The simplest usage of to is to connect two words together:
kare
to
watasi
he I
he (and) I (female)
inu
to
neko
dog(s) cat(s)
dogs (and) cats
Tanaka-san
to
Isii-san
Tanaka-san Isii-san
Tanaka-san (and) Isii-san
to is also used to indicate a person someone does something with:
Kinou kanojo
to
eiga o mi ni ikimasita.
yesterday her/she movie see went
Yesterday (I) went (to) see (a) movie (with) her.
One of the most
common functions of to
is to set off a phrase to
indicate that it is something that someone said or that it is
something
that you yourself think (or thought). In this usage
to
is followed by
verbs such as iu
"say", omou
"think", and kangaeru
"think, consider".
In the below utterances, to
"connects" what is quoted with the verb
that follows:
Examples:
Kare wa ikitaku
nai to
iimasita.
he not want go said
He said (he) did not want (to) go.
Kanojo wa asita
konai to
omoimasu.
she tomorrow not come think
(I) think she won't come tomorrow.
Tanaka-san wa
asita denwa suru to
osshaimasita.
Tanaka-san tomorrow phone said (polite)
Tanaka-san said (he) (would) phone tomorrow.
Another common
function of to
is to connect two clauses to give
the sense that if or when the first happens the second follows,
either
necessarily or immediately.
Examples:
Benkyou shinai
to
jouzu ni narimasen yo.
study not do proficient not become
(If) (you) don't study, (you) (will) not become
proficient!
Ichigatu ni naru
to
samuku narimasu.
January become cold become
(When) January comes [lit. becomes January] (it) becomes
cold.
to
is also used after the "tentative" of a verb to connect it with
a form of the verb suru
to indicate a meaning of "about to do (something)
or "try to do (something).
Example:
Dekakeyou
to
shita toki, ame ga furidasimasita.
start go out time rain began fall
When (I) was about to go out, (it) started to rain.
Kanojo wa Nihongo to
Eigo ga dekimasu.
she Japanese English can do
She can speak Japanese (and) English.
Kono aida
Tanaka-san to
Hokkaidou e ikimasita.
recently Tanaka-san Hokkaido went
(I) recently went (to) Hokkaido (with) Tanaka-san.
Isii-san wa ima
tonari no heya de denwa site iru to
omoimasu.
Ishii-san now next room telephone is doing think
Ishii-san is telephoning (in) (the) next room, (I) think.
Kanojo wa asita
kuru to
iimasita.
she tomorrow come said
She said (she) (would) come tomorrow.
Ima kaeranai
to
densha ni ma ni aimasen yo.
now not leave/go home train miss
(We) (will) miss (the) train (if) (we) don't leave now.
Kaerou
to
sita toki kare ga kimasita.
about go home time he came
He came just as (I) was about (to) go home.
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