notes

the に particle

  • the に particles marks things like destinations and targets
  • this works for physical movement (ex: 「店に行く」 for “going to the store”) or more abstract things (ex: 「買いに」 for “going for the purpose of buying”)
    • moving a verb to its い stem makes it a noun
  • に can also mark where something is
    • ex: 「公園にいる。」 means “(I am) at the park.”
    • ex: 「本は机の上にある。」 means “As for the book, (it) is on the up of the table.”
  • に can also mark the target of a transformation
    • ex: 「私は蛙になった。」 means “As for me, (I) became a frog.”
  • to use に with adjectives, turn the adjective into its く stem
    • ex: 「食べ物がおいしくなった。」 means “The food became tasty.”

      the へ particle

  • the へ particle duplicates the “physical moving” usage of the に particle

    logical particles

  • logical particles relate to nouns and verbs and give structure to the sentence
  • non-logical topic markers (は and も) flag topics but say nothing about the structure of the sentence
  • logical particles always attach to a noun
  • the が particle is the chief particle and must be in every sentence (even as a 0が)
    • が can work in “A is B” sentences, unlike the other particles who work in “A does B” sentences
    • が asks “who or what did it?”
  • the を particle asks “to whom was something done?”
  • the に particle asks “where did it happen?” or “where is it?”
  • the へ particle asks “in which direction did it happen?”
  • the で particles asks “where was it done?” or “with what was it done?”
    • ex: 「公園にいる。」 means “I am in the park.” but 「公園で遊んでいる。」 means “I am playing in the park.”
    • ex: 「公園に行く。」 means “I go to the park.” but 「バスで公園に行く。」 means “I go the park via bus.”

      resources

  • youtube, part 1
  • youtube, part 2