と in Japanese – With This and That
と in Japanese is a particle which connects things together or explains the relationship between two things. This particle also can be used to quote things. It is a very useful word to know. Let’s take a closer look.
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Linking Words Together with と in Japanese
と can translate from English to Japanese as either with or and. Most of the time there is not a difference between those two words. So, when you see と just think of it as a particle that links words together.
私は猫と犬が好きです
I like dogs and cats
太郎と次郎は毎日散歩している
Taro and Jiro are taking walks every day
Basically, と follows the nouns it is connecting together. You can connect as many as you like:
AとBとCとDと
However, usually the last と is removed like in the two examples sentences.
https://japaneseuniverse.com/2024/02/18/pac-man-in-japaneseconcepts-behind-development-to-global-icon/Reciprocal Relationships and Comparing
Sometimes we want to say more than this and that. と allows us to represent the relationship between the two words we are linking together.
Reciprocal Relationships
A reciprocal relationship just means that two people or things are doing something together. In the first section we talked about how Jiro and Taro walk everyday. Well, if we write 太郎と次郎は then we don’t know if they are walking together or with each other. We can solve this ambiguity though by rewriting the sentence:
太郎は次郎と毎日散歩している
Taro is walking with Jiro everyday
Here, if you pick one person and make them the topic with は then we know that they were walking together. So, if you want to be clear about people doing things together write it in the AはBと form. This form means, A together with B. Let’s look at some more examples:
太郎は次郎と喧嘩している
Taro is having a quarrel with Jiro
次郎は花子と結婚した
Jiro married Hanako
Again, if we rewrite the above sentence to the one below, let’s see what happens:
次郎と花子は結婚した
Jiro and Hanako got married
As you can see, we know that Jiro and Hanako got married but there is no indication if they married each-other or someone else. Maybe Hanako married Taro instead, or maybe Jiro married taro. There is no way to know. Usually though, since Japanese is a very contextual language it would make sense from the conversation who married who.
Comparing Things
と in Japanese also works the same way if you want to compare two things. You can use the same form AはBと to say something is the same or different from something else.
猫は犬と違う
cats are different from dogs
Actually, when you compare two things you can also write it as AとBは. That is because the context does not allow for any other possibilities. For that reason there is no confusion on what two things you are comparing.
猫と犬は違う
cats and dogs are different
The sentence above can only mean you are comparing cats and dogs. You could not be comparing cats to birds or dogs to mice.
Continuing on.
この人は昨日見た人と同じ
this person is the same as the person I saw yesterday
リンゴとオレンジを比べると、どっちがいい？
Comparing apples and oranges, which do you prefer?
So, any word for comparing can be used with と in Japanese for comparing two things.
Quoting and other Special Usages of と in Japanese
Another fun way to use と is for quoting. Once you learn how to do this it will help you be able to say more in the Japanese language. You can also use と to represent sounds and other Onomatopoeia in Japanese.
Quoting Things
Pretty much, you just add と to the end of what someone says to make a quote. Let’s take a look:
ジョンは家に帰ったら、「ただいま」と言った
John said, “I’m home” when he got back home
You can also use と with other verbs such as to think, to know, to wonder, to decide, and so on.
誰もいないと思った
I thought nobody was around
明日何時に起きようかなと迷っている
I am not sure what time I will wake up tomorrow
These situations are not exactly quotes but instead represent what someone is thinking.
Onomatopoeia
Finally, there is a special class of words in Japanese known as 擬態語 or 擬音語. In English we call these onomatopoeia and they represent the sound things make. A lot of the time these words are followed by と kind of like if the sounds were quotes:
誰かがトントンとノックをしている
someone is knocking with a bang bang
If you are interested in learning Japanese I have reviewed what I consider the best resource for Japanese Grammar below:
