またAlso, As well, Moreover, Again, Additionally

また, or 又(また) in its kanji form, is an expression which means 'again', 'additionally', 'also', or 'moreover'. This may seem confusing at first, but it may be easier to think of また as meaning 'repetition of (A)', where (A) is any particular course of action. This repetition is a bit different to English, in that it can express the same action, or an alternative option. また can be used as an adverb, or as a conjunction. In this lesson, we will focus on its use as a conjunction.

As with many other conjunctions in Japanese, a phrase/sentence can begin with また, so long as that sentence expresses a complete thought.

Due to また being quite different to any single word that we have in English, let's try to make the meaning a bit clearer. Imagine that '(A) action always has (B) result'. However, the action which leads to the (B) result could be many different things. Because of this, また can have the following meanings.

The same (A) action is taken - Has the nuance of 'again', or 'moreover'.

A different (A) action is taken - Has the nuance of 'also', and 'additionally'.