もっとも
もっとも is a な adjective/noun as well as a conjunction.
It generally means “Logical” or “Natural”.
This is not 最も, an adverb meaning “the most”. (See bottom).
*もっとも is also an adverb, but this usage is rare and kind of old, so we are going to ignore it.
As a Noun
Natural
As a な adjective, もっとも means “reasonable”, “natural”, or “logical”
It typically appears as のはもっともだ or のももっともだ.
For this meaning, you may substitute 当然 for もっとも
Examples
- 反対するのはもっともだ – Disagreeing is natural/reasonable
- 彼が行くのはもっともだ – Its only natural that he would go.
- 彼女が殴られたから、怒るのはもっともだ – His girlfriend was punched, so it was natural for him to be angry.
- 不平な扱いを受けたら文句を言うのももっともだ – Its only natural to complain when treated unfairly.
- もっともな言い訳だ – Reasonable excuse.
- もっともな反応だった – Natural reaction.
- 彼がやめるのはもっともなことだ。 – Its only reasonable for him to quit.
As a Conjunction
X is true, but exception
As a conjunction, もっとも expresses that the previous statement is true, but with some exceptions.
True statement + もっとも + Except this (Additional information).
Examples
- 旅行にはみんな参加する。もっとも行かない人も二、三いるが (Weblio)
Everyone’s going on the trip. Ah, but 2 or 3 people won’t. - 鳥は空を飛ぶ動物だ。もっとも、例外もある. – Birds are animals that fly. But there are exceptions.
- 哺乳類は陸で暮らす。もっとも、クジラなどの例外はある。
Mammals live on land. But exceptions like whales also exist.
最も (Different)
The もっとも talked about above is not 最も。
The もっとも above does have kanji(尤も), but is almost always going to be かな。
最も, despite having the same pronunciation, is an adverb meaning “The most”:
- 最も高価なもの – The most expensive thing.
- 日本に最も有名なやまは富士山 – Mt. Fuji is the most famous mountain in Japan.