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も

mo

も puts one more thing on the same pile

The picture A hand setting one more thing on a pile that is already there. Everything lands in the same place. も adds one more onto the pile; だけ fences off one and leaves the rest outside.

Particles

Where the picture shows up in も

  1. me on the pile too

    私も行きます。

    watashi mo ikimasu

    I'll come along too.

    My hand going up beside the hands that are already raised

  2. today on the pile too

    今日も残業です。

    kyō mo zangyō desu

    Overtime again today.

    The same stamp coming down on today's box, right next to yesterday's

  3. neither one on the pile

    お金も時間もありません。

    okane mo jikan mo arimasen

    I have no money and no time.

    An empty wallet and an empty calendar lying side by side, both bare

  4. a pile higher than expected

    三時間も待ちました。

    san-jikan mo machimashita

    I waited three whole hours.

    Sitting in the chair watching the clock hand go round three whole times

    も on a number turns it into 'that much'. 三時間待った is a fact; 三時間も待った is a complaint.

  5. not once on the pile

    一度も行ったことがありません。

    ichi-do mo itta koto ga arimasen

    I've never been there, not once.

    A field of snow with not one footprint in it

All of it in one picture

も is a hand setting one more thing on a pile that is already there. Add my hand to the raised hands and it is 'me too'; add today's box to yesterday's and it is 'again today'. Put money and time both on the pile and find both of them bare, and it becomes 'neither one'; let the pile stack higher than you expected and it becomes 'three whole hours'. A spot where nothing was ever set down is 'not once' — one gesture, five uses.

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