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.
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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)
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