How does ても function here? It seems like to me as if it was used with たら like meaning, is that possible?


I was looking up the meaning of the phrase "変な気を起こすなよ" when I came by this
site <https://nic-english.com/phrase/dont-get-any-ideas/> One of the example
sentences is:

> 「I don’t want him getting any ideas.（彼が変な気を起こしても困る）」など。

Why is ても being used here? What is the nuance ても contains here? Wouldn't a
conditional like と or たら be better?




First off, the following two are grammatically fine as you guessed.

  * 彼が変な気を起こすと困る
  * 彼が変な気を起こしたら困る

In dictionary terms, the usage of ても should be [the
following](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E3%81%A6%E3%82%82/#jn-152504):

> 多く「にしても」「としても」の形で）ある事柄を仮定条件として認めて、下の文の叙述を起こす意を表す。「自信があるにし―、試験を受けるのはいやな気分だ」

The difference from と/たら is subtle, but ても makes it explicit that it is a
hypothesis while と/たら sentences above sounds plain _if..._ that is neutral to
the possibility of his getting ideas.

Of the と/たら sentences, と still sounds close enough to ても, but using たら sounds
(a bit) like the speaker really worried.

In English, the ても sentence may be closer to "Suppose he got an idea. Then I
wouldn't like it".

