Conjunctions are words that connect phrases, clauses, or sentences together.
This is a complete list of Japanese conjunctions and their meanings arranged by JLPT level from beginner N5 to advanced N1.
Click on any of the lessons in the table to see more detail about that grammar point, with formation rules and example sentences.
- See all grammar lessons.
Japanese Conjunctions Complete Study Guide
| # | Romaji | Japanese | Grammar Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | aruiwa | あるいは | or; either; maybe; perhaps; possibly ~ | N2 |
| 2 | ba ii | ばいい | should; can; it’d be good if ~ | N3 |
| 3 | ba koso | ばこそ | only because ~ | N1 |
| 4 | ba sore made da / tara sore made da | ばそれまでだ / たらそれまでだ | if… then it’s over | N1 |
| 5 | beku | べく | in order to; for the purpose of ~ | N1 |
| 6 | beku shite | べくして | as it is bound to (happen); following the natural course | N1 |
| 7 | chinamini | ちなみに | by the way; in this connection; incidentally; (conjunction) | N2 |
| 8 | dakedo | だけど | but; however; although; regarding ~ | N3 |
| 9 | datte | だって | because; but; after all; even; too | N2 |
| 10 | de are / de arou to | であれ / であろうと | whoever; whatever; however; even ~ | N1 |
| 11 | de are~de are | であれ～であれ | whether [A] or [B] | N1 |
| 12 | demo | でも | but; however; though ~ | N5 |
| 13 | ga | が | subject marker; however; but ~ | N5 |
| 14 | ippou de | 一方で【いっぽうで】 | on one hand, on the other hand; although ~ | N2 |
| 15 | izure ni shitemo / izure ni shiro / izure ni seyo | いずれにしても / いずれにしろ / いずれにせよ | anyhow; anyway; either way; in any case ~ | N1 |
| 16 | jaa | じゃあ | then; well; so; well then | N5 |
| 17 | ka to omoikiya | かと思いきや【かとおもいきや】 | contrary to expectations; or so we thought, but ~ | N1 |
| 18 | ka to omottara | かと思ったら【かとおもったら】 | just when; no sooner than ~ | N2 |
| 19 | ka~ka | か～か | or | N5 |
| 20 | kai mo naku | 甲斐もなく【かいもなく】 | despite; even though ~ | N1 |
| 21 | kara | から | because; since; from | N5 |
| 22 | katagata | かたがた | while; at the same time; incidentally; for the purpose of ~ | N1 |
| 23 | kawari ni | 代わりに【かわりに】 | instead of; as a substitute for; in exchange for; in return for | N3 |
| 24 | kedo | けど | but; however; although ~ | N5 |
| 25 | keredo mo | けれども | but; however; although ~ | N5 |
| 26 | korekara | これから | after this | N4 |
| 27 | koso are | こそあれ | although; even though ~ | N1 |
| 28 | koso sure | こそすれ | and; although; but ~ | N1 |
| 29 | koso~ga/keredo | こそ「～が・けれど」 | but; although (emphasis) | N1 |
| | ||||
| 30 | koto tote | こととて | because; since ~ | N1 |
| 31 | koto wa~ga | ことは～が | although; but ~ | N3 |
| 32 | kuse ni | くせに | and yet; though; in spite of; despite ~ | N3 |
| 33 | kuse shite | くせして | although; despite the fact that; even though ~ | N2 |
| 34 | matawa | または | both; or; otherwise; choice between [A] or [B] | N4 |
| 35 | mo~ba~mo | も～ば～も | and; also; as well; either/or; neither/nor | N3 |
| 36 | mono dakara | ものだから | so; therefore; the reason for something | N2 |
| 37 | mono de | もので | because; for that reason | N1 |
| 38 | moshikuwa | もしくは | or; otherwise | N1 |
| 39 | moshimo~tara | もしも〜たら | if; in the case; supposing ~ | N3 |
| 40 | motto mo | もっとも | but then; although; though ~ | N2 |
| 41 | nagara ni / nagara no | ながらに / ながらの | while; during; without change; performed in this condition | N1 |
| 42 | nao | なお | still; yet; furthermore; in addition ~ | N2 |
| 43 | nara | なら | if; in the case that ~ | N4 |
| 44 | nara iza shirazu / wa iza shirazu | ならいざしらず / はいざしらず | I don't know about ... but; it may be possible for ... but ~ | N1 |
| 45 | nazenara | なぜなら | because; the reason is; if you want to know why | N3 |
| 46 | ni atte | にあって | at; on; during; in the condition of ~ | N1 |
| 47 | ni itattemo | に至っても【にいたっても】 | even if; even though; although something reached the point ~ | N1 |
| 48 | ni kagirazu | に限らず【にかぎらず】 | not just; not only... but also ~ | N2 |
