てもどうにもならない

JLPT N1approx.Neutral
Meaning

Even if one does X, it will not change or improve the situation. It states that an action such as regretting, apologizing or worrying is useless, typically because the outcome is already fixed or it is too late.

Formation
Verb (te-form)+もどうにもならない後悔しても, 謝っても
い形容詞 stem+くても+どうにもならない悲しくても
な形容詞 stem+でも+どうにもならない
Noun+でも+どうにもならない
Voiced form動詞て形 ending in で+もどうにもならない悩んでも, 落ち込んでも
Examples
事態じたいがこのようになってからでは、後悔こうかいしてもどうにもならない。
Now that things have come to this, regretting it won't help.
今いまさら謝あやまってもどうにもならない。もう手遅ておくれだ。
Apologizing now won't do any good. It's already too late.
Usage

Used in both conversation and writing to state that an action or state is futile, often about something that has already happened. It frequently pairs with 今さら or いくら to stress that it is too late or that effort will not help. It can express resignation, but it also commonly leads into advice to stop a futile reaction and move on, as in 落ち込んでもどうにもならない。頑張ろう.

Watch out

Do not attach もどうにもならない to the dictionary form; it requires the て-form (謝っても, not 謝るも).

Do not write 悲しいても; い-adjectives change to the く-form before ても (悲しくても).

Note that it is not only resigned; it often precedes encouragement to move on (落ち込んでもどうにもならない。頑張ろう).

Easily confused with
  • たところでN1「たところで」 attaches only to the ta-form of verbs and requires a separate negative judgment in the following clause (it can also mean 'at best'), while 「てもどうにもならない」 is itself already a conclusion and can also attach to adjectives and nouns. The two are interchangeable when expressing futility.
  • ても始まらないN3「ても始まらない」 is more colloquial and stresses that doing something is pointless, often followed by words urging a change of thinking, whereas 「てもどうにもならない」 stresses that the situation is already beyond repair and sounds more resigned. The two are interchangeable with words like 「後悔する」.
  • としたって / としたところでN1「としたって」/「としたところで」 attach to the plain form to express a supposition, can be followed by negative judgments like 「遅い」, lean colloquial, and can also attach to personal nouns to indicate a standpoint. 「てもどうにもならない」 attaches to the te-form with a fixed conclusion and is neutral in register.
  • ようがない / ようもないN2「ようがない」 attaches to the masu-stem (the masu-form minus ます) and means there is no way to do something, while 「てもどうにもならない」 means the action is possible but doing it won't change the situation. 「ようがない」 can also appear as 「言いようのない」 to express an extreme degree, and the two generally cannot be interchanged.
  • ばそれまでだN1「ばそれまでだ」 is a conditional meaning that once the situation in the first clause arises, any effort is wasted (it can also take the form 「と言ってしまえば〜」 to signal that a topic is hard to pursue further), while 「てもどうにもならない」 is concessive, meaning that even if the situation in the first clause exists, it won't help. The two cannot be interchanged.

たところで and ても始まらない also mark an action as futile, but たところで frames the action more as a supposition with little or no result, and ても始まらない stresses that the action leads nowhere. としたって / としたところで make a hypothetical concession without necessarily implying futility, ようがない means there is no way or method to do something, and ばそれまでだ means that once X happens, everything is over.

Grammar · JLPT grammar levels are community estimates, not official (no official lists have been published since the 2010 revision).

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