も

も means "too" or "also". It goes after a noun, in the place of は, が or を: it replaces them rather than following them.

も goes on the word that is being added, which English "too" does not show.

In a negative sentence the English is "either".

Common mistake

も and は do not stack. It is one particle after 私. The same goes for が, and for を in everyday Japanese: みず水をのみます飲みます becomes みず水ものみます飲みます. をも survives only in formal writing.

• × 私はも学生です, × 私もは学生です → 私も学生です
• × 水をも飲みます → 水も飲みます

A も B も

も on two nouns in a row means "both A and B". With a negative it means "neither A nor B".

Usage notes

These go beyond "too" after a plain noun.

After other particles

も replaces only は, が and を. The other particles stay, and も follows them: にも, でも, とも, からも.

Question word + も

With a negative, a question word plus も means "no…" or "not any…". Other particles go between the two: どこにも, だれにも.

いつも is one exception. It means "always" and needs no negative.

In a positive sentence 何も does not mean "everything" – that is ぜんぶ全部 – and "everyone" is みんな.

も with amounts

After a number, も says the amount is more than you would expect.

After 一 + counter in a negative sentence it means "not even one".

"Even"

も after an ordinary noun can also mean "even", mostly in negatives.