| 49 | ni shita tokoro de / to shita tokoro de | にしたところで / としたところで | even if; even supposing that ~ | N1 |
| 50 | ni tsurete | につれて | as; in proportion to; with; as… then ~ | N3 |
| 51 | nimo kakawarazu | にも関わらず【にもかかわらず】 | despite; in spite of; nevertheless; although ~ | N2 |
| 52 | node | ので | because of; given that; since ~ | N5 |
| 53 | noni | のに | although, in spite of, even though ~ | N4 |
| 54 | omake ni | おまけに | to make matters worse; besides; what's more; in addition; on top of that | N2 |
| 55 | oyobi | 及び【および】 | and; as well as ~ | N2 |
| 56 | saa | さあ | well… | N5 |
| 57 | sara ni | さらに | furthermore; again; more and more ~ | N3 |
| 58 | sate | さて | conjunction: well; now; then ~ | N3 |
| 59 | shi | し | and; and what’s more ~ (emphasis) | N4 |
| | ||||
| 60 | shikamo | しかも | moreover; furthermore; and yet; what’s more ~ | N2 |
| 61 | shikashi | しかし | but; however ~ | N5 |
| 62 | sono tame ni | そのために | hence; for that reason; because of ~ | N3 |
| 63 | sono ue | その上【そのうえ】 | besides; in addition; furthermore ~ | N2 |
| 64 | sore de | それで | because of that | N4 |
| 65 | sore demo | それでも | but still; and yet; even so ~ | N4 |
| 66 | sore kara | それから | and; and then; after that; since then | N5 |
| 67 | sore na noni | それなのに | and yet; despite this; but even so ~ | N2 |
| 68 | sore nara | それなら | if that’s the case; if so ~ | N2 |
| 69 | sore ni | それに | besides; in addition; also; moreover ~ | N4 |
| 70 | soretomo | それとも | or; or else ~ | N3 |
| 71 | soshite | そして | and; and then; thus; and now ~ | N5 |
| 72 | sunawachi | すなわち | in other words; namely ~ | N3 |
| 73 | ta tokoro de | たところで | even if; no matter (who, what, when, where, why, how) | N1 |
| 74 | tame ni | ために | for; in order to; for the benefit of; because of; as a result of ~ | N3 |
| 75 | tara | たら | if; after; when ~ | N4 |
| 76 | tara dou | たらどう | why don't you; how about ~ (used to give advice) | N4 |
| 77 | tara ii desu ka | たらいいですか | what should I do?; speaker seeking instructions from listener | N4 |
| 78 | tara saigo / taga saigo | たら最後 / たが最後【たらさいご / たがさいご】 | if you do... negative result | N1 |
| 79 | tara~tade | たら～たで | if / in the case... of course / should ~ | N1 |
| 80 | tara~tokoro da | たら～ところだ | if... (counterfactual condition), then would be ~ | N1 |
| 81 | tatoeba | 例えば【たとえば】 | for example; for instance ~ | N3 |
| 82 | te / de | て / で | conjunctive particle; so; because of [A], [B]... | N4 |
| 83 | te demo | てでも | even if I have to; by all means ~ | N2 |
| 84 | to | と | whenever [A] happens, [B] also happens | N4 |
| 85 | to | と | and; with; as; connecting particle | N5 |
| 86 | to areba | とあれば | if it is the case that; if ~ | N1 |
| 87 | to atte | とあって | due to the fact that; because of ~ | N1 |
| 88 | to douji ni | と同時に【とどうじに】 | at the same time as; while; simultaneously ~ | N2 |
| 89 | to ie domo | といえども | even if; even though; despite ~ | N1 |
| | ||||
| 90 | to ii / tara ii | といい / たらいい | it would be nice if; should; I hope ~ | N3 |
| 91 | to itta | といった | like; such as ~ | N2 |
| 92 | to ittemo | といっても | although I say; although one might say ~ | N3 |
| 93 | to ittemo ii | と言ってもいい【といってもいい】 | you could say; one might say; I'd say ~ | N4 |
| 94 | to iu ka~to iu ka | というか～というか | or rather; or perhaps I should say; I mean ~ | N1 |
| 95 | to iu nowa | というのは | this means; the meaning of … is; because; that is to say ~ | N3 |
| 96 | to iu to | と言うと【というと】 | speaking of; when you talk of; when you say ~ | N3 |
| 97 | to kiteiru | ときている | because of ~ | N1 |
| 98 | to naru to / to nareba | となると / となれば | when it comes to; in such a case; if that happens | N1 |
| 99 | to sureba / to shitara / to suru to | とすれば・としたら・とすると | in the case of~; assuming~; if A then B | N3 |
| 100 | toka (de) | とか（で） | I heard that ~ | N2 |
Total Japanese Conjunctions Lessons (113)
Page 1 of 2