noun. So, “demo” here is not translated to “even if”, but to “how about”. It just makes a simple offer. In this case, the particle, “demo”, is often used with the sentence ending particle, “ka”.

Summary

So far, I’ve explained “demo” in Japanese though some examples. Let me summarize what I’ve done as follows.

• demo – デモ : a noun which is a katakana abbreviation for a “demonstration”. When it’s used in political context, it means ‘protest march’ or ‘political march’.
• demo – デモ : a noun which is a katakana abbreviation for “demonstration”. When it’s used in commercial, educational or technical context, it means ‘teaching something through a performance’ to instruct how to use something or how to do something.
• demo – でも : a conjunctive particle which corresponds well to “but” or “yet”. Japanese people use it as a conjugation at the beginning of a sentence or between two sentences. This use is quite similar to that of “but”.
• demo – でも : a binding particle. First, when it’s put after a noun expressing an extreme or unexpected condition, it means ‘at minimum’, ‘at least’, ‘even if’ or ‘no matter how’. Second, when it’s put after an indefinite pronoun, it means ‘whoever’, ‘whatever’, ‘whenever’, ‘wherever’ or some such depending on the indefinite pronoun used together. And third, when it’s put after an expectable noun, it makes just a simple offer or proposal.

I’ve covered almost all I wanted to explain about “demo” in Japanese. Hope my explanations help Japanese learners to improve their Japanese skills.

Masaki Mori

Japanese Particles Master

Masaki Mori is a Japanese particles master. Through teaching Japanese language, he is trying to spread the culture of Japan. His goal is to preserve it as much as possible.

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