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Lesson Transcript

Hi, everyone.
Welcome to the Ultimate Japanese Particle Guide.
In this lesson, you'll learn the particle...
も (mo)
This particle usually follows a noun and means "too" or "also."
It replaces the particles は (wa), が (ga), and を (o).
Can we have a sample sentence?
たかしさんは、カナダ人です。ケンさんもカナダ人です。(Takashi-san wa, Kanada-jin desu. Ken-san mo Kanada-jin desu.)
"Takashi is Canadian. Ken is also Canadian." The first sentence...
たかしさんは、カナダ人です。(Takashi-san wa, Kanada-jin desu.)
...means “Takashi is Canadian” and it contains the topic particle. The second sentence has the same structure.
...but we replace は (wa) with も (mo), ケンもカナダ人です。(Ken-san mo Kanada-jin desu.)
"Ken is also Canadian." Can we have another example?
これは、私のです。それも私のです。(Kore wa, watashi no desu. Sore mo watashi no desu.)
"This is mine. That's also mine."
Notice that in the second sentence we used も (mo) instead of は (wa). それも (Sore mo)
Using this particle you can easily say "me too" or "so do I" in Japanese.
私も (watashi mo) or if you want to sound more polite 私もです (watashi mo desu)
Let's take a look at a few more examples.
くつが欲しいです。かばんも欲しいです。 (Kutsu ga hoshii desu. Kaban mo hoshii desu.)
"I want shoes. I also want a bag."
これは百円です。あれも百円です。 (Kore wa hyaku-en desu. Are mo hyaku-en desu.)
"This is one hundred yen. That is also one hundred yen."
これもにくです。 (Kore mo niku desu.)
“This is also meat.”
Notice that you don't always need to pair this particle with a topic or subject particle if it's clear from the context what you are referring to.
You can also use this particle to emphasize the amount or the extent of something.
You can translate it as "as many as" or "as much as."
Let's see this in a sentence.
ケンは漢字を5000字も知っています。(Ken wa kanji o go-sen-ji mo shitte imasu.)
This means “Ken knows as many as 5000 kanji.”
Five thousands kanji is a lot!
The speaker wanted to emphasize how big the number was, so they said...
5000字も (go-sen-ji mo)
Let's see another example.
200万円もかかります。(Ni-hyaku-man-en mo kakarimasu.)
“It costs as much as 2,000,000 yen.” We're emphasizing the amount of money.
You can also just say 200万円かかります。(Ni-hyaku-man-en kakarimasu.)
"It costs 2 million yen.”
This sentence is just stating the fact that something costs 2 million yen and there isn't any emphasis.
This particle can also be used as an emphasis marker with elements other than numbers.
For example, こどもも携帯電話を持っています。 (Kodomo mo keitai denwa o motte imasu.)
"Even children have their own cell phones."
Let's take a look at a few more examples.
その本は10回も読みました。 (Sono hon wa jukkai mo yomimashita.)
"I read that book as many as ten times."
僕は、忙しくて、ジムに行く余裕もない。(Boku wa, isogashikute, jimu ni iku yoyū mo nai.)
“I’m too busy, and I don't even have the time to go to the gym.”
スーパーで200ドルも使いました。(Sūpā de ni-hyaku-doru mo tsukaimashita.)
"I spent as much as two hundred dollars at the supermarket."
Now, let's use what you learned in this lesson.
We learned how to say "Takashi is Canadian. Ken is also Canadian."
たかしさんは、カナダ人です。ケンさんもカナダ人です。(Takashi-san wa, Kanada-jin desu. Ken-san mo Kanada-jin desu.)
Here the particle も (mo) follows a noun and means "too" or "also."
It usually replaces other particles, such as...
は (wa), が (ga), を (o)
The structure is...
[noun] も (mo)
Now let's try with "Takashi read a book. I also read that book."
Here are the words for "book" and "to read."
本 (hon)
読みます (yomimasu)
"Takashi read a book" is...
たかしさんは本を読みました。(Takashi-san wa hon o yomimashita.)
“I read that book” is...
私はその本を読みました。(Watashi wa sono-hon o yomimashita.)
Now, try to connect these two sentence and say "Takashi read a book. I also read that book" in Japanese. [pause]
The answer is...
たかしさんは本を読みました。私もその本を読みました。(Takashi-san wa hon o yomimashita. Watashi mo sono-hon o yomimashita.)
Did you get it right? In this sentence, the particle も (mo) means "also."
Let's try one more. We also learned how to say "Ken knows as many as 5,000 kanji."
ケンは漢字を5000字も知っています。(Ken wa kanji o go-sen-ji mo shitte imasu.)
Here the particle も (mo) emphasizes a big amount. The structure is...
[something emphasised] も(mo)
Now let's try saying "Takashi read as many as 5,000 books.” using the same structure.
Here are the words for "to read" and "5,000 books."
読みます (yomimasu)
5000冊 (go-sen-satsu)
Try to say "Takashi read as many as 5,000 books” in Japanese. [pause]
The answer is...
たかしさんは本を5000冊も読みました。(Takashi-san wa hon o go-sen-satsu mo yomimashita.)
Well done! In this case, the particle も (mo) emphasizes the great number of books that Takashi read!
In this lesson, you learned about the particle...
In the next lesson, you'll learn about the particle...
から
See you in the next lesson. Bye!
Bye~

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