たって - Grammar Discussion

Grammar Points
#1

even if
even though
no matter how

Structure

  • Verb[た] + って
  • Verb[なく] + たって
  • いAdj[く] + たって
  • いAdj[なく] + たって
  • なAdj + だって
  • なAdj + じゃなくたって
  • Noun + だって
  • Noun + じゃなくたって

[Casual version of ても construction (even if)・Like ても, can be used together with どんなに, etc.]

View on Bunpro

#2

In the sentence

どんなに押（お）したくたって、この赤（あか）いボタンを押（お）してはダメ。

how come using たい directly is okay here? Shouldn’t one have to use たがる since it’s about presumed feelings of another person? Or does the たって-construction make it okay because it itself implies some uncertainity?

#3

The たい grammar point explains how it can be used for “I” or “you”.
たい | Japanese Grammar SRS

[たい belongs to a group of ‘personal’ adjectives, that is used to describe the speaker’s/writer’s wishes/desires (first person) or the listener’s wishes/desires (second person)]
[If you want to describe someone else’s wish/desire (third person) you have to use the「verb[stem]+たがる」construction or indirect speech 「verb[stem]+たいと思う」]

If you were describing “he” or “she” or “they” or another third person, then you would use たがる.

どんなに押したくたって、この赤いボタンを押してはダメ。
No matter how much you want to press it, you must not press the red button.

Also, the English sentence is using the “general” you not the “specific” you, where the speaker is not necessarily talking specifically about the listener. You could replace “you” with “I” or “one” and it would have the same intended meaning – any person should not press the button.
e.g. No matter how much one wants to press it, one must not press the red button.

If it helps any, I think of たい as turning a verb into a feeling (of wanting). It’s used like an い-adjective. Just like you can say うれしいですか or さびしいですか about your listener, you can use 行きたい or 押したい about your listener too.

2 Likes