How to use the particle も

Question

I have been studying japanese for some time now (my level floating somewhere between beginner and intermediate), and the particle も has confused me.

I already know it works kind of like "too" or "also" Ex: 私も。「わたしも」== "Me too"

However, I've seen sentences where this meaning of "too" isn't present

Ex:
雨はもう3日「も」降っています

(It's been raining for nearly three days now)

Can someone give me a general overview of what も can represent, and in what contexts the meaning of it will change. Thank you.

There are a number of good web sources for this info already, such as tofugu.com/japanese-grammar/particle-mo or maggiesensei.com/2013/10/08/… . Is there something in particular you feel they don't adequately explain? (in particular, you might want to look at the "quantity + も" explanation under Tofugu's article.) — Foogod, Commented Dec 1, 2022 at 19:03
Please edit the question to limit it to a specific problem with enough detail to identify an adequate answer. — Community, Commented Dec 1, 2022 at 19:11
Is "nearly 3 days" your own translation? I'd have read this as "as many as 3 days". I may of course be wrong. japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/36449/… — user3856370, Commented Dec 1, 2022 at 20:18

Eiríkr Útlendi · Accepted Answer · 2022-12-02 03:08:10Z

1

も is often glossed as "also, too, even".

Looking again at your sample sentence:

雨【あめ】はもう[3日]{みっか}[も]{●}降【ふ】っています

The も is used here as an intensifier, emphasizing that it's been three days. It might help to think of this more like:

It's already been raining for three days, even!

answered Dec 2, 2022 at 3:08

Eiríkr Útlendi

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