や、や、や
Aside from と, there's another particle that means "and:" や.
So, you could say:
パスタとサラダを食べました。
パスタ と サラダ を たべました。
I ate pasta and salad.
Literally: "pasta + と + salad + を + ate."
...or you could say:
パスタやサラダを食べました。
パスタ や サラダ を たべました。
I ate pasta and salad (among other things).
Literally: "pasta + や + salad + を + ate."
These two particles are not identical. There are two major differences:
1) や implies an unfinished list of things, whereas と implies a complete list of things. For the above sentences, for example, the version with と implies that the speaker only ate pasta and salad. The version with や implies that other foods were eaten in addition to pasta and salad.
2) や is not typically used in casual speech. When speaking casual Japanese, use とか instead of や:
浅草とか鎌倉に行きたい。
あさくさ とか かまくら に いきたい。
I want to go to Asakusa, Kamakura, and so on.
Literally: "Asakusa + とか + Kamakura + に + want to go."
That's all!
You'll see these a lot in the future, so don't worry if that didn't feel in-depth enough for you.
Noticed any typos we've missed or other issues?
Report them here at this link.
Have questions about something in this lesson? Something not quite clicking yet? Join our discord community and discuss any questions / comments with us and fellow students.
You can join by heading to this link.