🇯🇵 Japanese for beginners (N5) · Chapter 7

Particles: wo, ni, de, e

Japanese particles are postpositions — the same idea as को, में and से in Hindi — so once you know which job each one does, you can shuffle a Japanese sentence and it still means the same thing.

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The basics

Particles are tiny words placed after a noun to show its job in the sentence. Today's four: を (object), に (time point, destination, recipient), で (place of action, means), へ (direction).

The problem it solves: Japanese word order is loose — the verb stays last but everything before it can move. The particles, not the position, tell you who did what, where, when and how. Get one wrong and I ate at the restaurant becomes I went into the restaurant.

The mental model: labels on boxes. Each noun gets a label saying its role, then the verb closes the sentence:

わたし は しちじ に カフェ で コーヒー を のみます。

I · at 7 · at a café · coffee (object) · drink.

This is exactly how Hindi works with postpositions: मैं सात बजे कैफ़े में कॉफ़ी पीता हूँ.

(The verbs here — たべます, いきます — are the polite masu form, taught properly next lesson.)

Explained

These two sentences mean the same thing:

ラジさん は しちじ に えき で コーヒー を のみます。

コーヒー を ラジさん は えき で しちじ に のみます。

Raj drinks coffee at the station at 7. Each noun carries a label — に, で, を — so the order can move. Only the verb must stay at the end. Learn the labels and you can decode any N5 sentence.

You already use postpositions

English puts in, at, by before the noun. Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi and Bengali put them after: घर में, बस से, राम को.

Japanese does the same.

बस से           バス で        by bus
लाइब्रेरी में पढ़ना  としょかん で  study in the library
दोस्त को        ともだち に    to a friend
सात बजे         しちじ に      at seven
जापान की ओर     にほん へ      towards Japan

The mapping isn't one-to-one — Hindi में covers both に and で — but the habit of tagging the noun after it is already yours.

The sentence skeleton

[topic]は  [time]に  [place]で  [object]を  verb。
わたしは   はちじに   いえで     ごはんを   たべます。
I          at 8      at home    a meal     eat.

[topic]は  [time]に  [means]で  [destination]に/へ  verb。
アニタさんは くじに   でんしゃで  かいしゃに          いきます。
Anita      at 9      by train   to the office       goes.

The usual order is who → when → where → what → verb, but each piece can move because its particle travels with it.

を and へ

を (o) — the thing the action is done to.

チャイ を のみます。 — I drink chai.

にほんご を べんきょうします。 — I study Japanese.

えいが を みます。 — I watch a film.

Though written wo, modern speech says o, identical to お. It appears almost only as this particle.

へ (e) — direction, 'towards'. Only with movement verbs: いきます (go), きます (come), かえります (go home).

にほん へ いきます。 — I'm going to Japan.

インド へ かえります。 — I'm going back to India.

Written he, said e. With movement verbs, へ and に are interchangeable; へ stresses the direction, に the arrival point.

に — a point in time, space or a person

1. A specific time:

ろくじ に おきます。 — I get up at 6.

にちようび に えいが を みます。 — I watch a film on Sunday.

But no に with relative times: きょう, あした, きのう, まいにち, いま, らいしゅう.

あした いきます。 ~~あした に~~

2. A destination:

がっこう に いきます。 — I go to school.

3. A recipient — the person something goes to:

はは に でんわ します。 — I phone my mother.

ともだち に メール を おくります。 — I send an email to a friend.

4. A few verbs that take に for the person or thing:

ともだち に あいます。 — I meet a friend.

でんしゃ に のります。 — I get on the train.

で — where it happens, and how

1. The place an action happens:

としょかん で べんきょうします。 — I study at the library.

カフェ で コーヒー を のみます。 — I drink coffee at a café.

2. The means — tool, transport, language:

バス で いきます。 — I go by bus.

はし で たべます。 — I eat with chopsticks.

にほんご で はなします。 — I speak in Japanese.

に vs で — the test that settles it:

レストラン に いきます   go TO the restaurant  (endpoint)
レストラン で たべます   eat AT the restaurant (activity)

Ask: am I arriving there, or doing something there? Arriving → に. Doing → で.

Planning Saturday with a colleague in Tokyo

Mei: どようび に なに を します か。 (What are you doing on Saturday?)

Karan: あさ、ジム で うんどう します。 (In the morning I'll work out at the gym.)

Mei: ひる は？

Karan: しんじゅく に いきます。インド レストラン で カレー を たべます。

Mei: なに で いきます か。 (How will you get there?)

Karan: でんしゃ で いきます。じゅうにじ に ともだち に あいます。

Mei: いい です ね！

Every particle earning its keep: time に, place で, destination に, object を, means で, person に.

Remember it

• を — 'object' — it even sounds like 'o'
• に — a pin on a map or a clock: the exact point you hit (time, destination, person)
• で — the 'den' where you do things, and the de-vice you use (bus, chopsticks, Japanese)
• へ — an arrow: the shape へ even looks like it's heading somewhere
• No に before きょう / あした / まいにち — they float free, like 'today' with no 'on'

One line: go に, do で, what を, way へ.

Words to know

In two minutes

• Particles go after the noun and label its role; the verb stays at the end.
• を (said o) marks the direct object: コーヒー を のみます.
• に marks a point: a clock time (しちじ に), a destination (がっこう に いきます), or a recipient (ともだち に).
• で marks where an action happens (カフェ で のみます) or the means (バス で いきます).
• へ (said e) marks direction with movement verbs, and is interchangeable with に there.
• に vs で for places: に = where you go or where something is; で = where you do something.
• Relative times — きょう, あした, まいにち, いま — take no に.
• Some verbs take に where English expects an object: ともだち に あいます (meet), バス に のります (ride).

Test yourself

There are 9 questions, 3 puzzles and 5 recall cards for this lesson in the app — the recall cards come back on later days, just before you would forget.