と

About

と is one of the main conditional markers in Japanese, and is often translated as "if/when". と can follow casual form verbs, い-adjectives, and な-adjectives/nouns with だ attached.

E.g. ここを押おすとゲームが始はじまる。 "If you press here the game will start."

Compared to other conditional markers, such as ば, と sounds more "sure" and expresses realities, constants, and truths, rather than hypotheticals.

Summary

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  と is a hypothetical marker

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  と means "if/when"

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  と can follow casual form verbs, い-adjectives, and な-adjectives/nouns with だ attached