19158
In [this](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/19135/7508) thread on
appositives, @OskarLindberg had mentioned that けれども could be used as a neutral
connector. My understanding up until now was that it presented contrasting
ideas, being translated as "however", "but", "although", or "even though". I'm
trying to understand more of this neutral connector role of けれども. If you could
give examples with the corresponding English translation, that would be very
helpful.

These are the examples Oskar had given thus far, but their translations
confuse me a bit:

> 犬がほえている **けれども** 、だれか外にいるんじゃない？  
>  The dog's barking, isn't there someone out there?

I would translate this as: "The dog is barking, but someone _is_ outside,
right?" In this case, I would think けれども shows the contrast between what you
expected (the dog normally barks when someone is outside) and what is actually
occurring (it seems that maybe no one is outside, but the dog is still barking
anyway).

> この地方は寒いと聞いた **けれども** 、本当に毎日冷え込むね。  
>  I had heard that it was cold in this region, and it's truly quite chilly
> every day.

I would have translated this as: "I had heard that it was cold in this region,
but it really _does_ get very cold every day." I thought that the けれども here
was showing the contrast between what you had _heard_ and what you had
actually _experienced_ , but it seems that is not the case based on the
translation.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-18T21:04:10.900
19155
2014-10-20T06:09:11.803
2017-04-13T12:43:44.157
-1
7508
question
grammar conjunctions
けれども as a neutral connector
The other person is correct on this. We use 「けれども」 as a neutral connector
**rather frequently** for simply connecting two (mini-)statements. I have no
idea what bilingual dictionaries would say about this as I almost never use
them myself, but a simple search in a monolingual dictionary will reveal the
definition in question.

For instance, see here (一 - ➂):
<https://kotobank.jp/word/%E3%81%91%E3%82%8C%E3%81%A9%E3%82%82-257355#E5.A4.A7.E8.BE.9E.E6.9E.97.20.E7.AC.AC.E4.B8.89.E7.89.88>

To use the examples from there,

> 「[本]{ほん}が[届]{とど}いているけれども，[支払]{しはら}いはすんだの。」

means "A book has arrived; Has the payment been already made?"

> 「[日本]{にほん}の[象徴]{しょうちょう}というけれども，[富士山]{ふじさん}はほんとにすばらしい。」

means "They say it is the symbol of Japan, (and they are right) Mt. Fuji is
really wonderful."

Finally, my own example senence as an おまけ,

> 「[今日]{きょう}は[晴]{は}れてて[気持]{きも}ちのいい日だけれども、さて、何をしようかなあ。」

= "It's such a sunny and pleasant day today and I wonder what I should be
doing."
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-18T22:53:49.017
19156
2014-10-18T22:53:49.017
19155
answer
As I mentioned before, those examples that I gave you, and that you're using
for your question here, are from the Japanese grammar book Particles Plus by
Atsuko Kawashima (Harcourt, Tokyo 1992).

About your first alternative translation:

> The dog is barking, but someone _is_ outside, right?

In the original Japanese sentence 犬がほえている is merely a justification for asking
the question that follows, as in "Do you think there may be someone outside? -
Why do you ask? - Because the dog is barking" reversed. In your translation
though, you introduce a slightly different relationship between A and B, and
the "is" to me underlines sort of an inversion of the relationship between the
clauses; The main topic should remain "is there someone outside", but becomes
more of "why is the dog barking", like "The dog is barking, but I _think_
there's a reason (that being someone prowling outside)".

Your second alternative translation:

> I had heard that it was cold in this region, but it really does get very
> cold everyday.

I think this one is acceptable, even using "but". If you _do_ choose to use
"but" though, it's in the context that the speaker did not really believe it
when he or she was told about the cold, or at least that he or she didn't
think it would be _that_ cold, so there's surprise. It's hard to argue that
this is not the case, but it doesn't have to be so (I'd hazard, it's most
likely not); If not, "but" is not the best translation.

I constructed a few more sentences, just off the top of my head, to try and
add some more variety:

> ね、ミキちゃん、喉{のど}乾{かわ}いたけど、水{みず}ちょうだい。 Hey, Miki, I'm thirsty - give me some of
> that water.
>
> 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。 This manual is quite
> ambiguous, it's really hard to be sure, don't you think?
>
> 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。 I heard Kenichi is
> ill, so would it be alright if I borrowed the car?

In all of the above examples, translating けれども with "but", "although" or
something similar (implying contrast) would though grammatically correct make
little sense, or would drastically change the meaning from the original. The
second sentence is a good example, as statement A and B actually convey the
same sentiment (that the manual is hard to understand), despite being
connected through けれども.

In the next example, けれども helps introduce a topic:

> 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。 My father was complaining that
> recently gasoline has become more expensive.

In colloquial speech, adding a さ to けど (giving けどさ) may in some contexts even
more clearly imply that statement A preceding けど just contains some most
likely non-vital background information (like how @Yang Muye explained it in
his comment on [my other
reply](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/19111/how-to-express-
appositives-in-japanese/19135#19135)), or is just a "set-up" for B:

> ビール買{か}ってきたけどさ、飲{の}まない？ I bought some beer, you want some?

In this example, the fact that the speaker _bought_ the beer (did not steal
it), and in all likelihood did so not very long ago (rather than store beer in
vast quantities just in case) is not so important. The question of whether to
drink it or not is really what matters the most.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-18T23:11:35.563
19158
2014-10-20T06:09:11.803
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
-1
7519
19155
answer
Like Oskar Lindberg perhaps, I think that the use of けれども is not entirely
"neutral" in the above examples.

The phrase following the けれども is not negating truth value of the phrase
proceeding it but I think it is negating (in the sense of changing) the
objectivity-subjectivity-type/ discourse-field/ brain-side(?!) (I am failing
to find a proper expression) of the prior phrase.

This change might be rendered by "but hey,"

The dog is barking, but hey, someone is outside right?  
I had heard that it was cold in this region, but hey, it's truly quite chilly
every day isn't it.  
They say it is the symbol of Japan, but hey, Mount Fuji is truly wonderful.  
It's such a sunny and pleasant day today, but hey, I wonder what I should be
doing.  

Often the けれども seems to be changing from something that is rationally judged
to a direct experience or vice versa.

The dog is barking (direct subjective experience), someone is outside
(rational judgement)  
I had heard that it was cold in this region (rational judgement) it's truly
quite chilly every day isn't it (direct subjective experience).  
They say it is the symbol of Japan (rational judgement), but hey, Mount Fuji
is truly wonderful(direct subjective experience).  
It's such a sunny and pleasant day today([pretty undeniable] rational
judgement), but hey, I wonder what I should be doing(direct subjective
experience/felt-quandary)."  

To me it is like the けれども is changing the side of the brain-side from
linguistic to non linguistic that speaker is using in each of the two phrases.
This is suggested by the fact that one or other phrase is often reported
speech or writing but not always, such as the person being outside, which
while not reported speech, is a rational judgement of something that is not
directly experienced but inferred.

My only 根拠 is that I have lived more than half my 49 years in Japan.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-19T10:03:55.847
19165
2014-10-19T10:18:23.580
2014-10-19T10:18:23.580
7533
7533
19155
answer