How to Say ‘But it really flew well!’ in Japanese
でも、よく飛びましたね！
de mo yoku tobi mashi ta ne
[deh moh yoh-koo toh-BEE mah-shee tah neh]
🇯🇵 In Japan: Leading with でも (demo) "but" turns a miss into a compliment. Softening bad news with praise like this is very typical of Japanese golf manners.
Phrase Breakdown
でも、よく
de mo yoku
but, well / a lot
でも means 'but / still'. Pause briefly at the comma, then say よく (yoku), meaning 'well' or 'a lot'.
でも、よくできました。
But you did well.
Words in this phrase
で
de
[deh]
but (part of でも)
First half of でも, a conjunction meaning 'but' or 'however' at the start of a sentence.
でも、高いです。
But it's expensive.
も
mo
[moh]
but (part of でも)
Second part of でも, which together means 'but' or 'however' at the start of a sentence.
でも、楽しかったです。
But it was fun.
よく
yoku
[yoh-koo]
well; nicely
An adverb praising how well someone did an action.
キーパーがよく止めた。
The goalkeeper stopped it well.
飛びましたね！
tobi mashi ta ne
it flew, didn't it!
飛ぶ (tobu) means 'to fly' and 飛びました is its polite past form. ね! adds friendly admiration.
鳥が飛びましたね！
The bird flew away!
Words in this phrase
飛び
tobi
[toh-BEE]
fly (stem)
Stem of 飛ぶ, 'to fly'; used for a ball carrying far.
ボールが遠くに飛びました。
The ball flew far.
まし
mashi
[mah-shee]
polite past stem
Part of the polite past ending in a verb phrase.
昨日は多くのことを学びました。
I learned many things yesterday.
た
ta
[tah]
past tense ending
This ending completes the polite past tense form.
空席がございまし た。
There were vacant seats.
ね
ne
[neh]
isn't it?; right?
A sentence-ending particle used to seek agreement or add warmth.
すばらしい経験ですね。
That's wonderful experience, isn't it?
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