Here is some easy English for you. A lot of my students tend to use “but” a little too much.
I studied really hard for a month, but I failed the test.
This is OK, but I feel that most Japanese might say something like
1ヶ月一生懸命勉強したのに、試験に落ちた！
..using a のに, not a けど.
So, an easy way to express のに in English is “even though“.
Even though ___A____ , ____B_____ .
or
___B____ even though ____A____ .
So,
- Even though I studied really hard for a month, I failed the test.
- My Japanese is not so good, even though I’ve been living in Japan for almost 14 years.
- Even though she promised she would come to the party, she never showed up.
- Even though he’s Japanese, Hiro hates sushi.
- I can never remember the word “断る”, even though I’ve studied it countless times.
