Page 551 - Makino,Tsutusi.DictionaryOfIntermediateJGrammar

toitterno 477
(Well, even though you say he is strong, he is only an elementary
school kid.)

1. X in X to itte rno can be dropped, as in Ex.(c), when the preceding sen-
tence containing X is uttered by the same speaker and to itte rno imrne-
diately follows thepreceding sentence- If to itte rno does not immedi-
ately follow the preceding sentence, X cannot be dropped, as in (1).

2. X to itte rno can be used without a preceding discourse containing X, as
in (2).
(2) %e 2 9fzt~7~~~~vii%~~$$r?o ~LTI&-c~N?~
io
(Although (people may say that) Bill has gotten old, (he is still
strong because) he used to be a professional athlete. I won't be
able to beat him.)

In this instance, people may or may not actually be saying that Bill has
gotten old, but by using to itte mo the speaker can avoid making a direct
statement like that in (3).
(3) $e tr -c b F~~ZYUBFR', -
(Although Bill has gotten old, (he is still strong because) he - T
EEzsS
used to be a professional athlete.)