も

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 私も学生です。▶ —
   I am also a student.
2. 何も食べていない。▶ —
   I haven't eaten anything.

Collocations

Mnemonic

Mo (も) is the additive Japanese particle — "also / too / even." Functions: (1) addition ("watashi mo gakusei" I am also a student, "kore mo kudasai" this one too); (2) parallel ("koohii mo koucha mo" both coffee and tea); (3) total negation (question word + mo + negative → "nani mo tabenai" eat nothing, "dare mo konai" nobody comes, "doko ni mo ikanai" go nowhere); (4) emphasis ("san-jikan mo kakatta" took as much as three hours, "hyaku-nin mo iru" there are 100 of them). Korean -do is a near one-to-one map, but function (3) is a learner pitfall — Korean "amu-geot-do" requires Japanese "nani mo + negative." English also / too / neither / nor / even all collapse onto mo. The "question word + mo" cluster — itsumo (always), dare-mo, doko-demo, nani-mo — is core JLPT N5 vocabulary.

Quick check

1. Total-negation pattern in Japanese?

   • Question word + mo + negative verb ("dare mo konai" = nobody comes)
   • Question word + wo + negative
   • Question word + de + negative
   • Question word + wa + negative