と Particle (Exhaustive Listing) Japanese Grammar Lesson
Grammar Type: Particle
Essential Meaning: And
Construction:
- Noun と Noun
- E.g. ミルクとジュース [Milk and juice]
Notes:
- と (Exhaustive listing) is used to list nouns and noun phrases exhaustively. For example, the sentence 「AとBが好きだ」means “I like A and B, and that’s all.” To make an exhaustive listing of verbs or adjectives instead of nouns, the て-Form should be used instead.
- E.g. *ここのハンバーガーは安いといい。[This place’s hangers are cheap and good.] と (Exhaustive listing) cannot be used to list adjectives. The て-Form should be used instead.
- E.g. *ウイルソンさんは日本へ行ったと木村さんにあった。[Mr. Wilson went to Japan and Met Kimura-san.] と (Exhaustive listing) cannot be used to list verbs. The て-Form should be used instead.
- E.g. *マークはコンサートに行ったとクリスは映画に行った。[Mark went to a concert, and Chris went to the movies.] と (Exhaustive listing) cannot be used to list verbs. The て-Form should be used instead.
- と (Exhaustive listing) is typically omitted after the final noun in the list, but it can be included optionally. Thus the listing A, B and C is most commonly written as AとBとC rather than AとBとCと.
- Note that a list of noun phrases (e.g. Noun 1 と Noun 2 と Noun 3) is itself a noun phrase and can be used anywhere that noun phrases can be used (i.e. as the subject, direct object, indirect object, et cetera).
- E.g. マイクとジョンは学生です。[Mike and John are students.] In this example, the compound noun phrase “Mike and John” is the topic of the sentence.
- With a noun phrase such as Noun 1 と Noun 2, the relationship between Noun 1 and Noun 2 may be ambiguous without additional context. For example, in the sentence 山本さんとスミスさんはテニスをしています。[Yamamoto-san and Smith-san are playing tennis.] In this sentence, it is clear that both Yamamoto-san and Smith-san are playing tennis, but it is unclear whether or not they are playing tennis together. The sentence can be unambiguously restated with と (Reciprocal Relationship) to express the idea that the two are playing together.
- E.g. 山本さんはスミスさんとテニスをしています。[Yamamoto-san is playing tennis with Smith-san.] In this case, the two are unambiguously playing tennis together.
- や is a similar particle used to list noun phrases in-exhaustively.
- E.g. ミルズさんやハリスさんが来た。[Mr. Mills and Mr. Harris came (among others).]
- E.g. これはスプーンやフォークで食べる。[Around here we eat with utensils such as spoons and forks (among other things).]
- The に (Existence) particle can also be used to list nouns exhaustively when one or more secondary nouns are added to a main noun (marked by に) in order to create a list of indispensable objects. In other words, the secondary nouns are implied to be indispensable aspects of or accompaniments to the main noun.
- E.g. 毎朝みそ汁とご飯を食べる。[I eat miso soup and rice every morning.] This sentence simply conveys an exhaustive list of things that the speaker eats every morning.
- E.g. 毎朝みそ汁にご飯を食べる。[I eat rice with my miso soup every morning.] This sentence implies that rice has been added to miso soup as an indispensable aspect of the speaker’s daily breakfast.
- E.g. あの人はいつも白いシャツと赤いチョッキを着ている。[That person always wears a white shirt and a red vest.]
- E.g. あの人はいつも白いシャツに赤いチョッキを着ている。[That person always wears a red vest in addition to a white shirt.] The implication is that the red vest is an indispensable addition to the white shirt.
Example Sentences:
マイクとジョンは学生です。[Mike and John are students.]
私は英語と日本語を話す。[I speak English and Japanese.]
ボブは来年ドイツとフランスとスペインへ行くつもりだ。[Bob intends to go to Germany, France, and Spain next year.]
ステーキはナイフとフォークで食べる。[Steak is eaten with a fork and knife.]
山本さんとスミスさんがテニスをしている。[Yamamoto-san and Smith-san are playing tennis.]
日本語とトルコ語は似ている。[Japanese and Turkish resemble one another.]
WILD Examples:
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