If you're reading this, then I just want to say props to you.

Because obviously your English is pretty boss-status.

Take, for example, these three sentences:

1) I slept five hours.
2) I slept five whole hours.
3) I only slept five hours.

#1 is neutral.
#2 makes it sound like 5 hours is a lot.
#3 makes it sound like 5 hours isn't enough.

Being able to catch those nuances is amazing.

...or maybe I'm just a language nerd and think everything's amazing...

...while everyone else wants me to shut up.

Man, that would be embarrassing...

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Anyways, time for the real test--Can you write/say #1, #2, & #3 in Japanese?

Normally, I would write long boring grammar explanations here. But I'm not going to today for... uh... reasons.

Here's the overview:

1) I slept five hours. ← don't worry about particles
2) I slept five whole hours. ← use も
3) I only slept five hours. ← use ～しか～ない

Examples teach better than I do.

So...

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Your sexy language exchange partner asks...

よく寝れた？
よく　ねれた？
Did you sleep OK? // Were you able to sleep well?
Literally: "well + were able to sleep?"

You don't have any special feelings about the amount of time you slept, so you say...

5時間寝た。
ごじかん　ねた。
I slept five hours.
Literally: "five hours + slept."

You usually only sleep 3 hours (during your lunch break--lazy!), so you say...

5時間も寝た。
ごじかん　も　ねた。
I slept five whole hours.
Literally: "five hours + も + slept."

You are a sleep diva and need at least 9 hours of sleep to function in society, so you say...

5時間しか寝てない。
ごじかん　しか　ねてない。
I only slept five hours.
Literally: "five hours + しか + have not slept."

---

Your mom calls you on the phone.

Logically speaking, she should be panicking that she has suddenly become Japanese.

Since she's your mom, though, she's more concerned about if you've been eating well. So she asks...

朝なに食べた？
あさ　なに　たべた？
What did you eat this morning? // What did you have for breakfast?
Literally: "morning + what + ate?"

おにぎり2個食べた。
おにぎり　にこ　たべた。
I had two onigiri [rice balls].
Literally: "onigiri + two [little things] + ate."

おにぎり2個も食べた。
おにぎり　にこ　も　たべた。
I had two whole onigiri [rice balls]!
Literally: "onigiri + two [little things] + も + ate."

おにぎり2個しか食べてない。
おにぎり　にこ　しか　たべてない。
I only had two onigiri [rice balls.]
Literally: "onigiri + two [little things] + しか + have not eaten."

---

You're on a date with your secret (err... imaginary) Japanese lover, who asks...

今いくら持ってる？
いま　いくら　もってる？
How much money do you have on you?
Literally: "now + how much + are holding?"

You open your wallet--clueless--check how much you have, and say...

一万円持ってる。
いちまんえん　もってる。
I've got 10,000 yen.
Literally: "10,000 yen + am holding."

You know that your lover is a poor student with very little money, so you want to avoid showing off your flashy 10,000 yen bill too much.

You say...

一万円も持ってる。
いちまんえん　も　もってる。
I've got 10,000 yen.
Literally: "10,000 yen + も + holding."
Note: I put 10,000 in italics to emphasize that the speaker is stressing that word / thinks it's a lot of money. I do this in a few other examples, as well.

You know that the fastest way to a love interest's heart is mentally and physically destroying all other suitors, hitting the gym like a beast, and flashing mad cash. But you're not sure if 10,000 yen qualifies as "mad cash," so you say...

一万円しか持ってない。
いちまんえん　しか　もってない。
I've only got 10,000 yen.
Literally: "10,000 yen + しか + am not holding."

---

Your friend says...

A:
今30万円しか持ってない。
いま　さんじゅうまんえん　しか　もってない。
I've only got 300,000 yen.
Literally: "now + 300,000 yen + しか + am not holding."
Note: At the time of writing, that's a bit under $3,000 US.

You're Niko when he was 22, so you say...

B:
30万円も？！
さんじゅうまんえん　も？！
You have 300,000 yen?!
Literally: "300,000 yen + も？！"

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Now for the uber-high level tactic. You can quote "A's" 「しか」in order to emphasize that he/she is crazy for thinking that's not a lot of money.

Once again, your friend said...

A:
今30万円しか持ってない。
いま　さんじゅうまんえん　しか　もってない。
I've only got 300,000 yen.
Literally: "now + 300,000 yen + しか + am not holding."

And this time you say...

B:
30万円「しか」？！
さんじゅうまんえん　しか？！
"Only" 300,000 yen?!
Literally: "300,000 yen + 「しか」?!"
Note: The nuance is that you're mocking A's use of しか for such a large amount of money.

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Well, I hope that with this lesson, your particle skills improved a bit.

If not, then please do one of the following:

1) Read it again.
2) Cry.
3) Call your mom and time how long it takes her to ask what you ate today.
4) Forgive yourself and move on.
5) Send Niko hate mail.

Oh wait, not #5. I'm sensitive.