Compound Sentences

Vocabulary

リンゴapple

バナナbanana

行(い)くい・くu-verbto go

お金(かね)お・かねmoney

すみませんexcuse me, sorry

これthis

それthat

コーヒーcoffee

紅茶(こうちゃ)こう・ちゃblack tea

犬(いぬ)いぬdog

猫(ねこ)ねこcat

There are several ways to combine sentences in Japanese. We already learned the Te-form for sequences. Here are other methods.

Expressing “And” with と

The particle と connects nouns.

リンゴとバナナ。Apple and banana.

犬(いぬ)と猫(ねこ)がいる。There is a dog and a cat.

コーヒーと紅茶(こうちゃ)を飲(の)んだ。I drank coffee and tea.

Note: You cannot use と to connect sentences or verbs.

Expressing “But” with が and けど

Attach が or けど to the end of a clause to mean “but”. が is more formal, けど is more casual.

Examples

行(い)きたいけど、お金(かね)がない。I want to go, but I have no money.

すみませんが、分(わ)かりません。Excuse me, but I don't understand.

日本語(にほんご)は難(むずか)しいけど、面白(おもしろ)い。Japanese is difficult, but interesting.

Expressing “Or” with か

これかそれ。This or that.

コーヒーか紅茶(こうちゃ)。Coffee or tea.

今日(きょう)か明日(あした)。Today or tomorrow.