Page 268 - Easy Japanese - Learn to Speak Japanese Quickly! (TUTTLE)

Tabako sutte mo i’i desu ka. May I smoke?
-Chotto… It’s just…

-Anō, sumimasen kedo… Umm, I’m sorry, but…
-Sumimasen kedo, suwanai de itadakemasen ka.
I’m sorry, but can you please not smoke?
-Sumimasen kedo, goenryo kudasaimasen ka.

I’m sorry, but can you please refrain from smoking?

GRAMMAR NOTE The Noun Demo = Even X

Demo placed before a sentence means “however” or “but”, and comes from “Sō
de mo”, which literally means “even if it is so.” This is the noun version of the -
te mo pattern, which is introduced in Dialogue 2. Demo can be attached to a
noun like a particle, and X de mo means “even X”.

Kodomo de mo wakarimasu. Even children can understand
it.
Obentō de mo i’i desu yo. I’m fine with bentō.

When combined with a question word, it means “any X” or “every X”.
Nan de mo risaikuru-shimasu. We recycle anything (and
everything.)

Dare demo shitte imasu. Everyone knows it.
Itsu de mo i’i desu yo. Anytime is fine.

This pattern contrasts with Question word + ka, which was introduced earlier
and means “some X”.
some X any and every

X
nani ka something nan de mo anything

dare ka someone dare demo anyone
doko ka somewhere doko demo anywhere

itsu ka sometime itsu demo anytime

Nani ka tabe ni ikanai? Would you like to go and eat
something?

-Un, nan de mo i’i yo. Sure. Anything is fine.