The following supplement will help you increase your Japanese vocabulary by showing you how the particle MO is used. MO is more than just a particle. MO is part of the family. Have fun in your Japanese language endeavors!
First, memorize the question words:
Who – dare誰,
What – nani何,
Where – dokoどこ,
When – itsu いつ,
How many things –ikutsuいくつか
How many people – nannin 何人
Question word + mo with + positive verb with – negative verb
dare (誰)+mo (も) anyone nobody
nani (何)+mo (も) anything nothing
doko(どこ)+mo(も) everywhere, anywhere nowhere
itsu (いつ)+mo(も) all the time, always none of the time, never
nannin(何人)+mo(も) many people, a bunch of people not many people
The mo participle carries the meaning of too, or also. It is all inclusive. For example, to say “me too” just add mo to me and there you have it. Watakushi mo or me too. Easy, right? What if your friend wants to come with us too? Then just add mo and presto you have Watakushi no tomodachi mo. My friend too or him too.
Someone might ask,
question word + ka (か) with + positive verb with – negative verb
dare(誰) + ka (か) someone nobody
nani(何 )+ ka (か) something nothing
doko (どこ) + ka (か) somewhere nowhere
itsu (いつ) + ka (か) sometime none of the time, never
nannin (何人) + ka (か) so many people , this many not many people
“Is anybody home?”
“Dareka oraremasu ka?” (“誰かおられますか?”)
“No, Nobody is here.”
Iie, Daremo oraremasen. いいえ, 誰もおられません
Question word + demo with + positive verb with – negative verb
dare (誰) + demo(でも) anybody, whoever nobody
nani (何) + demo,
nandemo (何でも) anything, everything nothing
doko (どこ) + demo(でも) everywhere, anywhere nowhere
itsu (何時) + demo (でも) all the time none of the time, never
nannin (何人) +demo (でも) many people, a bunch of people not many people
What about why? I thought you might ask about the last interrogative. So to say why in Japanese you might use these two words
Words for Why in Japanese:
1.do^ shite ?– (lit. how does it do, or why?) or
2.naze? – why ?
Similar rules can happen with the word do^shite. Like do^shite mo – meaning- for all reasons why. I can’t recall ever hearing nazemo but it is likely that there is such a Japanese word.
Interesting Fact: There is an island off the bottom of kyu^shu^ below the city kagoshima that is in fact named Naze. Of course the kanji are different for this small island city. It is interesting to note, due to its isolate state
