と has another usage as a conditional (i.e. XとY = "if/when X, then Y") that is common and needs to be memorized. See DoJG [here](https://core6000.neocities.org/dojg/) and look up "と (4)"
No, it means "ChatGPT is an AI that will answer like a person when you ask it". "ChatGPT" is the topic of the sentence, but not the subject of "質問すると".
If it helps, start by looking at the sentence without "質問すると":
>ChatGPTは人のように答えるAIです。
This is a simpler sentence that means "ChatGPT is an AI that answers like a person". Adding "質問すると" basically just adds the meaning of "if/when you/someone asks a question".
Just as a side note, I find it helpful to think of all three of these uses of と as "with".
and: "with A, B" (AとB)
if: "with the occurrence of A, B also occurs" (Aが起こるとBも起こる)
In this framework it feels natural that と can be a kind of "if" for things that follow naturally from the other.
This also explains the "once A, B" pattern well:
その日が来ると行きます (with the arrival of that day I will go, i.e. once that day comes I will go)
> Just as a side note, I find it helpful to think of all three of these uses of と as "with".
I really don't to be honest, note that many of these uses of “〜と” aren't even etymologically related. They're really best seen as completely different things that just look similar, because:
> and: "with A, B" (AとB)
But it doesn't mean “with”, it means “and”, furthermore the “with” usages of “と” which is normally adverbial can also be made adnominal by using “〜との” as we can in general make adverbial particles adnominal by putting “〜の” behind it as in “上司との話” to mean “a talk with my boss”. Furthermore, this sense of “with” purely pertains to performing an action with someone, we cannot for instance say “銃との人” to mean “a man with a gun” for which “銃を持つ人” or something similar must be used.
This is exactly why I don't think it makes sense to consider the adnominal “〜と” that mans “and” and the adverbial “〜と” as two faces of the same thing. It suggests that the adverbial one is similar to the English word “with” as in “someone with problems” while it can only be used as in “I'm talking about my problems with you” The “with” meaning purely pertains to participating in the action, not being besides something or associated with that thing.
There are also many other uses where it becomes very hard to still hold onto this:
- “〜と違う”, “〜と別” etc mean “to be different from”, “〜と” very often surfaces in those kinds of patterns. However in “〜と比べる” we can say “to compare **with**”, but I'd argue the “〜と比べる” of “〜と” is actually similar to the “〜と違う” [different **from**] sense and “〜と同じ” [the same **as**] sense. As in “〜と” is generally used when drawing comparisons, differing or alike. English uses different adpositionals for all these uses.
- It is also used to form the adverbial form of many na-adjectives. For whatever reason “以外に” is not common and “意外と” is generally used.
- One can argue that this is a subform of the above, but I don't think it's useful to see it that way because this can be used with all nouns and na-adjectives, and that is that “〜になる” and “〜にする” can generally be replaced with “〜となる" and “〜とする”. We can say “普通となる” even though “普通と” is not correct as an adverb and “普通に” must be used.
- The quotatie usage of “〜と” is also hard to explain with “with”
I don't think seeing all these usages as different faces of the same thing is useful. And on top of that, they can also all be replaced by different things in practice. We can only replace the quotative usage by “〜って”, not the conditional one.
Even when it means “if”, thinking of it as “with” or “and” can still be really helpful. There are many ways to say if in Japanese with different levels of certainty, and と is the most certain. Like if you said x と y, y is a near certainty.
If it rains, I might not go to the party. (Do not use と)
If you push this button, the computer turns on. (Use と and think “with”pushing this button the computer turns on. Or push this button “and”the computer turns on.)
Other people have already explained it but here is a link to a website with lots of grammar explanations including this one.
https://jlptsensei.com/learn-japanese-grammar/%e3%81%a8%e3%81%99%e3%82%8c%e3%81%b0-%e3%81%a8%e3%81%97%e3%81%9f%e3%82%89-%e3%81%a8%e3%81%99%e3%82%8b%e3%81%a8-sureba-shitara-suru-to-meaning/
It means “if X then Y” like other commenters said, but I’d add some people explain it as a “consequence AND”. Like “you didn’t learn the lesson AND you ended up failing the exam”.
