とAnd

The last と in a group is generally omitted.

Structure

Noun + と

Details

Part of Speech
Particle
Word Type
Case Marking Particle
Register
Standard

About と

と is a particle that is often thought of as meaning 'and' in English, which is usually how it can be translated. In a broader sense, と simply shows that there is a relationship of 'compilation' between (A) and (B). That relationship could be existing together (translated as 'and'), or performing an action together (translated as 'with').

In this case, we will focus on the 'and' translation. A full description of と as 'with' can be found here.

と is required after every noun that it is grouped with. However, the last と in a sentence will often be omitted, if there are several.

In this example, we can see that the last noun in the group (pencil) does not require the particle と, although it is considered more correct to have it. In conversation, the last と will almost always be omitted.

Synonyms

Examples

--:--

魚(さかな)とバナナ。

Fish and bananas.

トムとジェリー。

Tom and Jerry.

コーヒーと牛乳(ぎゅうにゅう)。

Coffee and milk.

川(かわ)と滝(たき)。

River and waterfall.

これとそれは私(わたし)のものです。

This and that are mine.

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Online
- The Inclusive 「と」 particle
  Tae Kim
- と as a conditional
  PuniPuni
- Particles at / in / with に / で / と
  Japanese Ammo
- The Particle と I
  Imabi

Offline
- Genki I
  Page 81
- Genki I 2nd Edition
  Page 113
- みんなの日本語 I
  Page 32 [CH 4]
- [DBJG] A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
  Page 473 & 476
- Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide
  Page 68
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と – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (8 in total)

deltacat3

私はフルーツとパンも食べます。
I eat fruit and (also) bread.

When a list is marked by も is it always inclusive to the entire list or just the last listed thing?
The difference between “fruit and (also) bread.” or “(also) fruit and bread.”
Asher
Hi there, and sorry for the ‘very’ late reply!

も always highlights the last thing in the list as being something unique included as part of the group that is being listed before it. It also often highlights that it is not often part of the group being listed before it, but in this case is. Basically one of the two following things.

(A) is a group to which (Bも) is a part, but not the main topic.
(A) is a group to which (Bも) is surprisingly a part, and still not the main topic.

In both cases, whatever も highlights is not the ‘main’ thing. Just something small being added in for emphasis.
JusticeforNerds
Not sure where else to mark it, but this may be a good addition or example sentence for the と grammar point somewhere in Bunpro.
From a past N1 exam: この鍋は、炒め物に、揚げ物にと何にでも使えて便利です。
For whatever reason, I couldn’t wrap my head around this one at first. After discussing it with a Japanese native speaker and consulting the internet, I understood it as
この鍋は、A と (meaning ‘and’) B でも使えて便利です。
“As for this pot, you can use either A or B and it’s useful.”
where A = 炒め物に、揚げ物に, literally “towards fried food, towards deep fried food”
and B = 何に, literally “towards something.”

Am I crazy or is that kind of hard to grasp?