Page 102 - Easy Japanese - Learn to Speak Japanese Quickly! (TUTTLE)

Motto kirei desu. It’s prettier.

On the other hand, mō combines with a quantity expression to indicate an added
amount. Note that in Japanese mō “more” precedes the quantity.
mō chotto a little more

mō hito-tsu one more

When you offer something, motto is more polite, but when you accept an offer,
mō sukoshi “a little more” is more polite.

Motto nomimasen ka. Won’t you drink more?
-Ja, mō sukoshi itadakimasu. Well then, I’ll take a little
more.

GRAMMAR NOTE Colors

Some colors have both an adjective and a noun form, as shown in the list above.
Thus it is possible to say both aka desu and akai desu to mean “It’s red”. The
negative forms are aka ja nai desu and akaku nai desu respectively. The correct
one to use largely depends on the convention. It is probably safe to assume the

noun versions indicate classification and the adjective versions indicate
characteristics (aka for red wines and ao for the green traffic light, for example.)
The color words borrowed from other languages such as howaito “white” and
pinku “pink” are nouns in Japanese.

CULTURAL NOTE Tea

Tea is the most common beverage in Japan. Various types of tea are widely
available but green tea is the most common. Ocha usually refers to green tea and
is to be enjoyed without sugar or milk.
Tea is commonly served to visitors at homes or in offices. It is complimentary
at restaurants. Many types of tea, hot or cold, are also sold in plastic bottles and
cans at stores and vending machines.

Powdered green tea, matcha, is the central element of the refined tea
ceremony at which a host serves guests tea in a ritualized manner within the
confined space of a tearoom. The emphasis is on etiquette, hospitality, and
spirituality.