Me too in Japanese: watashi mo, explained through example sentences

How to say “me too” in Japanese

Japanese people would say “watashi mo”. It is the Japanese phrase for ‘me too’. In this blog post, I will explain it in detail with example sentences. Especially, I will focus on a way to make this phrase from a full sentence. Let’s get started!

Contents

• Definition and meaning of “watashi mo”
• Example #1: how to say “too” in Japanese
• Example #2: how to say “me too” in Japanese
• Example #3: how to say “me too” in a casual way
• Summary

Definition and meaning of “watashi mo”

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

• watashi mo – 私も (わたしも) : a phrase meaning ‘me too’ in Japanese. Japanese people often use it like an interjection to say “me too” in Japanese.

Its definition and meaning are quite simple and clear, I think. To understand this phrase a bit more clearly, however, let me explain how it can be made from the full sentence below. I will also show the similarity between “watashi mo” and the English phrase, “me too”, through the examples below.

Example #1: how to say “too” in Japanese

Below is an example conversation between Haru and Aki.

Below are the new words used in the example conversation.

• watashi – 私 (わたし) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese.
• wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, it is put after the pronoun, “watashi”, to make the subject word in the first sentence.
• ashita – 明日 (あした) : a noun meaning ‘tomorrow’ in Japanese. It can also be used like an adverb to say “tomorrow”. Learn more about “ashita“.
• 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, adjective, or phrase to make it polite. Probably, it is well known for a part of Japanese desu form. In the example, it is put after the noun, “shigoto”, to make it sound polite.
• mo – も : a binding particle used to add the meaning of “too”, “also”, or “as well” to its preceding words. In the second sentence, it is used to add the meaning of “too” to its preceding pronoun, “watashi”. It can be used to say the same thing someone has mentioned before.

From the components, we can understand that “watashi mo” literally means ‘I too’, ‘I also’, or ‘I as well’ in Japanese. The phrase is used as a part of the second sentence to add the meaning and nuance of “too”. This is a Japanese way to say or repeat the same thing someone else has mentioned before.

“Wa” can work as a case marker after a noun or pronoun. Actually, in the first sentence, it works as a case marker after the pronoun, “watashi”, to make the subject word. “Mo” can do the same job while adding the meaning of “too”, “also”, or “as well” to its preceding words. So, in the Japanese language, this binding particle plays the significant role to say or repeat the same thing someone else has mentioned before.

In the next example, I will explain a kind of omission which Japanese people quite often do and also why “watashi mo” can be considered similar to “me too”.

Example #2: how to say “me too” in Japanese

The conversation in the last example above can be paraphrased as follows with some laziness.

We can see the omission in the second sentence. Repeating the same thing someone else has mentioned is not so preferred also in the Japanese language. So, Japanese native speakers tend to omit words especially after the binding particle, “mo”. As its meaning and nuance are strong enough to imply what is omitted, the omission doesn’t have any effect on meanings of sentences in most cases. I think, the same thing can be said to the English language. The meanings of “too”, “also”, and “as well” are helpful enough for us to understand meanings of sentences even if some words are omitted.

For the reason above, Japanese people often use “watashi mo desu” to say the same thing someone has mentioned before, in other words, to say “me too” in Japanese.

In more casual situations, Japanese people don’t use the auxiliary verb, “desu”, because they don’t have to show their respects to others that much. So, the example conversation above can be paraphrased as follows.

Example #3: how to say “me too” in a casual way

Now we reached the phrase itself. This is a typical usage of “watashi mo”. As this example shows, it can be used in a quite similar or the same way as the English phrase, “me too”, is. Thanks to the great work of the binding particle, “mo”, we can easily understand the meaning of the second sentence.

So far, I’ve explained how to say the same thing someone has mentioned before and also how the phrase, “watashi mo”, is made. It can be used to say “me too” in Japanese. Depending on the situation and context, however, its meaning can become a bit ambiguous. So, when we want to use this phrase, we need to be careful with the situation and context. But, in most cases, it can be used in the same way as the English phrase, “me too”, is.

Summary

In this blog post, I’ve explained “watashi mo” in detail through the examples. Let me summarize them as follows.

• watashi mo – 私も (わたしも) : a phrase meaning ‘me too’ in Japanese. Japanese people often use it like an interjection to say “me too” in Japanese.

This phrase consists of the following two parts.

• watashi – 私 (わたし) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese.
• mo – も : a binding particle used to add the meaning of “too”, “also”, or “as well” to its preceding words. It can be used like a case marker to say the same thing someone has mentioned before.

So, “watashi mo” literally means ‘I too’, ‘I also’, or ‘I as well’ in Japanese. It can be considered as a phrase made by omitting words in sentences.

Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.