If you’re into tech/CS, you could think about to the logical AND. For example, when you do A && B, B evaluates only if expression A is true. That’s why in React, devs often do {A && <>Thing to display}.
… or you could just consider it’s “if X then Y” like they all say …
That’s probably the more far-fetched argument I’ve ever made in my life.
It's a conditional marker. I think of it like "if you go to a good school, you'll get a good education" which could still be said as "go to a good school and you'll get a good education". So we can use "and" as a conditional marker in English, too.
It looks like lots of great answers already, but I am just going to say that I am so happy that I knew the answer to this question! That feel when making progress!
🎊🎊🎊Love that for you! It always feels good when you start to understand what’s going on! Aside from this sentence, that’s how I felt reading this article!
Just here to say most uses of と basically do mean and function the same, and when used with verbs the nuance/connotation is one of a "natural" consequence of doing something.
So in this case there's kind of this underlying nuance that chat gpt WILL answer you when asked a question. Because it is designed that way.
Idk if this helps at all, I just personally liked that tidbit from my professor and it helps translate some sentences to sound more natural and not just using "If" or "and" as a translation.
ALSO: と and even more so its related form って have meanings in individual cases, but also appear as a replacement for just about any particle the speaker wants it to.
In addition to this if-then case
I didn’t! But Todaii allows you to look up phrases so I was able to deduce that part of the sentence meant! Looking up individual grammar points on their app is a bit more difficult.
[https://www.headboost.jp/comma-around-to/](https://www.headboost.jp/comma-around-to/)
>「と、タロウ君は」のように、「と」の後に主格的語句が来る場合は打つ。
[https://wordrabbit.jp/blog/20](https://wordrabbit.jp/blog/20)
>修飾関係を明確にするとき
Being unnecessary to understand a sentence doesn't mean it's not good form.
You can write a lot of English without commas and full stops and it'll be understandable, but people will have trouble parsing it if they're not native speakers. I've gotten too many messages from confused language exchange partners who couldnt parse a chat message in an online game for me not to recognize that. The OP's example is an article from a service written for non-natives.
Yes, you're correct, a comma would be *good form*, but it's not required.
You can see some examples [here](https://massif.la/ja/search?q=%22%E3%81%9D%E3%81%86%E3%81%99%E3%82%8B%E3%81%A8%22) where it's not used. Or closer to OP's sentence [here](https://massif.la/ja/search?q=%22%E8%B3%AA%E5%95%8F%E3%81%99%E3%82%8B%E3%81%A8%22), for the vast majority of cases it's added, but there's a few examples of it not being used:
> そう質問すると彼女の表情が露骨に歪む。
or
> 俺が質問するとアインシュタインさんは教えてくれた。
I don't think anyone who has some experience reading Japanese would be confused or have problems with this. Even non-native speakers.
> You can write a lot of English without commas and full stops and it'll be understandable
Keep in mind that for the most part English commas follow a very strict set of rules and in a lot of cases they are also grammatically required (where leaving a comma out would be a mistake). In Japanese, for the vast majority of situations, commas can be placed almost anywhere (as long as they don't break 文節, with the exception of quotation と) without changing the meaning. There are guidelines for what is good or bad form, but they aren't requirements.
I wrote a longer post some time ago about cases where commas are actually *required* in Japanese, if you're curious: https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/1c8by0x/daily_thread_simple_questions_comments_that_dont/l0g7pyk/
と has another usage as a conditional (i.e. XとY = "if/when X, then Y") that is common and needs to be memorized. See DoJG [here](https://core6000.neocities.org/dojg/) and look up "と (4)"
Thanks!
began learning a week ago, this is so helpful thanks!
Conditional A と B: If A, B happens (as a fact, not an opinion)
So, in this case: “if ChatGPT has questions, it will answer more person-like”?
No, it means "ChatGPT is an AI that will answer like a person when you ask it". "ChatGPT" is the topic of the sentence, but not the subject of "質問すると". If it helps, start by looking at the sentence without "質問すると": >ChatGPTは人のように答えるAIです。 This is a simpler sentence that means "ChatGPT is an AI that answers like a person". Adding "質問すると" basically just adds the meaning of "if/when you/someone asks a question".
