In class i’ve only learned the first “and” use for this particle. But apparently it is used for a lot more.

"and"

Connects two or more nominals together and links them in a similar fashion to English “and”. Forms a combined nominal with all the linked sub nominals.

赤と青と緑 - “red and blue and green”

私と友達 - “my friends and I” - In Japanese, self usually comes first.

"with"

Can be put after a nominal for the English meaning of “with” or “together with”.

私の友人と - “with my friend”

父は母と買い物に行きました - “dad went shopping with mom”

Comparison

Can be used for comparing and contrasting nominals. Use after each nominal you are comparing.

日本語と英語と、どちらの方がいいですか - “Which is better, Japanese or English?” / “Is Japanese or English better?”

Conditional

The word “conditional” kinda confuses me in regards to this usage, cause I thought there was a conditional form for verbals?. You can put it after a verbal or nominal to form a conditional statement. Similar to English “when” or “if”.

家に帰ると誰もいませんでした - “When I got home, nobody was there”

高いと、買いません - “If it is expensive, I will not buy it”. I guess “When it is expensive, I will not buy it” kinda works. Makes sense with the usage too.

あの店に行くと安いゲームを買えます - “If you go to that store, you can buy cheap games” / “When you go to that store, you can buy cheap games”

Quotations

Can be used to mark the end of a thought or quotation. Often follows a verb, and precedes 言う / 思う / 聞く.

面白かったと思いました - “I thought it was interesting”

面白かったと思います - “I think it was interesting”

面白いと思います - “I think it is interesting”. I’m honestly not sure the exact implied meaning differences between these three. I know Sensei said something about making something like よかった友達です vs. いい友達でした. First adds an implied meaning that the person “was” a good friend, but now isn’t. Second is just that person was a good friend. Not sure is some implied meaning comes into play here too.

緑だったと聞きます - “I hear (heard) is was green”

彼は私が明日学校に来ると言いました - “He said I will come to school tomorrow”

Sound Words

Can be used with onomatopoetic words.

犬がワンワンと吠えている - “The dog is crying ‘bark bark’”

As a conditional

See the 01/20/19 post

with なる

Add nominal plus to combined with なる (to become / reach / attain) (となる) to indicate something reaches a goal / new state. Used to indicate a change or result.

強いとなった - “It became strong”

with 同じ

Add nominal plus to combined with 同じ (と同じ) to say the same as nominal. Though sometimes the particle に (に同じ) is used instead.

私と同じ仕方 - “the same way (of doing) as me”

友達と同じ - “the same as my friends”. Compare to 同じ友達, which means “the same friends”.


  • Those last two I just found randomly while searching, so there are probably some more obscure uses that I am missing.




Vocab:

Here are some kanji from the lessons that I wasn’t really familiar with at this point:

緑 - Meaning is green. Pronounced midori.

友達 - Haven’t learned the second one. Meaning is friend. Pronounced tomodachi.

買い物 - We know 買い is the i-conjugated form of to shop. Meaning is shopping (noun). Pronounced kaimono.

吠える - Meaning to bark / cry / howl /roar. Pronounced hoeru.

帰る - Meaning to return / go back / go home / come home. Pronounced kaeru.

誰 - I thought this was usually written with straight kana. First time seeing it as kanji. Meaning who. Pronounced dare.

面白い - Meaning interesting / fun. Pronounced omoshiroi.

彼 - Meaning he / him / his / boyfriend. Pronounced kare.