Jisho

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552899e0df5f00b50917819cfbae0120
1 Reply ・ Started by Space_Cadet at 2023-08-01 02:35:09 UTC ・ Last reply by Poodle9000 at 2023-08-17 19:56:38 UTC
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Usage of も?

How is the particle ‘mo’ used? I cannot find many answers besides 2 very basic examples

23152b6675f27e8c8efe0e4efb316803
Poodle9000 at 2023-08-17 19:56:38 UTC

Would this help?

も can mean 'too/also', or 'even', or 'neither/either', depending on if the sentence is affirmative or negative. Multiple meanings like this are quite common for Japanese particles, as there is no need to use different words simply to agree with other statements in the sentence (unlike English).

私は先生です。
I am a teacher.

私も先生です。
I'm also a teacher.

English requires 'either/neither (when negative)', or 'too/also', but Japanese only requires も. You can think of it as simply meaning 'Whatever is true for (A), is also true for (B)'.
も is part of many other grammar structures in which it keeps its original meaning, but shifts the nuance a little bit. Some of these include でも, にも~ない, とも. As we can see, it is frequently paired with other particles!
車は早い、でも危ない。
Cars are fast, but dangerous.
Here, も can be seen pairing with で. This suggests that 'With (A), (B) also'. This is regularly translated simply as 'but' in English.

From bunpro

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