も Particle (Too / As well)

も Particle (Too / As well) Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Particle

Essential Meaning: Too / Also / As well / Not ~ either

Construction: 

• Noun + も
  • E.g. 私わたしも [I as well / Me too]
• Noun + Particle + も
  • E.g. イギリスでも [In England as well]
  • E.g. 先生せんせいにも [To the teacher as well]

Notes:

• In this context, Xも means “X too” or “X as well“. も implies that the proposition in question can be applied to at least one other element besides X. For example, the statement “Mark likes soccer, too” implies that there is at least one other person besides Mark who likes soccer. Those others (e.g. Matt, John, Steve) could replace Mark in the sentence (i.e. “Matt likes soccer“, “John likes soccer“). Thus, the fact that Mark was chosen as the subject among other possible choices puts a clear focus on Mark. As another example, consider this sentence: 私わたしはニューヨークへも行いった。[I went to New York as well.] The presence of も in this example implies that the speaker went to other places besides New York, but New York is clearly emphasized above those other places.

• も can be used with subjects, direct objects, indirect objects, et cetera.
  • E.g. With Subject: 私わたしも学生がくせいだ。[I am a student too.]
  • E.g. With Direct Object: 私わたしはスペイン語ごも話はなす。[I can speak Spanish as well.]
  • E.g. With Indirect Object: 私わたしは村山むらやまさんにもプレゼントをあげる。[I gave a present to Mr. Murayama as well.]

• Xも can be used with both positive and negative propositions. With a negative proposition, Xも means something like “Not ~ either“.
  • E.g. With Positive Verb: 私わたしも学生がくせいだ。[I am a student too.]
  • E.g. With Negative Verb: この町まちでは新あたらしい魚さかなが買かえません。隣となりの町まちでも買かえません。[You can’t buy fresh fish in this village. You can not buy it in the neighboring village either.]

• There are certain cases in which Xも does not directly correspond to another potential element Yも. Consider this example: 私わたしの家いえは居間いまが狭せまい。それに台所だいどころも不便ふべんだ。[My living room is small. On top of that, the kitchen is inconvenient as well.] In the first sentence, the speaker states that the living room is small, but what they are really implying is that the living room is inconvenient (because it’s small). Thus, the subtext is: 居間いまは不便ふべんだ。それに台所だいどころも不便ふべんだ。[My living room is inconvenient. On top of that, my kitchen is inconvenient as well.] In other words, も refers to the speaker’s implication (i.e. “My living room is inconvenient“) rather than to the what the speaker literally states (i.e. “My living room is narrow“).

• The construction XもAだ is used when expressing a quality that two nouns share (i.e. “X is A. Y is A as well“). However, XもAだ cannot be used to describe two separate qualities that a single noun possesses (i.e. “X is A as well as B“). Instead, this idea can be expressed with でもある.
  • E.g. ボブは人間にんげんだ。マイクも人間にんげんだ。[Bob is a human. Mike is a human as well.].
  • E.g. *マイクは人間にんげんだ。マイクも先生せんせいだ。[Mike is a human. Mike is a teacher as well.] The structure XもAだ can not be used to express two qualities that Mike possesses. Instead でもある should be used.
  • E.g. 私わたしは医者いしゃだ。そして先生せんせいでもある。[I am a doctor. I am also a teacher.]

Example Sentences:

私わたしも学生がくせいだ。[I am a student too.]

私わたしはスペイン語ごも話はなす。[I can speak Spanish as well.]

私わたしは村山むらやまさんにもプレゼントをあげる。[I gave a present to Mr. Murayama as well.]

ハートさんはテニスをします。ゴルフもします。[Mr. Hart plays tennis. He plays golf as well.]

この町まちでは新あたらしい魚さかなが買かえません。隣となりの町まちでも買かえません。[You can’t buy fresh fish in this village. You can’t buy it in the neighboring village either.]

WILD Examples:

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