~も~も Japanese Grammar Lesson
Grammar Type: Structure
Essential Meaning: Both X and Y / Neither X nor Y
Construction:
- Noun も + Noun も + (Noun も)
- E.g. 先生も学生も [Both the teacher and the student]
- [Noun + Particle + も] + [Noun + Particle + も] + ([Noun + Particle + も])
- 先生にも学生にも [Both to the teacher and to the student]
- [い-Adjective Stem + くも] + [い-Adjective Stem + くも] + Negative Verb
- 大きくも小さくもない [Neither large nor small]
- [な-Adjective Stem / Noun] でも + [な-Adjective Stem / Noun] でも + Negative Verb
- E.g. 便利でも不便でもない [Neither convenient nor inconvenient]
- E.g. 先生でも学生でもない [Neither a teacher nor a student]
Notes:
- XもYも is a structure that translates to “Both X and Y” with a positive predicate or “Neither X nor Y” with a negative predicate. X and Y should be grammatically parallel (i.e. both い-Adjective, both な-Adjectives, both Nouns) for the sake of style.
- Note that adjectives are only used with ~も~も in a negative context (i.e. “Neither X nor Y“). In positive contexts, the ordinary adjective て-Form can be used instead.
- E.g. このアパートは狭くて不便です。[This apartment is narrow and inconvenient.]
- E.g. このアパートは便利でも不便でもない。[This apartment is neither convenient nor inconvenient.]
- When using the ~も~も structure negatively with nouns (i.e. Neither Noun 1 nor Noun 2), the structure becomes Noun 1 でも Noun 2 でも + negative verb.
- E.g. 山川さんは酒でもタバコでもやりません。[Mr. Yamakawa neither drinks nor smokes.]
- Technically, Noun も Noun も Noun も can be used with an infinitely long string of nouns, but it is stylistically awkward to use more than three nouns.
Example Sentences:
田中さんも中山さんもデパートに勤めている。[Both Tanaka-san and Nakayama-san work at the department store.]
京都へバスでも電車でも行ける。[You can go to Kyoto either by bus or by train.]
このうちは広くも狭くもない。[This house is neither spacious nor narrow.]
日本人もアメリカ人もよく働く。[Both Japanese people and American people work a lot.]
山川さんは酒でもタバコでもやりません。[Mr. Yamakawa neither drinks nor smokes.]
弟にも妹にも本を買ってやりました。[I bought books for both my younger brother and my younger sister.]
マギーは美人でも不美人でもない。[Maggie is neither beautiful nor ugly.]
この建物はきれいでも立派でもありません。[This building is neither pretty nor magnificent.]
WILD Examples:
***YouTube videos may be region-locked depending on your country of origin. If you experience issues, please try using a VPN set to a United States IP address.***