In Japanese there is no single word for and, which can be used to connect nouns, verbs, and sentences together like in English. Instead there are a variety of words and conjugations employed for this purpose. In this lesson we introduce そして, for linking sentences, and と, for nouns.
Using both of these words is straightforward. For そして, the word is placed at the beginning of the second of two sentences you want to connect, while と is inserted between two nouns. Check out the sentences below for some examples.
| English | Japanese |
|---|---|
| I went to school and saw friends. | 学校 に 行きました。 そして、 友だち に 会いました。gakkou ni ikimashita. soshite, tomodachi ni aimashita. |
| Somalia and Morocco are in Africa. | ソマリア と モロッコ は アフリカ に あります。somaria to morokko wa afurika ni arimasu. |
| He will do the shopping, and make dinner. | 彼 は 買い物 を します。 そして、 晩ごはん を 作ります。kare wa kaimono o shimasu. soshite, bangohan o tsukurimasu. |
| My father and I are salesmen. | お父さん と 私 は セールスマン です。otousan to watashi wa seerusuman desu. |
