Can ~ても mean 'also'?

Question

ても is て + も, も being an intensive particle. Therefore, the choice of translation into English may vary. For example, if I were to say that a reply doesn't need to be made today nor tomorrow, I could say this:

A) 返事は今日でなくていいです。明日でなくてもいいです。

You don't have to make a reply today. You also don't have to make it tomorrow.

In this case, なくても means also rather than even if. Also note that, in the first sentence, I used なくて instead of なくても, just so I can give emphasis solely to the next one, but I could've added it too without changing the English translation. However, it would have been more emphatic.

A may sound wordy as we can say this:

B) 返事は今日でも明日でもなくて(も)いいです

You don't have to make a reply today nor tomorrow.

Is my understanding correct? I can't find an example sentence with ても meaning also in my books, but I don't see how that would not be possible.

Answer 1

Yes, this ても can work like a regular "also". The key element to understand is that the も in ても is there to create an inclusive contrast, so in a broad sense, it's always "also". In your context, the contrast can be made between today and tomorrow, so the difference between "even if" and "also" is blurred and the English "also" is easier to see:

[...]. 明日でなくてもいいです

[...]. [Even] if you don't reply tomorrow, it's [also] fine.

If we take a situation where you can't make an explicit contrast, which is the majority of cases, the contrast is now between that situation happening or not:

羊を数えても寝られない

[Even] if I count sheep, I [also] can't sleep.

Here we're making a contrast for the situation of counting sheep. It doesn't matter if you count sheep or not, you can't sleep. In other words, if you count sheep, you also can't sleep (relative to when you don't count them). You can see how that contrasting "also" turns into an "even if", "no matter", "whatever", etc.

Answer 2

In the construction なくて（も）いい, the も is optional. It's inclusion doesn't change the meaning. Instead, I'd probably say something like this:

今日は返事しなくてもいいです。明日でも返事しなくてもいいです。

"You don't have to answer today. Even if you don't answer tomorrow, that's fine"

ても means "even if", so for instance:

速く歩いても間に合わない

"Even if we walk quickly, we won't make it on time"

The only exception to this is でも. でも can mean either "even if", as in:

二年生でも入れます

"Even if you are a second year, you can enter"

It can mean "But/However", as a leading adverb:

友達は魚が好きです。でも、私は魚が好きじゃないです。

"My friend likes fish. However, I do not."

It can also mean で + も, as in:

試験を鉛筆で書けます。ペンでも書けます。

"You can write the exam with a pencil. You can also write it with a pen."

or

日本語で話しました。英語でも話しました

"We spoke in Japanese. We spoke in English, too"

That said, ても represents "even if", not "also".