Wanna hear a really sad sentence?

Here it is:

動物園一回も行ったことない。
どうぶつえん　いっかい　も　いった　こと　ない。
I've never been to the zoo.
Literally: "zoo + one time + も + have not gone."
Note: "Have not gone" is actually "went (行った) + thing (こと) + don't have (ない)." In school, they'll make you put a が after こと.

But we're not looking at "have done" grammar today.

We're looking at "not even once."

I think that translation above is a little lacking, because if I would translate the following sentence the same way:

動物園行ったことない。
どうぶつえん　いった　こと　ない。
I've never been to the zoo.
Literally: "zoo + have not gone."

So what's the difference in nuance if we add 一回も（いっかいも // [not] even once)?

Don't ask me, yo.

Oh wait--I'm not supposed to say that.

It just adds the emphasis that the speaker has never--not even once--been to the zoo. But it's not quite as dramatic as saying "I've never even been to the zoo."

I'm confusing myself. So let's talk about も instead.

も means "also" sometimes. Or it means "even." It also attaches to number-related words to give them emphasis and whatnot--no one knows or cares why.

This can happen with negative verbs, like the example above, or this one here:

人生で一回も風邪ひいたことない。
じんせい　で　いっかい　も　かぜ　ひいた　こと　ない。
I've never gotten a cold in my entire life.
Literally: "life + で + one time + も + cold + haven't pulled."
Note: I love that they say "pull a cold" in Japanese.

You will NEVER use 一回も（いっかいも // [not] even once）with a positiveverb.

If you find yourself saying sentences like the following, please feel free to hate yourself:

✕　人生で一回も風邪ひいたことある。
✕　じんせい　で　いっかい　も　かぜ　ひいた　こと　ある。
✕　I've gotten a cold one time in my life.
✕　Literally: "life + で + one time + も+ cold + have pulled."

(Note: I'm joking. Please don't hate yourself.)

What you would say instead is:

人生で一回しか風邪ひいたことない。
じんせい　で　いっかい　しか　かぜ　ひいた　こと　ない。
I've only gotten a cold once in my entire life.
Literally: "life + で + one time + しか + cold + haven't pulled."

人生で一回も風邪ひいたことない。
じんせい　で　いっかい　も　かぜ　ひいた　こと　ない。
I've never gotten a cold in my entire life.
Literally: "life + で + one time + も + cold + haven't pulled."

BUT WAIT!!!

We CAN use も after number-related words when we want to emphasize that there are many of them.

Here are three quick examples...

何回も言ったじゃん。
なんかいも　いった　じゃん。
I told you a bunch of times!!
Literally: "time and time again + said + じゃん."
Note: You can just remember 何回も as a single word meaning "several times" or "so many times." It shows up a lot. So does ～じゃん, which is casual language (used in Tokyo): ～ではない → ～じゃない → じゃん.

何回も失敗したけど、やっとできた。
なんかいも　しっぱい　した　けど、　やっと　できた。
I failed a lot, but I was finally able to do it in the end.
Literally: "time and time again + failure/mistake + did + but, + at last + was able to do."

三回もシャワー浴びたの？
さんかい　も　シャワー　あびた　の？
You took three showers?
Literally: "three times + も + shower + showered + の?"
Note: The nuance is that (in the speaker's mind) 3 showers is a lot.

Wait a sec, you think. Can I use も like this with other number-related words like一つ（ひとつ // one; one thing） or 百個（ひゃっこ // one hundred; one hundred [little] things）?

Yes, you can.

...but I'll talk about it in the next lesson or something...

Maybe... ^_^

Oh, by the way, I have been to the zoo before.

Speaking of zoos, I was really bummed that they killed that gorilla the other day.

And flat-out dejected when I watched Virunga just last night.

Gorillas are cool. Let's save them.