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JLPT N5Comparison

同じ— 'The Same'

同じ means 'the same.' It is irregular: it behaves like a na-adjective but drops な when placed directly before a noun.

Grammar path · 練習

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A short lesson: the pattern, its sentence anatomy, a quick quiz and a sentence to build.

Pro lessonUNIT 27 · COMPARISON

Structure · 形

[A] と [B] は同じです | 同じ + [Noun] (no な, no の)

Examples · 例文

  • 私のカバンは田中さんのと同じです。

    Watashi no kaban wa Tanaka-san no to onaji desu.

    My bag is the same as Tanaka's.

    私のカバン (my bag) は + 田中さんの (Tanaka's [bag]) と (as/with) + 同じです (is the same)

  • 私たちは同じ学校に行っています。

    Watashitachi wa onaji gakkou ni itte imasu.

    We go to the same school.

    同じ + 学校 (school) — attaches directly, no particle between them

  • 彼と私は同じ大学の学生です。

    Kare to watashi wa onaji daigaku no gakusei desu.

    He and I are students at the same university.

    同じ + 大学 (university) — 同じ attaches directly to the noun, with no な

Usage notes · 注意

  • The missing な: The key rule. Even though 同じ acts like a na-adjective, it drops な (and never takes の) before a noun. Say 同じ学校, never 同じな学校 or 同じの学校.
  • The 'as/with' particle: To compare A to B, Japanese says 'A is the same WITH B' using と (AとBは同じ). Do not use に or を.

Commonly confused with

The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones 同じ is tested against.

vs同じ vs 違う (different)

同じ is a na-type word ('same'), while 違う is a verb ('to differ'). So you say AとBは同じです but AとBは違います (not 違いです).

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