How to say 'also', but in different contexts?


I am trying to work out how to say 'Today is also my birthday', but I can
think of three different situations and wondering what is the best way to say
each of them in Japanese.

  * [Not only is it Christmas but] today is also my _birthday_.

  * [I heard it's your birthday, and] today is also _my_ birthday.

  * [I have two birthdays, I had one last month but] _today_ is also my birthday.

In no particular order, here are the sentences I have made but I don't know
what goes with which, if they are the best for the sentences of even if they
make sense.

  * 今日も私の誕生日です。
  * 今日は私も誕生日です。
  * 今日は私の誕生日でもあります。

Thanks for any help!




Here is a pretty well known demonstration of syntactic ambiguity in Japanese.

![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/i9pTl.jpg)

The same kind of ambiguity can also occur in English, as you just
demonstrated. So, the "best" way to say them depends on the context. If you
have enough context and your goal is to be succinct and not sound too stiff,
then perhaps an ambiguous sentence will suffice. However, if you want to be
absolutely sure that the sentence on its own will convey exactly what you want
it to convey, then it's best to just add the extra context, just like in
English.

I think the examples you provided are already as specific as can be using just
the syntax, and they all work, except there's still ambiguity:

> A. 今日も私の誕生日です。  
>  **Last month** was my birthday, and **today** is also my birthday.  
>  _Last month it was **my** birthday (not yours), and today is also **my**
> birthday (not yours).  
>  Last month it was my **birthday** (not my anniversary), and today is also
> my **birthday** (not my anniversary)._
>
> B. 今日は私も誕生日です。  
>  Today is **your** birthday, and also **my** birthday.
>
> C. 今日は私の誕生日でもあります。  
>  Today is my **funeral** , and also my **birthday**.  
>  Today is **his** birthday, and also **my** birthday.  
>  Today is **our anniversary** , and also **my birthday**.

For sentence A, the last two scenarios aren't practical, so there's
essentially no ambiguity (however, if we were talking about something other
than birthdays they could become viable). Sentence B only has one meaning. But
sentence C can mean 3 different things depending on context.




Here is a pretty well known demonstration of syntactic ambiguity in Japanese.

![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/i9pTl.jpg)

The same kind of ambiguity can also occur in English, as you just
demonstrated. So, the "best" way to say them depends on the context. If you
have enough context and your goal is to be succinct and not sound too stiff,
then perhaps an ambiguous sentence will suffice. However, if you want to be
absolutely sure that the sentence on its own will convey exactly what you want
it to convey, then it's best to just add the extra context, just like in
English.

I think the examples you provided are already as specific as can be using just
the syntax, and they all work, except there's still ambiguity:

> A. 今日も私の誕生日です。  
>  **Last month** was my birthday, and **today** is also my birthday.  
>  _Last month it was **my** birthday (not yours), and today is also **my**
> birthday (not yours).  
>  Last month it was my **birthday** (not my anniversary), and today is also
> my **birthday** (not my anniversary)._
>
> B. 今日は私も誕生日です。  
>  Today is **your** birthday, and also **my** birthday.
>
> C. 今日は私の誕生日でもあります。  
>  Today is my **funeral** , and also my **birthday**.  
>  Today is **his** birthday, and also **my** birthday.  
>  Today is **our anniversary** , and also **my birthday**.

For sentence A, the last two scenarios aren't practical, so there's
essentially no ambiguity (however, if we were talking about something other
than birthdays they could become viable). Sentence B only has one meaning. But
sentence C can mean 3 different things depending on context.

