also・as well, moreover・again, additionally
Structure
- また + Phrase
- Why does また mean moreover in “また、彼はチョコを買ってくれた。” while it means again in all the other examples? Is it the comma/pause?
- In “また同じことが起きたから、どんどんイライラしてきた。”, shouldn’t 起きた be 起こりた?
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Hey and sorry for the late answer! @max99x
Depending on the context, また can mean both:
-
repetition of things (again)
母「おばさんとキーちゃんが来るから部屋を片けておいて。」
逆らう子供「また？先週来たけど。」
Mother: "Aunt and Ki-chan are coming, so clean your room (in advance).
Rebellious child: “Again? They came last week…” -
joining things (moreover, also)
このスマホは面面(don’t confuse with 面々！)がいい。また、いい写真を撮れる。
This smartphone has good screen. Moreover, it can make good photos.
Both 起きた and 起こった work.
また同じことが起きたから、どんどんイライラしてきた。
また同じことが起こったから、どんどんイライラしてきた。
You can also change どんどん to ますます without changing meaning.
起きる is simply more versailte, meaning both “to happen” and “to wake up”, while 起こる means only “to happen”.
I hope it helps!
Cheers!
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In the case of 「このスマホは面面がいい。また、いい写真を撮れる。」 It’s pretty obvious that また doesn’t mean “again”, but in the case of the 「また、彼はチョコを買ってくれた。」, “again” feels like the more natural interpretation to me as a non-native learner.
Without context, is there any way to discern that in「また、彼はチョコを買ってくれた。」, the 「また」 more likely means or implies moreover as opposed to again? (as mentioned, maybe the pause/comma?) Or would the standalone sentence without context be ambiguous to native readers/listeners too?
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Would like to know this as well. When I read the sentence back, there is no way I would assume また is supposed to mean “moreover” here. It would be totally plausible in my opinion to assume that “he” gave the speaker chocolate again. Maybe this is said by a girl on who “he” has a crush on and she is annoyed by receiving the chocolate? Never know without context. 
Is it possible to exclude a single sentence from a grammar point? Since there is only one example for また being interpreted as “moreover”, I would rather exclude this single sentence.
As a native speaker, I assumed that this sentence was using the ‘moreover’ translation instead of the ‘again’ because of the comma. The pause between また and 彼 changes the nuance from ‘again’ to ‘moreover/additionally’ and gives the sentence a different nuance. It is safe to assume that if a comma is used after また, it means ‘moreover’.
I hope that answers your question!
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I think a big issue with this lesson is that it states it will focus on また used as a conjunction (“moreover”) when it mostly contains examples for its use as an adverb (“again”).
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I’m not good with part of speech classification and other terminology, so let me see if I understand correctly.
A jp-jp dictionary (又／亦／復（また）とは？ 意味・読み方・使い方をわかりやすく解説 - goo国語辞書) defines 3 types of 又:
① 副、 that would be 副詞 adverb
- ふたたび、 “one more time”, “again”.
- 同じく、“in the same way”, “also”
- 別、別の機会、“some other time”
- その上に、“in addition”, “also”
- それにしても、expression of surprise, “wow”
② 接、 that would be 接続詞 conjunction
- ならびに、“as well as”, “and also”
- その上、“in addition”, “also”
- あるいは、“alternatively”, “or”
③ 接頭、prefix of indirectness in words like 又聞き
Usages ①4 and ②2 seem to have the same definition, but examples for conjunctive usage join 2 sentences/clauses together, and adverbial examples do not.
With this in mind, let’s look at Bunpro examples.
また (JLPT N4) | Bunpro current lesson. Says “we will focus on its use as a conjunction”.
-
1 example of conjunctive ②1: ～であり、また～もある -
1 example or conjunctive ②2 (probably): また、彼からチョコをもらった
-
14 examples of adverbial ①1.
又〜も (JLPT N3) | Bunpro says it is about “adverb 又 and …”, doesn’t mention the word “conjunction”.
all examples are of conjunctive ②1-3
も又 (JLPT N2) | Bunpro says “when used adverbially”.
all examples are of ①2
又 (JLPT N4) | Bunpro vocab has a mix of various usages.
又は (JLPT N4) | Bunpro vocab focuses on ②3.
So yes, is seems to me that the terminology needs to be reviewed.
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