Vocabulary
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Learn about the direction-marking particle
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Hi, everyone. |
Welcome to the Ultimate Japanese Particle Guide. |
In this lesson, you'll learn the particle... |
へ (e) |
This particle is often referred to as the direction particle, because it usually indicates a direction or goal. |
Let's see how it functions in a sentence. Risa, How do you say “to go”? |
行きます (ikimasu) |
And “to go to Mexico”? |
メキシコへ行きます (Mekishiko e ikimasu) |
Notice how the destination, Mexico is marked by the direction marking particle... |
メキシコへ (Mekishiko e) |
So, "to the airport" would be? |
"Airport" in Japanese is 空港 (kūkō) so 空港へ (kūkō e). |
How do you say then "go to the airport"? |
空港へ行きます (kūkō e ikimasu) |
Let's make a full sentence using this phrase. |
これは空港へ行きますか。 (Kore wa kūkō e ikimasu ka.) |
This means "Does this go to the airport?" |
There is an important thing to remember about this particle's pronunciation. |
When the hiragana symbol for へ (he) is part of a word, it’s pronounced へ (he). But when it’s used as a particle, it’s pronounced え (e). |
Now, let's take a look at a few more examples. |
私は、家へ帰ります。(Watashi wa uchi e kaerimasu.) |
"I'm going home." |
日本へようこそ! (Nihon e yōkoso!) |
"Welcome to Japan!" |
友達と温泉へ行きます。 (Tomodachi to onsen e ikimasu.) |
"I'm going to go to a hot spring with my friends." |
This particle can also mark the recipient of an action. |
Let's see how it functions in a sentence. For example how do you say "I called my friend"? |
友達へ電話をかけました。(Tomodachi e denwa o kakemashita.) |
First, we have the recipient of the action, marked by the particle... |
友達へ (Tomodachi e) |
Then we have the action, "I called." |
電話をかけました ( denwa o kakemashita.) |
Let's see the same sentence, with a different recipient, for example "I called my mother." |
母へ電話をかけました。(Haha e denwa o kakemashita.) |
Also in this case the recipient of the action is marked by the particle. |
母へ (Haha e) |
Let's take a look at a few more examples. |
友達へメールをしました。 (Tomodachi e mēru o shimashita.) |
"I emailed my friend." |
彼へ手紙を送りました。 (Kare e tegami o okurimasita.) |
"I sent him a letter." |
部長が部下へ話します。(Buchō ga buka e hanashimasu.) |
"The director talks to his subordinates." |
Now, let's use what you learned in this lesson. |
We learned how to say “to go to Mexico.” |
メキシコへ行きます (Mekishiko e ikimasu) |
Here the particle へ (e) marks the direction of the action. The structure is... |
[direction or goal] |
へ (e) |
[verb] |
Now, let's try with "to go to Japan." The word for "Japan" is... |
日本 (Nihon) |
"To go to Japan" in Japanese is... [pause] |
The answer is... |
日本へ行きます (Nihon e ikimasu) |
Did you get it right? In this sentence, the particle indicates a destination. |
Let's try one more. We learned how to say "I called my friend." |
友達へ電話をかけました。(Tomodachi e denwa o kakemashita.) |
Here, the particle へ (e) marks the recipient of an action. |
The structure is... |
[recipient] |
へ (e) |
[verb or verb phrase] |
Now, let's try with "I send flowers to her." Here are the words meaning "to send flowers" and "her." |
お花を送ります (o-hana o okurimasu) |
彼女 (kanojo) |
Try to say "I send flowers to her." in Japanese. [pause] |
The answer is... |
彼女へお花を送ります (kanojo e o-hana o okurimasu) |
Right. In this case, the particle へ (e) marks the recipient of an action. |
In this lesson, you learned about the particle... |
へ |
In the next lesson, you'll learn about the particle... |
に |
See you in the next lesson. Bye! |
Bye~ |
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