Sukoshi vs Demo

Konnichiwa, I was watching Naruto and I noticed they use *Sukoshi* for the word *but*. With RJ I have learned that the word for but is *Demo*. So, can you use both, or are there any restrictions? Thanks.

Konnichiwa Ashwinr-san, *Sukoshi*... is a word meaning "little" as in "little portion". *Sukoshi taberu*... means "eat a little" *Sukoshi ageru*... means "give a little" It actually would never mean "but". You may have heard it in the context... "*Demo sukoshi...* something something." which translates as _"But a little... something something."_

[quo]*Quote from * Sayaka Konnichiwa Ashwinr-san, *Sukoshi*... is a word meaning "little" as in "little portion". *Sukoshi taberu*... means "eat a little" *Sukoshi ageru*... means "give a little" It actually would never mean "but". You may have heard it in the context... "*Demo sukoshi...* something something." which translates as _"But a little... something something."_[/quo] Konbanwa, Arigato for the explanation. I think I heard wrong. I checked again and heard them say it a few times more. The word for but they use in naruto is *shikashi*. And that's different from shukoshi :). But they also use demo. So it is a bit confusing. The Japanese language seems to have a lot of different words for the same thing depending on how formal the conversation is.

Konnichiwa Ashwinr-san, Yes!! *SHIKASHI* does mean "but"!! Very good listening comprehension. :P Let me explain the difference of SHIKASHI and DEMO - both translating as "but". Think of the difference between these two English prepositions... 1. the more colloquial sound of *_"but"_* and 2. the more formal sound of _*"however."*_ DEMO is usually used instead of SHIKASHI in casual colloquial conversations. While SHIKASHI is somewhat 'official' -sounding. So, しかし (shikashi) and でも (demo) are actually the same in meaning, though the formal *shikashi* leans more towards the English expression - _"however"_ while *demo* is more like the casual expression - _"but."_

Konbanwa, Arigato gozaimasu. This was very helpful.

You're very welcome! Dou itashimashite. :P