The Particle に: Time, Destination, Existence and More

に has one of the longest lists of uses of any particle in a beginner textbook, and the list can look random: at seven o'clock, to school, in the box, to my friend, by a dog. It gets easier if you picture に as a pin stuck into a single point. That point might be a moment on the clock, the place where something sits or ends up, or the person an action is aimed at.

The uses below are in roughly the order you'll meet them. If you haven't seen the other particles yet, our particle overview is the place to start.

A point in time

に marks when something happens, as long as the time is a specific point you could find on a clock or a calendar.

• 七時に起きます。 (しちじにおきます) I get up at seven.
• 土曜日に友達と会います。 (どようびにともだちとあいます) I'm meeting a friend on Saturday.
• 四月に日本へ行きます。 (しがつににほんへいきます) I'm going to Japan in April.
• 2019年に大学を卒業しました。 (にせんじゅうきゅうねんにだいがくをそつぎょうしました) I graduated from university in 2019.

Time words that are defined relative to now normally don't take に. "Tomorrow" isn't a fixed date, since it moves every day. So it's 明日行きます (あしたいきます), not 明日に行きます.

The third row is the grey area. Days of the week are heard with and without に. Seasons and parts of the day often go without it in conversation. ごろ ("around") works either way: 三時ごろ and 三時ごろに both mean "at about three." A length of time that says how long something went on doesn't take に: 二時間勉強しました (にじかんべんきょうしました) is "I studied for two hours," with no particle after 二時間.

Where something is going

With verbs of movement, に marks the endpoint.

• 学校に行きます。 (がっこうにいきます) I go to school.
• 六時に家に帰ります。 (ろくじにいえにかえります) I get home at six.
• 電車に乗ります。 (でんしゃにのります) I get on the train.
• 椅子に座ってください。 (いすにすわってください) Please sit on the chair.
• かばんに財布を入れました。 (かばんにさいふをいれました) I put my wallet in my bag.

The second sentence has two に, one for the time and one for the place, and that's perfectly normal. The last three are the ones English speakers miss, because "get on," "sit on" and "put in" don't feel like going anywhere. In Japanese they all have an endpoint, so they all take に. The same goes for 入る (はいる, to enter), 着く (つく, to arrive), 登る (のぼる, to climb) and 置く (おく, to put down).

Where something exists

With ある (for things) and いる (for people and animals), に marks the location. The usual pattern is place に, thing が, then ある or いる.

• 机の上に本があります。 (つくえのうえにほんがあります) There's a book on the desk.
• 公園に子供がいます。 (こうえんにこどもがいます) There are children in the park.
• 母は今、台所にいます。 (はははいま、だいどころにいます) My mother is in the kitchen right now.

A few other verbs describe staying put more than doing something, and they take に too: 住む (すむ, to live somewhere), 勤める (つとめる, to be employed at) and 泊まる (とまる, to stay overnight). So 東京に住んでいます (とうきょうにすんでいます) is "I live in Tokyo."

The person on the receiving end

When you give, send, tell, teach or show something to someone, that someone takes に. The thing itself takes を.

• 友達にプレゼントをあげました。 (ともだちにプレゼントをあげました) I gave a present to my friend.
• 母に電話します。 (ははにでんわします) I'll call my mother.
• 先生に質問しました。 (せんせいにしつもんしました) I asked the teacher a question.
• 駅で友達に会いました。 (えきでともだちにあいました) I met my friend at the station.

会う (あう, to meet) is the trap in that list. In English you meet a person directly, so learners write 友達を会う. It's 友達に会う, or 友達と会う when the meeting is mutual and arranged.

With verbs of receiving, に flips and marks the source. 友達に本をもらいました (ともだちにほんをもらいました) is "I got a book from my friend," and 先生に日本語を習いました (せんせいににほんごをならいました) is "I learned Japanese from my teacher." から can replace に in both. The verb tells you which way things are moving.

Going somewhere to do something

Take the stem of a verb (the ます form without ます), add に, and follow it with 行く, 来る or 帰る. The result means going, coming or returning in order to do that thing.

• 映画を見に行きます。 (えいがをみにいきます) I'm going to see a movie.
• 昼ご飯を食べに帰りました。 (ひるごはんをたべにかえりました) I went home to eat lunch.
• 友達が遊びに来ました。 (ともだちがあそびにきました) A friend came over to hang out.

Nouns that name an activity work the same way without any verb stem: 買い物に行く (かいものにいく, to go shopping), 散歩に行く (さんぽにいく, to go for a walk), 旅行に行く (りょこうにいく, to go on a trip). This pattern needs a verb of motion after it. For purpose with other verbs, Japanese uses ために instead.

What something turns into

なる means "to become," and the result goes before it with に when it's a noun or a な-adjective.

• 兄は医者になりました。 (あにはいしゃになりました) My older brother became a doctor.
• もう春になりましたね。 (もうはるになりましたね) It's spring already, isn't it?
• 部屋がきれいになりました。 (へやがきれいになりました) The room got clean.

い-adjectives don't use に here. They change い to く: 寒くなりました (さむくなりました, "it got cold"), not 寒いになりました. The matching pattern with する means to decide on something. At a restaurant, コーヒーにします is "I'll have coffee."

Who did it, in passive sentences

In a passive sentence, the person or thing that did the action takes に, like "by" in English.

• 先生に褒められました。 (せんせいにほめられました) I was praised by the teacher.
• 犬に手を噛まれました。 (いぬにてをかまれました) I got bitten on the hand by a dog.
• 帰り道で雨に降られました。 (かえりみちであめにふられました) I got caught in the rain on the way home.

The third one has no direct English equivalent. Japanese can make a passive out of something that merely happened to you and that you didn't enjoy, and the cause still takes に. Causative sentences use に in a similar way for the person who's made or allowed to do something: 子供に野菜を食べさせます (こどもにやさいをたべさせます), "I make the kids eat vegetables."

Per day, per week

One more small use. After a period of time, に means "per": 一日に三回 (いちにちにさんかい, three times a day), 週に二日 (しゅうにふつか, two days a week), 年に一度 (ねんにいちど, once a year).

に next to へ and で

へ also marks where you're headed, and with 行く, 来る and 帰る the two are close to interchangeable: 日本に行きます and 日本へ行きます (にほんへいきます) are both fine. へ puts a little more weight on the direction and に on the arrival. Two practical differences matter more. Only へ can be followed by の to describe a noun, as in 友達への手紙 (ともだちへのてがみ, a letter to a friend), because にの doesn't exist. And へ can't do any of に's other jobs: time, existence, change and the rest belong to に alone.

で is the one people really mix up, since both follow places. に is for where something is or where it ends up. で is for where an action takes place. 図書館にいます (としょかんにいます) is "I'm at the library." 図書館で勉強します (としょかんでべんきょうします) is "I study at the library." If the verb describes doing something, you want で. If it describes being somewhere or arriving somewhere, you want に.

Common questions