4 Essential Japanese particles -と、で、から、まで-

I wrote about 5 essential Japanese particles, は, が, を, に, へ in the previous article.

In this article, I will teach you another 4 essential Japanese particles, と, で, から, まで.

If you haven’t read the previous article, please read it first.

Let’s learn Japanese essential particles part 1

I have been teaching Japanese for three years to beginners, so when you finish reading this article, you will understand these basic particles.

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と

Let’s see the rule of と.

Affecting someone

と＋someone/something

Can you get married alone?

Probably, not.

When you get married, you need another person, right?

Like this, when you do something that you can’t do alone, we use と.

Let’s see examples.

If you fight, you need an opponent.

When we mention who if fighting, we use と＋someone/something.

Here is an other example.

When you break up, there must be someone, so we use と＋someone/something to mention who I broke up with.

Doing something with someone

と＋someone

When you do something with someone, we use と＋someone.

I give you some examples.

Like these examples, you can mention who you did it with by using と.

Quote/Content

Plain form ＋ と

If you don’t know what plain form is, please read this article.

Let’s learn Japanese plain form

We use と to tell what we say.

Let’s see some examples.

Literally, わたしはスミスといいます means I say I am Smith.

と is often used with say, call, think and so on.

で

I will explain two rules of で.

Place

Place＋で＋action verb

We use で to mention where you do it.

For example,

We discussed about を in the last article.

Let’s learn Japanese essential particles part 1

You may want to know what the difference is between うみをおよぐ and うみでおよぐ.

を expresses “moving”. Probably, they are going somewhere.

If you say さかなが　うみを　およぐ, I imagine the fish swims in the ocean freely.

On the other hand, if you say きょうは　うみで　およぎました, I imagine you enjoyed swimming in the sea near the beach.

It’s hard for Japanese learners to understand this concept, but please don’t be afraid.

Native Japanese speakers will understand what you mean.

It’s important to use what you learn and communicate with people actively.

means/method

We use で to explain what you use.

Let’s see some examples.

You use a bus to go to school.

Therefore, you say バスで　学校へ　いきます.

Let’s see another example.

You use chopsticks to eat sushi, so you say おはしで　おすしを　たべます.

It means how do you say this by using Japanese, so you say にほんごで　これは　なんですか.

から

から also has many meanings, but I will only teach you “starting point” in this article.

In this case, Japan is the starting point while Canada is the destination.

Let’s see another example.

This sentence emphasizes the class starts from 8 and you will study for several hours.

You can also say that 8じに　にほんごの　クラスが　あります.

It just mentions the specific time class starts, and that’s it.

What is まで?

Let’s learn what まで is next.

まで

まで is an ending point like destination.

うち is their destination, so it says うちまで

8じ is the time when the class ends, so it says 8じまで.

There is a Japanese song named シャボンだま.

It says （シャボンだまが）やねまで　とんだ.

Probably, the soap bubbles burst when they reached to the roof.

Conclusion

These particles are essential to learning Japanese.

That’s why I recommend practicing a lot and understand Japanese concepts.

Exercise

1. わたしはともだち（①）うみ（②）いきました。

2. 人は　かれ（①）スーパーヒーロー（②）よびます。

3. 9じ（①）あさの8じ（②）ねました。

4. 山（①）にほんご（②）なんですか。

5. トロント（①）ニューヨーク（②）バス（③）14じかんくらいです。

6. なん（①）がっこう（②）いきますか。-バスでいきます。

7. わたしはかのじょ（①）ロンドン（②）いきました。

8. て（①）パン（②）たべます。

9. あした（　）なつやすみがはじまります。

10. とりが空（　）とんでいます。

Answer

1. わたしはともだち（と）うみ（へ/に）いきました。

2. 人は　かれ（を）スーパーヒーロー（と）よびます。

3. 9じ（から）あさの8じ（まで）ねました。

4. 山（は）にほんご（で）なんですか。

5. トロント（から）ニューヨーク（まで）バス（で）14じかんくらいです。

6. なん（で）がっこう（へ）いきますか。-バスでいきます。

7. わたしはかのじょ（と）ロンドン（へ/に）いきました。

8. て（で）パン（を）たべます。

9. あした（から）なつやすみがはじまります。

10. とりが空（を）とんでいます。

If you have questions about this exercise, please contact me or leave a comment below.

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