〜けど／けれども
But… — contrast, softening a lead-inmachine translation
FormationPlain form / ます-form + けど・けれど・けれども
けど is the most common "but" in conversation: 難しいけど、面白い (hard but interesting). The same root comes in four levels from casual to formal: けど → けれど → けれども → が. All of them can attach to both the plain form and the ます・です forms.
Beyond "but", けど is also used as a SOFTENER — an opener that leads into a question or request without any real contrast: すみません、駅に行きたいんですけど… This is a very Japanese way of starting a conversation; its full polite form is 〜んですが — see the separate lesson.
Compared with のに: けど is neutral — you say it and move on; のに carries the feeling that "things should have been different". The clause after けど is completely free (commands and invitations are fine), so when in doubt, けど is always the safer choice.
Examples
日本語は難しいけど、面白いです。
Japanese is hard, but it's interesting.
電話したけど、誰も出ませんでした。
I called, but no one picked up.
今日は行きたいけれども、時間がありません。
I want to go today, but I don't have time.