However much... No matter how much...

I don't watch a lot of TV dramas, but I did enjoy the Korean drama series, All In, which finished last Thursday. Of course, I don't know any Korean apart from Annyong Haseyo and Kamsahamnida, so I used to watch it on the Japanese sub-channel and practise my Japanese listening.

In one episode, a male characters said to the heroine: Ikura nigetemo, boku wa akiramenai （いくら逃げても、僕はあきらめない）. (At least, I think that's what he said). Anyway, how would you translate his sentence into English?

I would say there are several possibilities:

However far you try to run away, I will not give up.
No matter how far you run away, I won't give up.
It doesn't matter how often you run away, I won't give up.

Let's have a closer look at these expressions in the next section.

However + adjective / adverb

I'm sure that most of you know the use of however in sentences like these:

There are no storms heading for the UK for the rest of this week. However, we can expect heavy rain on Sunday night.

In this case, however, marks a contrast between the two sentences: a piece of good news (There are no heavy storms...) followed by a piece of bad news (we can expect heavy rain).

We can also use however in this way: However + adjective or adverb + subject + verb, which is similar to Ikura ...temo... in Japanese. Here are some examples:

HOWEVER + ADJECTIVE:

However cold it gets, my grandfather refuses to wear an overcoat.
However tired my father feels, he always reads his bible before he goes to bed.
However difficult it seems, you have to keep studying if you want to succeed.

A less formal way of expressing these ideas, especially in conversation is with the phrases, No matter how... / It doesn't matter how... If you use these phrases, remember to use how before the adjective:

No matter how cold it gets, my grandfather refuses to wear an overcoat.
It doesn't matter how difficult it seems, you have to keep studying.

HOWEVER + -ly ADVERB:

However carefully we try to explain things to her, she never seems to understand.

(Of course, in this case too, No matter how.../ It doesn't matter how... can also be used).

HOWEVER / NO MATTER + OTHER ADVERBS:
These include words like much, many, often, far, hard:

No matter how often I hear this song, I never get tired of it.
However hard I try, I can never finish my work on time.
It doesn't matter how late he goes to bed, he's always bright and cheerful in the morning.

Short exercise

Try to complete the following sentences with your own ideas:

1. However hard she tries to lose weight...........
2. No matter how much beer he drinks................
3. It doesn't matter how much I complain to the neighbours about........

For some suggested answers please click here.

Click here if you want to try some of my other one-point lessons.