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There are multiple ways to say “And” in Japanese.
1. と (to): And
There are multiple ways to say “And” in Japanese. と is one of the most common. It is used to connect two nouns in a sentence, but it cannot be used to connect two phrases or clauses.
と is used in a concise statement.
For example:
りんごとバナナが好きです
りんごとバナナが すきです
Ringo to banana ga sukidesu.
(I like apples and bananas)
=> If you were to say it implies that you like only apples and bananas and no other fruit in this context.
2. や (ya) : And
や works in the same way as と. It can connect nouns but not clauses. However, や is more open ended. It can be used to list items, and the list may not be complete. It does not exclude other objects like と does.
For example:
「りんごやバナナが好きです」
りんごやバナナが すきです
Ringo ya banana ga sukidesu.
(I like apples and bananas)
=> Implies that you like apples and bananas, but that doesn’t mean you don’t like other fruit too.
3. そして (soshite) : and
そして is used to connect two sentences together. そして is used at the beginning of a sentence in order to connect it to the first.
For example:
「バナナを たべます。そして りんごジュースを のみます。」
Banana wo tabemasu. Soshite ringo juusu wo nomimasu.
I eat a banana. And I drink apple juice.
4. それから (Sore kara) : and
それから can often be interchangeable with そして. However, それから is closer to “and then” or “after that.” It focuses on the sequence of the events it describes and implies one event happened after the other or that the second event happened as a result of the first.
For example:
「りんごを たべた それから おなかが すいてない。」
Ringo wo tabeta sorekara onaka ga suitenai.
I eat an apple and then I’m not hungry.
5. くて & で (-kute & -de)
When connecting adjectives, the suffixes of the adjectives are changed in order for the words to be connected. い-adjectives replace the ーい with ーくて. な-adjectives replace the な with ーで. All adjectives except the last one have their suffix changed.
For example:
「りんごは すっぱくて みどりです。」
Ringo wa suppakute midori desu.
The apple is sour and green.
すっぱい (sour) changes to すっぱくて because it is the first adjective but みどり (green) stays the same as it is the last adjective.
6. -て form (-te form)
Connecting two or more verbs follows the same rule as connecting adjectives. The suffixes of all but the last verb are changed to ーて.
For example:
「りんごを とって、たべます。」
Ringo wo totte, tabemasu.
I take an apple and eat it.
とる (to take) changes to とって because it is the first verb but たべます stays the same as it is the last verb.
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