Grammar Info

N3 Lesson 8: 4/23

(とも)Together with, At the same time, As well as

Structure

Verb + (とも)
[い]Adjective + (とも)
[な]Adjective + である + (とも)
Noun + (とも)

Details

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About と共に

(とも) is a noun in Japanese that is frequently used as a either a prefix, or a suffix. In the case of (とも), it is used in conjunction with the case marking particle と as an adverb. (とも) expresses that (A) will happen 'together with (B)', or 'at the same time as (B)'.

(とも) may be used after verbs, い-Adjectives, な-Adjectives or nouns. With な-Adjectives, it will sometimes be preceded by である.

Fun Fact

(とも) is a structure that is used when two things are 'existing' in the same way. This means that it may be used to show mutual actions, or that it may be used to show mutual qualities (states of existence). Because of this nuance 'to be mutually (A)' is one of the closest literal translations of (とも). (A) may be an action, an adjective, or even a noun!

  • (とし)()(とも)身体(からだ)どんどん(かた)くなってきた
    As I get older, I am starting to get less flexible.
  • この(いけ)綺麗(きれい)である(とも)危険(きけん)である
    This lake is beautiful and dangerous at the same time.

Examples

--:--

    (かぜ)(とも)()りぬ。

    Gone with the Wind.

    心身(しんしん)(とも)健康(けんこう)だ。

    I am healthy physically, as well as mentally.

    夜明(よあ)(とも)旅立(たびだ)った。

    (I) departed with the break of dawn. (together with)

    (おどろ)(とも)(よろこ)びが(あふ)()してきた。

    I am becoming overwhelmed with surprise coupled with delight.

    (わたし)(いま)でも(ちち)(とも)仕事(しごと)をしています。

    I still work together with my father.

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      と共に – Grammar Discussion

      Most Recent Replies (13 in total)

      • mrnoone

        mrnoone

        English translation:
        together with
        at the same time
        as well as

        Structure:
        Verb + と共に
        Noun + と共に
        いAdj + と共に
        なAdj + である + と共に

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      • Juppy

        Juppy

        Is it possible to include a review sentence for the na adj?
        Thanks in advance!

      • mrnoone

        mrnoone

        Hey
        The example using な adjective has been added

        Thanks for the suggestion!

      • Juppy

        Juppy

        Fast as always! On a weekend too!?!?

      • mrnoone

        mrnoone

      • eefara

        eefara

        What’s the difference between using と共に, 一緒に, and と in the “together with” sense?

      • Daru

        Daru

        @eefara

        It’s really easy if you look at which fundamental part of speech each one is and what they do to the sentence.

        Let’s look at the following sentence:

        轟音と共にジェット機が飛び去った。
        A jet flew off with a roaring sound.

        と共に is a set phrase, and it’s only used in writing or formal speech. In this context it means that the two went alongside each other.

        If we replace that part with と and 一緒に:

        轟音ジェット機が飛び去った。
        A jet flew and a roaring sound flew off.

        と is a particle, so it would be connecting the two nouns, the sentence now means that both the jet and the roaring sound flew off as separate entities, but it’s a little weird since sounds don’t really fly.

        轟音一緒にジェット機が飛び去った。
        This one is hard to translate because it would be ungrammat...

      • eefara

        eefara

        No, this is extremely helpful! Thank you so much for the extensive explanations!

      • adrianh

        adrianh

        Hello!

        In the example:
        心身とともに 健康だ。
        The translation is shown as:
        I am healthy physically, as well as mentally.

        However, I cannot fathom how the sentence work structurally.
        心身 means “Mind and body”
        とともに “as well” or “at the same time”
        健康だ is “Healthy” + the plain copula

        So とともに is supposed to join two things in a sentence, however 心身 is a single concept and the sentence is joining it to 健康; basically couldn’t this mean “mind and body as well healthy”? However the translation hints that grammatically the sentence is breaking apart the kanji 心身 to こころ and み.

        Could someone throw me a bone here please?

      • nekoyama

        nekoyama

        This might be one と too many. I know 心身ともに as an expression that means that what follows applies to both mind and body.

      • adrianh

        adrianh

        Oh, so 心身ともに is like a set phrase that probably stems from the とともに of this grammar point thus was added?
        I think this page elaborates on what you said.

        Thank you!

      • ulurujamman

        ulurujamman

        Came here to query the same sentence. The point about 心身ともに being a set phrase is very interesting, but I’m still none the wiser as to whether the translation to the original sentence is strictly correct (or whether the original sentence would read awkwardly to a native japanese speaker).

      • narfi

        narfi

        The 日本語の森 video shows examples where と共に can be replaced with と一緒に and where it cannot. Now, there have been multiple questions on this topic in this thread. I have also used 一緒 に several times in my answers to this grammar point and always gotten ✗. Of course, I >think< I am always using in the right contact where these are interchangable but I don’t really know without consulting a native speaker.

        May I be as bold as to suggest that you catch it when the user enters と一緒に and use it as a teaching opportunity. You can give the appropriate feedback:

        a) good job, this fits here but we are looking for something that can also mean “at the same time, as well as”
        b) sorry, this doesn’t fit because it means “together with”. Think of “at the same time, as well as”

        This might help reinforce the overlap and difference between the two phrases.

      • Daru

        Daru

        I’ve taken your suggestion to the content team. I agree its a good idea!

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