Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 2: 9/12

と

And

The last と in a group is generally omitted.

Structure

Noun + と

Details

  • Part of Speech

    Particle

  • Word Type

    Case Marking Particle

  • Register

    Standard

  • 品詞

    助詞

  • 単語の種類

    格助詞

  • 使用域

    一般

About と

と is a particle that is often thought of as meaning 'and' in English, which is usually how it can be translated. In a broader sense, と simply shows that there is a relationship of 'compilation' between (A) and (B). That relationship could be existing together (translated as 'and'), or performing an action together (translated as 'with').

In this case, we will focus on the 'and' translation. A full description of と as 'with' can be found here.

と is required after every noun that it is grouped with. However, the last と in a sentence will often be omitted, if there are several.

In this example, we can see that the last noun in the group (pencil) does not require the particle と, although it is considered more correct to have it. In conversation, the last と will almost always be omitted.

Examples

  • 魚(さかな)とバナナ。

    Fish and bananas.

  • これとそれは私(わたし)のものです。

    This and that are mine.

  • メアリーとたけしとロバートは大学生(だいがくせい)だ。

    Mary and Takeshi and Robert are college students.

  • これとこれもあなたのですよね。

    This and this too are yours, right?

  • 私(わたし)はカタカナとひらがなを教(おし)えます。

    I teach katakana and hiragana.

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と – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (8 in total)

  • deltacat3

    deltacat3

    私はフルーツとパンも食べます。
    I eat fruit and (also) bread.

    When a list is marked by も is it always inclusive to the entire list or just the last listed thing?
    The difference between “fruit and (also) bread.” or “(also) fruit and bread.”

  • Asher

    Asher

    Hi there, and sorry for the ‘very’ late reply!

    も always highlights the last thing in the list as being something unique included as part of the group that is being listed before it. It also often highlights that it is not often part of the group being listed before it, but in this case is. Basically one of the two following things.

    (A) is a group to which (Bも) is a part, but not the main topic.
    (A) is a group to which (Bも) is surprisingly a part, and still not the main topic.

    In both cases, whatever も highlights is not the ‘main’ thing. Just something small being added in for emphasis.

  • JusticeforNerds

    JusticeforNerds

    Not sure where else to mark it, but this may be a good addition or example sentence for the と grammar point somewhere in Bunpro.
    From a past N1 exam: この鍋は、炒め物に、揚げ物にと何にでも使えて便利です。
    For whatever reason, I couldn’t wrap my head around this one at first. After discussing it with a Japanese native speaker and consulting the internet, I understood it as
    この鍋は、A と (meaning ‘and’) B でも使えて便利です。
    “As for this pot, you can use either A or B and it’s useful.”
    where A = 炒め物に、揚げ物に, literally “towards fried food, towards deep fried food”
    and B = 何に, literally “towards something.”

    Am I crazy or is that kind of hard to grasp?

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