I'm wondering about the difference between も and でも for their "even" meaning.

Using example sentences from A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar,

> 私は難しい仕事 **でも** する。(original, pg 112)
>
> 私は難しい仕事 **も** する。(swapped for も)

and

> 私はこんな難しい漢字 **も** 読める。(original, pg 250)
>
> 私はこんな難しい漢字 **でも** 読める。(swapped for でも)

Are the swapped sentences grammatically correct? If so, is there a difference
in nuance?
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2018-01-07T03:24:46.243
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2018-08-30T05:49:00.987
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question
grammar meaning particles particle-も particle-でも
Meaning of も vs でも for "even"
I am not quite sure whether this is a general answer but as for the two
examples, they are both gramattically correct while there is a slight
difference in nuance. でも is more a "even if", while も is "even/also"

examples:

> > 私は難しい仕事でもする。

"I will do any job EVEN IF it was difficult."

> > 私は難しい仕事もする。

"(I will do easy jobs) AND ALSO difficult jobs."

Note that でも is a short form of であっても or であったとしても at least for these two
sentences.
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2018-01-11T03:05:29.130
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There is a difference in nuance. でも implies that **"normally it isn't but in
this case it is"**.

> 私は難しい仕事 **でも** する。

This implies that 通常私は簡単な仕事しかしないが・・・実は難しい仕事でもするよ。(I normally do only easy
jobs, but actually I can also do difficult ones.)

> 私は難しい仕事 **も** する。

This implies that the person speaking normally does easy, (moderate), and
difficult jobs. No emphasis is given that s/he "can also" do difficult jobs.
S/he has always done them too.

Let's use another example:

> この映画は小さな子ども **でも** 楽しめる。

Movies like this are **normally perceived to be only enjoyable for a certain
age group** , e.g. teens and above. However, **this particular one is actually
enjoyable also for little kids** , like toddlers, pre-schoolers, grade school
kids, etc.

> この映画は小さな子ども **も** 楽しめる。

This movie is enjoyable also for little kids, and nothing is special about it.
It has always been like that.
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2018-08-30T03:12:00.650
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Yes, they are grammatically correct, and yes the nuance is different.

「も」implies that there is a list, and that the stated item is just one item in
that list.「でも」could refer to the item in isolation. So in the example
sentences:

* * *

> 私は難しい仕事でもする

Even if the work is difficult I'll do it.

_(This sentence implies that there is difficult work, but that there may not
be any easy work.)_

> 私は難しい仕事もする。

I'll do difficult work as well.

_(This sentence implies that there is both difficult work and easy work.)_

* * *

> 私はこんな難しい漢字も読める。

I can also read difficult kanji.

_(This sentence implies that there are both difficult kanji and easy kanji.
For example: a newspaper article.)_

> 私はこんな難しい漢字でも読める。

Even if the kanji is difficult I can even read it.

_(This sentence implies that there are difficult kanji, but that there may not
be any easy kanji. For example: classical Japanese texts.)_

* * *

These interpretations are supported by the following unofficial sources:

  * [助詞関連 Q147](http://nhg.pro.tok2.com/qa/joshi-15.htm)
  * [「も」と「でも」の違い](https://oshiete.goo.ne.jp/qa/6610118.html)
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answer