Watashi mo is the Japanese phrase for “me too”, explained in detail

How to say “me too” in Japanese

Japanese people would say “watashi mo”. It’s the Japanese phrase for ‘me too’. It can be used like an interjection in conversation. Depending on the situation, however, it needs to be used as a part of a full sentence. In this blog post, I will explain it in detail based on its components. And also, I will explain how it is made and when to use it through examples. Let’s get started!

Contents

• Definition and meaning of watashi mo
• Components of watashi mo
• Example of watashi mo meaning ‘me too’
• Example of watashi mo in the full sentence
• When to use
• Summary
• And the rest

Definition and meaning of watashi mo

First of all, let me start with a definition and meaning of “watashi mo”.

• watashi mo – 私も (わたしも) : a phrase widely used as an interjection meaning ‘me too’ in Japanese. Depending on the situation, however, it cannot be used as an interjection. It needs to be a part of a full sentence.

Its meaning is very simple and clear. To understand it a bit more, however, let me explain its components in detail.

Components of watashi mo

Below are the ones.

• watashi – 私 (わたし) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese.
• mo – も : a binding particle put after a word to add a nuance of ‘too’, ‘also’ or ‘as well’ to its prior word. Here, it is used after the pronoun, “watashi”, to add the nuance of ‘too’ to it.

From these two components, we can understand that the phrase, “watashi mo”, can exactly mean ‘me too’ in Japanese.

The binding particle, “mo”, plays a significant role in the phrase. It adds a nuance of ‘too’ to the pronoun, “watashi”. So, in this regard, its usage is quite similar to that of the English word, ‘too’, in the phrase, “me too”. The structure of both phrases is actually the same.

So far, I’ve explained the phrase, “watashi mo”, based on its components. In the following paragraphs, I will explain how Japanese people use it through examples.

Example of watashi mo meaning ‘me too’

Below is an example conversation between two Japanese, Haru and Aki.

Below are new words used in the example.

• ashita – 明日 (あした) : a noun meaning ‘tomorrow’ in Japanese. Learn more about “ashita”.
• wa – は : a binding particle working as a case maker or topic maker. In the example, it is put after the noun, “ashita”, to give a topic.
• shigoto – 仕事 (しごと) : a noun meaning ‘work’ in Japanese. Learn more about “shigoto”.
• desu – です : an auxiliary verb put after a noun or adjective to make it polite. In the example, it is put after the noun, “shigoto”, to make it sound polite.

In this example, the auxiliary verb, “desu”, is put at the end of the phrase, “watashi mo”, but doesn’t have any effect on its meaning itself. It’s just used to make the more polite expression.

As you can see here, the phrase, “watashi mo”, can be used in a very similar way that the English phrase, “me too”, is. In order to understand it more, please take a closer look at the following example in which the above example sentence is paraphrased.

Example of watashi mo in the full sentence

Below is an example conversation between the two Japanese, Haru and Aki, again.

This example would be very helpful for Japanese learners to understand how the phrase, “watashi mo”, is made. The second sentence in the previous example can be paraphrased as shown above. To tell the truth, this is the full sentence of the previous one without any abbreviation or omission. This means that the phrase, “watashi mo”, in the previous example was made from the full expression by omitting all words after the binding particle, “mo”. This is how this phrase is made.

Sometimes, this kind of abbreviation or omission can happen to Japanese sentences. Actually, it is also found in a process to make another phrase “anata wa”. Furthermore, a similar technique can also be found in other languages like English. As the translation in the above example shows, “me too” can be paraphrased as “I have work tomorrow too” in this context. Strictly speaking, this abbreviation is a bit different from that in Japanese. Yet, the concept is still the same.

When to use

I’ve explained how the phrase, “watashi mo”, is made. Now, when to use it is also clear, I think. The key is whether we can omit all words after the binding particle, “mo”. In other words, when we use “mo” to add a nuance of “too”, “also” or “as well” and when we repeat the same phrase or sentence as already mentioned by someone, we can just say “watashi mo” to mean ‘me too’ in Japanese. If these two preconditions are not fulfilled, we cannot use it as an interjection in conversation. It would need to be used as a part of the full expression.

Summary

In this blog post, I’ve explained the phrase, “watashi mo”, in detail based on its components. And also, I’ve explained how it is made and when to use it through examples. Let me summarize them as follows.

• watashi mo – 私も (わたしも) : a phrase often used as an interjection meaning ‘me too’ in Japanese. It consists of the two parts. “Watashi” is a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese. “Mo” is a binding particle used to add a nuance of “too”, “also” or “as well” to its prior word. It is made by a kind of abbreviation. When we use, “mo”, and when we can omit all words after it to avoid the duplication of sentence, we can use this phrase like “me too” in English.

Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.

And the rest

In this blog post, the pronoun, “watashi”, has been used for the explanations. However, this does not mean that other pronouns or words cannot be used. Actually, Japanese people also often use “boku”, “ore”, “kare”, “kanojo” or some such with “mo” to mean ‘someone too’.