JLPT N5 · Particles
に/へ (ni/e)
に / へ — direction and destination (“to ～”)
In short · After a place noun, に and へ show the destination of a movement verb such as 行く, 来る, 帰る. へ is read ‘e’. In this use the two are almost interchangeable. They attach to a noun.
Pattern
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場所＋に／へ＋移動の動詞place + に/へ + verb of movement (行く・来る・帰る)
Basic use
Put に or へ after the place you are heading to: 学校へ行きます, 駅に行きます. The meaning is the same, ‘go to the school / station’.
Difference in feel
へ stresses the direction you move toward, while に stresses the point you arrive at. In everyday speech you can use either. With 帰る (return) and 着く (arrive), に is very common.
Reading
As a particle, へ is pronounced ‘e’, not ‘he’: 学校へ is gakkō e. It is still written with へ.
Examples
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学校（がっこう）へ行（い）きます。
Gakkō e ikimasu.
I'm going to school.
へ is read ‘e’.
-
駅（えき）へ行（い）きます。
Eki e ikimasu.
I go to the station.
駅に行きます is also correct.
-
うちに帰（かえ）ります。
Uchi ni kaerimasu.
I return home.
With 帰る, に is very natural.
Common mistakes
- Don't pronounce the particle へ as ‘he’; it is ‘e’.
- に has other jobs too (time, place of existence). Here it only marks a destination after a movement verb.
More grammar points
- は は (wa) — the topic particle
- を を (o) — the object particle
- に に (ni) — time, destination, location
- で で (de) — place of action & means
- と と (to) — and / together with
- の の (no) — possessive & noun linker
- へ へ (e) — direction
- も も (mo) — also / too
- か か (ka) — the question marker
- から から・まで — from … to …
- より より (yori) — than (comparison)
- だけ ～だけ — “only ～”
- で ～で — place, means and cause
- が ～が — marks the subject
- か か — the question particle
- まで ～まで — “until / up to ～”
- も ～も — “also / too”
- なあ ～なあ — sentence-final feeling
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