The Japanese particle と (and & with)

The particle と is one of the easier particles to learn. It simply means ‘and’ and in some cases ‘with’. You use it to connect nouns and other elements in a summary, or use it to show involvement with somebody. It’s also called the connecting particle or an involvement marker. 

• Main lesson: と is used as ‘and’ and ‘with’

と as ‘and’

In a summary, と comes after a noun and when you use it in a summary it comes after every noun, except the last one. So in English, you would say: vegetables and fruit. In Japanese, this would translate to: やさい と くでもの. So when the list becomes larger, you would use more と’s. For example: 

と as ‘with’

と is used as ‘with’ when it’s used after a person or another living thing. For example, when you do something together as in the sentences below

と comes after サラ (Sarah) because モハンマド (Mohammed) is doing something with Sarah. When Sarah would be the object of the sentence the と would come after モハンマド (Mohammed). Another few examples: