# あと



## Shiratori99

Hi,

I've come across a few instances where it seemed to me that あと was being used in the sense of the English "also". As in: [Sentence 1]. [Also], [Sentence 2]. Meaning that "also" acts as a sentence opener and link between sentence 1 and 2. The problem is that I haven't found this meaning listed in any dictionary.

Consider this conversation:

「セミの声すげーなっ。」
「そうだね。今年多いよねぇ。」
「*あと*、夏のにおいだよ…」

Doesn't this あと mean "also" here?

Thanks in advance!


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## SoLaTiDoberman

Yeah, I think you're right.

I personally think, however, that あと functions like the "and" at the beginning of a sentence in English.

私は、一等賞をもらって、とてもうれしいです。
あと、これをくれた審査員の先生がたに感謝します。
あと、私を生んでくれたお母さんにもありがとうと言いたいです。
あと、みなさんも、いろいろお世話になりありがとうございました。

I'm glad to win the first prize.
And I thank the referees who decide to give me the first prize.
And I want to say thank you to my mom.
And thank you, all of you!

Using too many あと (or "and") seems very childish both in Japanese and in English.


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## Shiratori99

Thank you, *SoLaTiDoberman*!

"And" and "also" are pretty much synonymous in this case.

So in Japanese, you could also substitute the あと with また to get the same meaning, am I correct?


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## SoLaTiDoberman

Shiratori99 said:


> So in Japanese, you could also substitute the あと with また to get the same meaning, am I correct?


*Yes!*


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## Nucleara

Shiratori99 said:


> So in Japanese, you could also substitute the あと with また to get the same meaning, am I correct?



Hello, I came across these sentences:

[まだ 時間が ありますか？] --- (1)
 [いいえ、*あと*１０分です。] --- (2)

First, I understand that (2) means the same as いいえ、*また*１０分です。--- Do I get it right?

Second, in (2) I understand that it means "we still have 10 more minutes" which sounds like a positive response to question (1). Then why wouldn't it be like [*ええ*、*あと*１０分です。] ? (ええ instead of いいえ)

Thank you very much!


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## SoLaTiDoberman

Nucleara said:


> Hello, I came across these sentences:
> 
> [まだ 時間が ありますか？] --- (1)
> [いいえ、*あと*１０分です。] --- (2)
> 
> First, I understand that (2) means the same as いいえ、*また*１０分です。--- Do I get it right?


Unfortunately, no. In this context, the usage of あと is a little different from your previous context.
いいえ、また10分です is completely wrong.
It depends on the context.


Nucleara said:


> Second, in (2) I understand that it means "we still have 10 more minutes" which sounds like a positive response to question (1). Then why wouldn't it be like [*ええ*、*あと*１０分です。] ? (ええ instead of いいえ)
> 
> Thank you very much!


いいえ、あと10分です。＝いいえ、あと10分しかあり*ません。　*
"No. (We *don't have enough* time,) only 10 minutes."

This sentence is regarded as a "negative" sentence for native Japanese speakers.
"Yes or no" and "and or but" are sometimes confusing because the rules for them are different between Japanese and English from time to time.
And in Japanese, it sometimes depends on each individual speaker to say "yes" or "no."

ええ、*でも*あと10分だけです。  Yes, you have. But it's only just 10 minutes.
*はい*、でもあと10分です。   Yes, you have. But it's only just 10 minutes.
はい、あと10分もあります。　Yes. You still have enough time as long as 10 minutes.


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## Katzuhiko Minohara

まだ 時間が ありますか？
Do we still have time?

いいえ、*あと*１０分です。
No, *there is only* 10 minutes *left*.


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## Katzuhiko Minohara

*また*10分です
is wrong because it means
it is 10 minutes *again*


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## SoLaTiDoberman

[まだ 時間が ありますか？] --- (1)
[いいえ、十分な時間は残されてないと思います。*また（ちなみに）*、その正確な時間を申し上げるなら、9分30秒になります。  ] --- (2)


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## Katzuhiko Minohara

セミの声すげーなっ。
It´s amazing the sound of the cicadas.

そうだね。今年多いよねぇ。
Yes indeed. There are too many this year.

*あと*、夏のにおいだよ…
*And also*, it is the smell of summer.


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## Nucleara

Thank you very much @SoLaTiDoberman  and @Katzuhiko Minohara.

This is a little tricky for me! Thank you for your kind explanation.



SoLaTiDoberman said:


> いいえ、あと10分です。＝いいえ、あと10分しかあり*ません。　*
> "No. (We *don't have enough* time,) only 10 minutes."
> 
> This sentence is regarded as a "negative" sentence for native Japanese speakers.



So you mean that the more correct version (that native speakers use) should be いいえ、あと10分しかあり*ません, *do I get it right?

I wonder, then why don't they use だけ or しか together with あと in the first place to convey the meaning of _only/just _? Are だけ andしか omittable without changing the meaning?

いいえ、あと10分だけです。or 
いいえ、あと10分しかあり*ません*

Thanks again.


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## SoLaTiDoberman

いいえ、あと10分です。 
いいえ、あと10分だけです。
いいえ、あと10分しかあり*ません。　　　*These three mean the same and sound natural to me.

いいえ、あと10分だけしかありません。 This might be acceptable, but a little too wordy and redundant to my ears. Usually, we choose either だけ or しか.

cf) いいえ、あと10分ありません。 This means "No. There are less than 10 minutes left. Only around 8 or 9 minutes left."  "No. There aren't even 10 minutes left."


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## Nucleara

SoLaTiDoberman said:


> いいえ、あと10分です。
> いいえ、あと10分だけです。
> いいえ、あと10分しかあり*ません。　　　*These three mean the same and sound natural to me.
> 
> いいえ、あと10分だけしかありません。 This might be acceptable, but a little too wordy and redundant to my ears. Usually, we choose either だけ or しか.
> 
> cf) いいえ、あと10分ありません。 This means "No. There are less than 10 minutes left. Only around 8 or 9 minutes left."  "No. There aren't even 10 minutes left."



This is very enlightening. Also the additional information about あと10分ありません is very helpful!

Thank you so much.


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## Joschl

> *あと*、夏のにおいだよ…」
> Doesn't this あと mean "also" here?


I suppose that the meaning of the noun "あと" that suits the context best is this:


			
				明鏡国語辞典 広辞苑無料検索 said:
			
		

> *あと* 〘名〙❽ 《口頭語で、接続詞的に》そのうえに。さらに。 「━、何か補足することはありませんか」https://sakura-paris.org/dict/明鏡国語辞典/prefix/あと


.
The German equivalents of that noun used as an adverbial here would be "zudem", "außerdem", etc.


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## Katzuhiko Minohara

あと、そして、= and, also, 

*あと*、夏のにおいだよ…
*そして*、夏のにおいだよ…
*And also*, it is the smell of summer.


あと、のこり、= there is remaining 

いいえ、*あと*１０分です。
いいえ、*のこり*１０分です。
No, *there is only* 10 minutes *left*.


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## Joschl

Anyway, if we take the dictionary entry above seriously, we will need something that functions as a sentence adverbial such as "in addition", which is equivalent to the usage of the noun that _Shiratori99_ wants to understand.


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## gengo

「セミの声すげーなっ。」
「そうだね。今年多いよねぇ。」
「*あと*、夏のにおいだよ…」

Here is how I would translate this dialog.
-Those cicadas are so loud!
-I know.  There are so many this year.
-Ah, and the smell of summer...

In the original, the speaker seems to regard セミの声 as a positive thing, something that evokes fond memories of summers past.  And in the last line he implies that summer has certain smells that evoke the same feeling in him.

Another example of this usage:  誕生日パーティーにほしいのはね、ケーキ、デコレーション、そしてたくさんの友達が来てくれることだ
ね。 あとはね、アイスクリームも欲しい。

As mentioned above, this use of あと is different from that in あと１０分です.  The former means "also," but the latter meaning is closer to the literal meaning of 後, that of being later, because it means that only 10 more minutes are left in the future (until something happens).

You can use あと in this way ("more") not only with time units, but also other countable things.

-全員集まった？　-ううん、あと一人が来るはずだ。
-これ以上食べれない。　-さあ、あと一口だ。


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