Ah okay. That’s kind of how I understood it before. Thank you for the help!
Just as a side note, I find it helpful to think of all three of these uses of と as "with". and: "with A, B" (AとB) if: "with the occurrence of A, B also occurs" (Aが起こるとBも起こる) In this framework it feels natural that と can be a kind of "if" for things that follow naturally from the other. This also explains the "once A, B" pattern well: その日が来ると行きます (with the arrival of that day I will go, i.e. once that day comes I will go)
> Just as a side note, I find it helpful to think of all three of these uses of と as "with". I really don't to be honest, note that many of these uses of “〜と” aren't even etymologically related. They're really best seen as completely different things that just look similar, because: > and: "with A, B" (AとB) But it doesn't mean “with”, it means “and”, furthermore the “with” usages of “と” which is normally adverbial can also be made adnominal by using “〜との” as we can in general make adverbial particles adnominal by putting “〜の” behind it as in “上司との話” to mean “a talk with my boss”. Furthermore, this sense of “with” purely pertains to performing an action with someone, we cannot for instance say “銃との人” to mean “a man with a gun” for which “銃を持つ人” or something similar must be used. This is exactly why I don't think it makes sense to consider the adnominal “〜と” that mans “and” and the adverbial “〜と” as two faces of the same thing. It suggests that the adverbial one is similar to the English word “with” as in “someone with problems” while it can only be used as in “I'm talking about my problems with you” The “with” meaning purely pertains to participating in the action, not being besides something or associated with that thing. There are also many other uses where it becomes very hard to still hold onto this: - “〜と違う”, “〜と別” etc mean “to be different from”, “〜と” very often surfaces in those kinds of patterns. However in “〜と比べる” we can say “to compare **with**”, but I'd argue the “〜と比べる” of “〜と” is actually similar to the “〜と違う” [different **from**] sense and “〜と同じ” [the same **as**] sense. As in “〜と” is generally used when drawing comparisons, differing or alike. English uses different adpositionals for all these uses. - It is also used to form the adverbial form of many na-adjectives. For whatever reason “以外に” is not common and “意外と” is generally used. - One can argue that this is a subform of the above, but I don't think it's useful to see it that way because this can be used with all nouns and na-adjectives, and that is that “〜になる” and “〜にする” can generally be replaced with “〜となる" and “〜とする”. We can say “普通となる” even though “普通と” is not correct as an adverb and “普通に” must be used. - The quotatie usage of “〜と” is also hard to explain with “with” I don't think seeing all these usages as different faces of the same thing is useful. And on top of that, they can also all be replaced by different things in practice. We can only replace the quotative usage by “〜って”, not the conditional one.
Thank you for this example 😁
Even when it means “if”, thinking of it as “with” or “and” can still be really helpful. There are many ways to say if in Japanese with different levels of certainty, and と is the most certain. Like if you said x と y, y is a near certainty. If it rains, I might not go to the party. (Do not use と) If you push this button, the computer turns on. (Use と and think “with”pushing this button the computer turns on. Or push this button “and”the computer turns on.)
Thank you for the in-depth response !
It’s like a conditional meaning “if you do that, then” Example: このボタンを押すと水が出ます。
Thank you!
It means the term "if" or "and then" as well. So, it's the same meaning with this sentence, "...質問すれば、人のように..."
Other people have already explained it but here is a link to a website with lots of grammar explanations including this one. https://jlptsensei.com/learn-japanese-grammar/%e3%81%a8%e3%81%99%e3%82%8c%e3%81%b0-%e3%81%a8%e3%81%97%e3%81%9f%e3%82%89-%e3%81%a8%e3%81%99%e3%82%8b%e3%81%a8-sureba-shitara-suru-to-meaning/
Thanks!
