も (mo) — Also, Too, Both/And, Emphasized Quantity
Adds the meaning 'also', 'too', or 'either'. It replaces the subject/object markers (は, が, を) to signal inclusion. Paired, it means 'both X and Y'; combined with a number it stresses a surprisingly large quantity.
Structure
[Noun] も [Predicate]
Examples
山田さんは学生です。私も学生です。
Yamada-san wa gakusei desu. Watashi mo gakusei desu.
Mr. Yamada is a student. I am also a student.
も replaces は here (私は → 私も)
肉も魚も好きです。
Niku mo sakana mo suki desu.
I like both meat and fish.
N1 も N2 も = both N1 and N2
昨日は10時間も寝ました。
Kinou wa juujikan mo nemashita.
Yesterday I slept for as long as 10 hours.
number/quantity + も stresses that the amount is surprisingly large
• Stacking rules: も replaces は, が, を (never がも, をも). BUT it stacks onto に, で, へ, と (日本にも行きたい - I want to go to Japan too). • Absolute Negation: Question word + も + negative verb = 'none at all' (誰もいない - no one is there; 何も食べない - I eat nothing). • Double Inclusion: Aも Bも applies the statement to both equally.
Commonly confused with
The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones も is tested against.
vs は / が / を
も directly substitutes for these markers to add 'also/too'; you never combine them (私はも is wrong). It is essentially 'は plus inclusion'.
vs と (and)
AもBも and AとB both link two nouns, but と simply joins them ('A and B'), while AもBも adds emphasis that the predicate applies to BOTH ('both A and B alike').
More particles
- が (ga) — Subject Marker & Exhaustive Listing
- を (o) — Direct Object & Traversal
- に (ni) — Target, Time, and Existence Location
- で (de) — Context of Action (Location, Means, Condition)
- と (to) — And (Exhaustive), With, and Quotation
- か (ka) — Question, Or, and Uncertain Identity
- の (no) — Possession, Modification, & Nominalization
- から (kara) — Starting Point, Origin, & Reason
Study Japanese grammar on LenGaki
Everything on this page, free to browse
- 7,788 JLPT vocabulary words, N5 through N1, with readings and audio
- 2,057 kanji with on'yomi, kun'yomi and stroke-order practice
- 444 grammar points with examples and commonly-confused comparisons
- Full-length N5 and N4 mock exams, timed, with real listening audio
Get the Android app