Watashi mo: the basic me too
Mo means also. Attach it to yourself and you have me too. Add desu for politeness, or swap in the pronoun you normally use.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 私も。 | Watashi mo. | Me too |
| 私もです。 | Watashi mo desu. | Me too: polite |
| 僕も。 | Boku mo. | Me too: typically male, casual to neutral |
| 俺も。 | Ore mo. | Me too: casual, masculine |
| 私もそうです。 | Watashi mo sō desu. | Same with me |
Me neither uses the same words
English switches from too to neither when the statement is negative. Japanese does not, because watashi mo desu means the same applies to me, whatever the statement was.
If you want to be explicit, repeat the verb in the negative with mo.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 辛いものは苦手です。 | Karai mono wa nigate desu. | I'm not good with spicy food |
| 私もです。 | Watashi mo desu. | Me neither |
| 私も食べられません。 | Watashi mo taberaremasen. | I can't eat it either |
| 私も行きません。 | Watashi mo ikimasen. | I'm not going either |
| 私もわかりません。 | Watashi mo wakarimasen. | I don't know either |
Full sentences with mo
When you give a full sentence, mo replaces wa, ga and o. It sits after the thing that is also true, which is not always you.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 私も猫が好きです。 | Watashi mo neko ga suki desu. | I like cats too |
| 私も日本に住んでいます。 | Watashi mo Nihon ni sunde imasu. | I live in Japan too |
| 私もそう思います。 | Watashi mo sō omoimasu. | I think so too |
| 犬も好きです。 | Inu mo suki desu. | I like dogs too: dogs as well as something else |
Onaji: same here
Onaji desu, it's the same, suits situations and experiences rather than simple likes: the same hometown, the same problem, the same order. Onajiku is its formal cousin, common when introducing yourself after someone from the same group.
Among friends, issho, which usually means together, is also used colloquially to mean the same.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 同じです。 | Onaji desu. | Same here |
| 私も同じです。 | Watashi mo onaji desu. | Same for me |
| 同じく営業部の田中です。 | Onajiku eigyōbu no Tanaka desu. | I'm Tanaka, also from sales |
| 一緒だね！ | Issho da ne! | Same!: casual |
| 同じのをください。 | Onaji no o kudasai. | I'll have the same |
When me too is not the natural reply
Me too answers a statement about the speaker. For opinions, comments on the weather or shared reactions, Japanese usually prefers agreement words instead.
| They say | Natural reply | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Something about themselves | Me too, with mo | You share the fact |
| An opinion | I think so too | You share the view |
| A comment about the weather | An agreeing that's right | There is nothing personal to share |
| A complaint you relate to | A casual I know, right | You share the feeling |
Casual echoes among friends
Between friends, me too often turns into a reaction word. Wakaru, I get it, is extremely common, and da yo ne signals strong agreement. Sore na is youth slang for exactly.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| わかる！ | Wakaru! | I know, right?: same |
| だよね。 | Da yo ne. | Totally |
| それな。 | Sore na. | Exactly!: youth slang |
| 私も私も！ | Watashi mo watashi mo! | Me too, me too! |
Making mo automatic
The reply has to come out immediately to sound natural, which means practising with real statements rather than drills. Unihongo's Find a Friend at a Festival and First Round at an Izakaya missions are relaxed social scenes, and your AI Sensei responds the way a friend would.
The corrections in the session report can catch the most common slip: keeping wa or ga alongside mo, as in watashi wa mo, which sounds wrong to native ears.