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> もし時間がないなら、明日 **でもいい** よ。

Why is the particle で used? With time expressions the で particle expresses
time limit. So it's weird to see the で with 明日. 明日もいいよ seems better(?). でも
here can be the "even though/even/but" meaning. But も sounds better(?).
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2016-10-09T06:45:42.233
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2021-01-03T22:54:24.733
2021-01-03T22:54:24.733
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question
grammar particle-でも
Why でも is used rather than も in this sentence?
I feel that, this use case of でも is an abbreviated form of であっても。  
(Note, I recognize there exist those uses of でも which do not fall into this
category.)

So in here, もし時間がないなら、明日でもいいよ。 is an abbreviated (or colloquial) form of
もし時間がないなら、明日であってもいいよ。 which translates to:

```

    If no time, it is OK to be tomorrow.
    
```

Or something like that.

* * *

Please note that this is based on my recognition so when speaking in terms of
Japanese strict grammar, it may not be precise.
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2016-10-09T07:20:52.440
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2016-10-09T08:18:49.000
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answer
One way to think of it, which I found in the Dictionary of Basic Japanese
Grammar, is:

## でも ＝ て-form of です/だ ＋ も

＝ verb meaning “to be” ＋ particle meaning “even”*

**〜でもいい is the です/だ version of the grammatical pattern 〜てもいい** , which we use
when asking for permission to do things. By putting the verb です/だ in its
て-form, we can then ask if the thing itself (a noun) is permissible.

  * お手洗い行っ **てもいい** ですか？/ May I go to the bathroom? [literally: Is even going to the bathroom OK?]
  * お手洗い **でもいい** ですか？/ Is the bathroom OK? [literally: Is even it being the bathroom OK?] You’d say this if you’re doing something and asking if it’s OK to do it in the bathroom.

I recently wrote a blog post on this actually! [Rescheduling appointments
without sounding like a jerk…
〜でも…?](https://francesthinks.com/2016/09/16/slap-3-rescheduling-appointments-
without-sounding-like-a-
jerk-%E3%80%9C%E3%81%A7%E3%82%82%E3%81%84%E3%81%84%EF%BC%9F/)
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2016-10-12T11:12:06.247
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answer