if only; and yet (regret/reproach)

ものを expresses regret or reproach that something turned out badly when it needn't have. Attach it to a plain-form verb/adjective, or a na-adjective with な. It implies the situation would have been better if only things had been different.

Examples

• 早はやく言いってくれればよかったものを。

  Hayaku itte kurereba yokatta mono o.

  If only you had told me sooner.

• 謝あやまれば済すむものを、彼かれは意地いじを張はっている。

  Ayamareba sumu mono o, kare wa iji o hatte iru.

  It would be settled if he just apologized, and yet he's being stubborn.

Vocabulary in these examples

• 早い early
• 言う to say
• くれる to give (to me)
• 謝る to apologize
• 彼 he, him
• 意地 willpower, stubbornness

Related patterns · Concession and contrast

• 〜といえども even though; although
• 〜はおろか let alone; not to mention
• 〜にひきかえ in contrast to; unlike
• 〜にもまして more than; even more than