Natural Usage of けれども


In [this
question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/19155/%E3%81%91%E3%82%8C%E3%81%A9%E3%82%82-as-
a-neutral-connector) before, I tried to produce examples of the usage of けれども
(けど, けども). These are those examples:

  1. 犬{いぬ}がほえているけれども、だれか外{そと}にいるんじゃない？
  2. この地方{ちほう}は寒{さむ}いと聞{き}いたけれども、本当{ほんとう}に毎日{まいにち}冷{ひ}え込{こ}むね。
  3. ね、ミキちゃん、喉{のど}乾{かわ}いたけど、水{みず}ちょうだい。
  4. この説明書{せつめいしょ}って結構{けっこう}曖昧{あいまい}だけど、よくわからないよね。
  5. 健一{けんいち}君{くん}病気{びょうき}だと聞{き}いたけども、車{くるま}を借{か}りてもいいですか。
  6. お父{とう}さんがぼやいていたけど、最近{さいきん}ガス代{だい}はたかくなってきたって。
  7. ビール買{か}ってきたけどさ、飲{の}まない？

User @非回答者 commented that some (most) of my examples sound unnatural, and I'd
like help from all of you to try and fix this. I'm asking three things:

  * Which sentences you think sound unnatural?
  * For each "unnatural" sentence, if possible, please suggest a fix to make it sound more natural (still using けれども).
  * If a sentence is not at all "workable", please explain why けれども is not suitable for that particular phrase.




I don't get the situation of #5, either.

#4 sounds fairly inconsistent. 曖昧で or 曖昧だし suits here instead.

As for the remaining 5 examples, I don't think any one is unacceptable. #3 may
sound a little weird and から obviously seems more adaptable, ~~but I do think
Japanese people sometimes use けど like this way. There must be a lot of unsaid
implication after the conjunction...I believe :)~~

**[Added]** To try to summarize using a model of "A [けれども|けど] B", in
#1,#2,#3,#6,#7, A part functions as a premise or proposal of a topic. B part
usually expands the topic, sometimes appearing contradictory to A (like,
この地方は寒いと聞いたけれども、それほどでもないね), but can never say something predicative whose
reason can be explained by A, like #4.

So:

  1. ○ 犬がほえているけど、だれか外にいるんじゃない？ 
  2. × 犬がほえているけど、だれかが外にいることは確実だ。 
  3. ○ 犬がほえているし、だれかが外にいることは確実だ。

Here #2 sounds rather weird because the above rule applies. In this case you
should use から or し(#3). OTOH #1 is rather acceptable, B part being not
predicative, after all it's a simple proposal and expansion of a topic. Also:

  1. △ 喉が乾いたけど、水をくれるかな？
  2. ○ 喉が乾いたんだけど、水をくれるかな？
  3. ○ 喉が乾いたから、水をくれるかな？
  4. × 喉が乾いたけど、水がほしい。
  5. ○ 喉が乾いたから、水がほしい。

About んだ in #2 is another long story though I can't touch here. But for now, I
would point out that #4 is the case the above rule applies, and is almost
impossible.




  1. “犬がほえている **けど** 、だれか外にいるんじゃない？”  
The whole sentence sounds informal.

  2. “この地方は寒いと聞いた **けど** 、本当に毎日冷え込むね。”  
Same as 1.

  3. “ね、ミキちゃん、喉乾いた **から** 、水ちょうだい。”  
“けれども” cannot be used as “because”.

  4. “この説明書って結構曖昧 **で** 、よくわからないよね。”  
Same as 3.

  5. I don’t understand. What is the relationship between 病気 and 借りる?

  6. “お父さんがぼやいていたけど、最近ガス代はたかくなってきた **ね** 。”  
“けれども” cannot introduce a quotation.

  7. “ビール買ってきたけどさ、飲まない？”  
No thanks :-)

