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Lesson 4: に
In this lesson, I will teach you how to use particle に.
The Particle に has eleven functions. (If you don’t want to learn them all at once, you can learn the Function 1 and Function 2 first, and go back to learn other functions later.)
Function 1: The Place Where Something Exists
If you want to express something/someone exists in somewhere, you should use に.
Topic（Thing） + は + Place + に + あります
Topic（Person） + は + Place + に + います
Example Sentences:
| 私は公園にいます。 I’m in the park. 本は机の上にあります。 The book is on the desk. ぺんはポケットの中にあります。 The pen is in the pocket. 彼は学校にいます。 He is in the school. 彼女はどこにいますか。 Where is she? カギはどこにありますか。 Where is the key? |
Function 2: Time Marker
If you want to express the time when something happens, you can use something below.
Topic + は + Time + に + Verb
Example Sentences:
| 私は三時に出かけます。 I will go out at 3 o’clock. 彼は八時に起きました。 He got up at 8 o’clock. 仕事は木曜日に始まります。 The work will start on Thursday. 彼女は金曜日に戻ります。 She will be back on Friday. 彼らは三月に卒業します。 They will graduate in March. |
Function 3: The Receiver of Things or Information
If you want to express someone gives others something or some information, you can use the pattern below.
Receiver + に + Noun + を + Verb
Example Sentences:
| 田中さんに英語を教えます。 I will teach Mr.Tanaka English. 山田さんに本をあげます。 I will give Mr.Yamada the book. 彼にプレゼントを贈りました。 I gave him the present. 彼女に写真を送りました。 I sent her the photos. |
Function 4: Point of Destination While Moving Something
If you want to express that you move something to somewhere, you can use something below.
Place + に + Things + を + Verb
Example Sentences:
| 壁に写真を貼りました。 I sticked a photo on the wall. ゴミ箱にゴミを捨てました。 I threw the garbage in the trash. 机に本を置きます。 I put the book on the desk. |
Function 5: Object of Action
If you want to express “do something with somebody” or “do something to somebody”, you can use something below.
Person + に + Verb
Example Sentences:
| 犬が山田さんにほえました。 The dog barked at Mr. Yamada. 先生に相談します。 I will talk with the teacher. 彼に真相を話します。 I will tell him the truth. |
Function 6: Place of Arrival
If you want to express the place of arrival, you can use something like below.
Topic + は + Place + に + Verb
Example Sentences:
| 私は病院に行きました。 I went to the hospital. 彼は椅子に座りました。 He sat on the Chair. 彼女は駅に着きました。 She arrived at the station. 彼らは映画館に行きます。 They will go to the theater. 私たちは郵便局に行きます。 We will go to the post office. |
Function 7: The Result of Change
If you want to express the result of change, you can use something like below.
Noun + に + なります
Example Sentences:
| 子供が大人になりました。 The children became grow-ups. 氷が水になりました。 The ice became the water. 彼は俳優になりました。 He became an actor. 私は先生になりたいです。 I want to be a teacher. 私たちはサラリーマンになりました。 We became office workers. |
Function 8: The Agent in Causative Form and Passive Form
If you want to use Causative Form of Verb or Passive Form of Verb, you can use に to mark the agent.
Agent + に + Noun + を + Causative Form of Verb
Agent + に + Passive Form of Verb
Example Sentences:
| 山田さんに本を読ませます。 I will let Yamada read the book. 田中さんに本を見せます。 I will show the book to Tanaka. 先生に褒められました。 I was praised by the teacher. お母さんに見つかりました。 I was found by mom. |
Function 9: Comparison Criterion
If you want to compare something, you can use something like below.
Topic + は + Comparison Criterion + に + Verb
Example Sentences:
| 山田さんはお父さんに似ています。 Yamada looks like his father. 私は彼に劣ります。 I’m not as good as he is. |
Function 10: The Goal of Action
If you want to express you goal of doing something, you can use something like below.
Goal + に + Verb
Example Sentences:
| 私たちは映画を見に行きました。 We went to the movies. 晩ご飯を食べに行く. I will go to eat dinner. 彼は買い物に行きました。 He went to shopping. シャツを買いに行きます。 I’m going to buy a shirt. |
Function 11: The Reason of Action
If you want to express the reason of action, you can use something like below.
Reason + に + Action
Example Sentences:
| 彼は仕事の成功に自信を付けた。 He became confident because of his successful career. 人の多さにびっくりしました。 I was surprised at the large number of people. |
Notes:
| ①Both と and に has the function of telling us the result of change，but に is often used in spoken Japanese and と is often used in written Japanese. ②Both へ and に has the function of telling us the destination of action，but it sounds more natural to use へ. ③Both へ and に has the function of telling us the object of action，but へ emphasizes the process of action，while に emphasizes the result of action. For example, 東京へ行きます。（The listener won’t know the destination, maybe it’s Tokyo, maybe not, only thing the listener knows is that Tokyo is one of the processes) 東京に行きます。（The listener will know that Tokyo is the result, is the destination.） ④に is the place something exists，or the place you arrive at，BUT，で is the place where the action happens（you take some actions here），DO NOT confuse them.（に is a point but で is a scope.） |
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17 thoughts on “Lesson 4: に”
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I don’t understand what you mean by “へ emphasizes the process of action，while に emphasizes the result of action”. Can you please give an example of when it would be appropriate to use each?
For example,
東京へ行きます。（The listener won’t know the destination, maybe it’s Tokyo, maybe not, only thing the listener knows is that Tokyo is one of the processes)
東京に行きます。（The listener will know that Tokyo is the result, is the destination.）
Thank you!
It’s my pleasure!
Just to clear up on my understanding on note 3:
新宿駅へ行きます。
(Shinjuku station may or may not be the station you’ll be stopping on)
新宿駅に行きます。
(You’ll stop on Shinjuku station)
Is it correct?
Yes, it’s right!
How about when you have an object? Is 「私は三時にアニメを見ます」correct? If not, what’s the formula?
It’s correct!
Don’t we need to add 一緒に if the sentence is “do something WITH somebody”? Because when I google translated 「犬に歩きました 」, it resulted to “I walked to a dog”
Not all words can be used with に to express “do something with somebody”.
in your example, you can use と.
Function 2: Used as time.
私は三時(じ) に出(で) かけます。
I will go out at 3 o’clock.
彼女は八時に出かけません
She doesn’t get out at 8 o’clock
彼は八時に起(お) きました。
He got up at 8 o’clock.
仕事は木曜日に始まります。
The work will start on Thursday.
ゲームは木曜日に始まるのたくない
I don’t want the game to start on thursday.
彼女は金曜に戻もどります。
She will be back on Friday.
ティナとレイフングは木曜日に戻ります
彼ら達は三月さんがつに卒そつ業ぎょうします。
They will graduate in March.
彼女は七月に卒業するの？
Will she graduate in July?
I know that 田中さんに英語を教えます is “I will teach Mr. Tanaka English”, so how do I say “I teach Mr. Tanaka English”?
田中さんに英語を教えています。
ありがとう‼️
Place + に + Things + を + Verb
学校にバスを到着した。
Is this how I say “the bus arrived at the school”?
Please correct me if I’m wrong.
Also, Chair is misspelled in function 6
the bus arrived at the school
バスは学校に到着した。
By the way, the mistake is fixed already!
Got it. This course explains everything quite clearly and I really appreciate that. Thank you very much for your effort.