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This is similar to a [previous
question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/12564/particle-
interpretation-of-%E5%BE%8C%E3%81%A7%E3%82%82) of mine. Also from Kanji in
Context, we have the example sentence (with no other context)

> 東京｛とうきょう｝ **でも** 雪｛ゆき｝は降｛ふ｝りますが、たいていは大｛たい｝して積｛つ｝もりません。

Is it possible to determine whether the でも here is でも (even in Tokyo, it
snows) or で(location of action) + も (it also snows in Tokyo)?
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2015-08-12T16:26:44.387
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2015-09-26T10:53:07.563
2017-04-13T12:43:44.260
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question
grammar particles
Is this でも or で＋も?
Yes, because it says in the end, that the snow is rarely piling up very high.
The whole translation would be like this. Even in Tokyo it snows, but mostly
it doesn't pile up too much.

The word たいてい Indicates that it is a general matter.
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2015-08-14T21:01:50.037
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2015-08-14T21:01:50.037
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answer
**_Formal vs. Informal_**

I am going to say that:

1) In **_informal_** speech, both interpretations are almost equally natural.

2) In **_formal_** speech, however, it would be considerably more appropriate
to interpret the 「でも」 as being 「で + も」(location + "also").

Here is my reasoning.

If one said 「東京 **でも** 雪は降る」 in formal speech to mean "It snows **_even_** in
Tokyo.", then one would have to wonder where the location marker is because
「でも」 is all taken to express "even".

In formal speech, one would instead need to use 「東京で **さえも** 」 or 「東京で **でも**
」 to express both " **even** " and " **in** ". Admittedly, though, the latter
would rarely be heard in real life as it is a mouthful.

「Place Name + で + でも」 is very often contracted to 「Place Name + でも」 in
informal speech, which is the main reason that, in informal speech, 「東京でも雪は降る」
can naturally be interpreted to mean both:

"It snows in Tokyo, too." and "It snows even in Tokyo."
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2015-09-26T10:53:07.563
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2015-09-26T10:53:07.563
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answer