Nでも

JLPT N4:

an option, such as N

In an invitation or suggestion, noun + でも offers one possible example rather than insisting on that choice: "N or something".

How to form it

  • Put でも after the proposed noun. In a direct-object invitation it replaces を: お茶(おちゃ)でも飲(の)みませんか.
  • The invitation or suggestion supplies the context. The noun names one possible option, not an unrestricted "anything".

Examples

お茶(おちゃ)でも飲(の)みませんか。

Shall we have tea or something?

映画(えいが)でも見(み)ましょう。

Let's watch a film or something.

散歩(さんぽ)でもしませんか。

Shall we take a walk or something?

Notes

  • Contrast 〜ても / noun + でも: 雨(あめ)でも行(い)きます (I will go even if it rains). That describes an unchanged result, not an example option.
  • Contrast question word + でも: 何(なん)でもいいです (anything is fine). The positive-predicate guidance for that use does not rule out an invitation with ませんか here.
  • 〜とか and 〜など can also offer an example in suitable contexts. They are overlapping ways to make a suggestion, not automatically incorrect alternatives.