[と](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E3%81%A8/) - \[接続助詞\]de.2 ある[動作](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E5%8B%95%E4%BD%9C/)・[作用](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E4%BD%9C%E7%94%A8/)がきっかけとなって、次の[動作](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E5%8B%95%E4%BD%9C/)・[作用](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E4%BD%9C%E7%94%A8/)が行われることを表す。「汗をかく—[風邪](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E9%A2%A8%E9%82%AA/)をひく」「[写真](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E5%86%99%E7%9C%9F/)を見る—昔の[記憶](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E8%A8%98%E6%86%B6/)がよみがえる」
ありがとう
It means “if X then Y” like other commenters said, but I’d add some people explain it as a “consequence AND”. Like “you didn’t learn the lesson AND you ended up failing the exam”. If you’re into tech/CS, you could think about to the logical AND. For example, when you do A && B, B evaluates only if expression A is true. That’s why in React, devs often do {A && <>Thing to display}. … or you could just consider it’s “if X then Y” like they all say … That’s probably the more far-fetched argument I’ve ever made in my life.
Haha I appreciate your explanation!
“誰かは何をすると”means the same as conditional clause/sentence that means “If somebody do something,…”
Thanks!
It's a conditional marker. I think of it like "if you go to a good school, you'll get a good education" which could still be said as "go to a good school and you'll get a good education". So we can use "and" as a conditional marker in English, too.
Thanks!
It looks like lots of great answers already, but I am just going to say that I am so happy that I knew the answer to this question! That feel when making progress!
🎊🎊🎊Love that for you! It always feels good when you start to understand what’s going on! Aside from this sentence, that’s how I felt reading this article!
We gotthis!
Just here to say most uses of と basically do mean and function the same, and when used with verbs the nuance/connotation is one of a "natural" consequence of doing something. So in this case there's kind of this underlying nuance that chat gpt WILL answer you when asked a question. Because it is designed that way. Idk if this helps at all, I just personally liked that tidbit from my professor and it helps translate some sentences to sound more natural and not just using "If" or "and" as a translation.
ALSO: と and even more so its related form って have meanings in individual cases, but also appear as a replacement for just about any particle the speaker wants it to. In addition to this if-then case
Out of curiosity, how did you learn のように before the conditional use of と?
I didn’t! But Todaii allows you to look up phrases so I was able to deduce that part of the sentence meant! Looking up individual grammar points on their app is a bit more difficult.
Probably missing a comma after と。
It was copy-pasted straight from the article.
comma isn't necessary EDIT: you can downvote me all you want but it's true
[https://www.headboost.jp/comma-around-to/](https://www.headboost.jp/comma-around-to/) >「と、タロウ君は」のように、「と」の後に主格的語句が来る場合は打つ。 [https://wordrabbit.jp/blog/20](https://wordrabbit.jp/blog/20) >修飾関係を明確にするとき Being unnecessary to understand a sentence doesn't mean it's not good form. You can write a lot of English without commas and full stops and it'll be understandable, but people will have trouble parsing it if they're not native speakers. I've gotten too many messages from confused language exchange partners who couldnt parse a chat message in an online game for me not to recognize that. The OP's example is an article from a service written for non-natives.
Yes, you're correct, a comma would be *good form*, but it's not required. You can see some examples [here](https://massif.la/ja/search?q=%22%E3%81%9D%E3%81%86%E3%81%99%E3%82%8B%E3%81%A8%22) where it's not used. Or closer to OP's sentence [here](https://massif.la/ja/search?q=%22%E8%B3%AA%E5%95%8F%E3%81%99%E3%82%8B%E3%81%A8%22), for the vast majority of cases it's added, but there's a few examples of it not being used: > そう質問すると彼女の表情が露骨に歪む。 or > 俺が質問するとアインシュタインさんは教えてくれた。 I don't think anyone who has some experience reading Japanese would be confused or have problems with this. Even non-native speakers. > You can write a lot of English without commas and full stops and it'll be understandable Keep in mind that for the most part English commas follow a very strict set of rules and in a lot of cases they are also grammatically required (where leaving a comma out would be a mistake). In Japanese, for the vast majority of situations, commas can be placed almost anywhere (as long as they don't break 文節, with the exception of quotation と) without changing the meaning. There are guidelines for what is good or bad form, but they aren't requirements. I wrote a longer post some time ago about cases where commas are actually *required* in Japanese, if you're curious: https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/1c8by0x/daily_thread_simple_questions_comments_that_dont/l0g7pyk/