# Particles を, に, で, へ

https://langs123.com/en/japanese/sentence-basics/particles-o-ni-de-e/
CEFR A1–A2 · 2026-10-24 · CC BY 4.0, langs123 contributors (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

> **を** marks the object; **に** the time, goal and place of being; **で** the place of action and the means; **へ** the direction. Each particle follows its noun and gives it a role: 7時じ**に**うち**で**ごはん**を**食たべます。

## Summary

| Point | Rule | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Object | noun + **を** + verb | 水みず**を**飲のみます。 | I drink water. |
| Time | A clock time, a day or a date takes **に**. | 7時じ**に**ごはんを食たべます。 | I eat at seven. |
| Goal | The goal of **行****い****く**, **来****く****る** and **かえる** takes **に** or **へ**. | 日本にほん**に**行いきます。 | I'm going to Japan. |
| Place of being | **あります** and **います** take **に** for the place. | へや**に**テレビがあります。 | There is a TV in the room. |
| Place of action | The place where an action happens takes **で**. | レストラン**で**ごはんを食たべます。 | I eat at a restaurant. |
| Means | Vehicle, tool and language take **で**. | でんしゃ**で**行いきます。 | I go by train. |
| Direction | **へ** is read **え** and stresses the direction. | ともだちのうち**へ**行いきます。 | I'm going to a friend's house. |
| Receiver | The person who receives takes **に**. | ともだち**に**メールをおくります。 | I send an e-mail to a friend. |
| Trap | An action takes place at **で**, not **に**. | うち**で**ごはんを食たべます。 | I eat at home. |
| Trap | **あした** and **きょう** take no **に**. | **あした**、日本にほんへ行いきます。 | Tomorrow I go to Japan. |

## Overview

- A particle follows its noun and gives it a role: noun + **を** / **に** / **で** / **へ** + verb. パン**を**食たべます。 (I eat bread.)
- One verb can take several phrases: the time with **に**, the place with **で**, the object with **を**. 7時じ**に**うち**で**ごはん**を**食たべます。 (I eat at home at seven.)
- **を** is read **お** and **へ** is read **え**. See Hiragana.
- The order of the phrases before the verb: see Word Order.
- **は** and **が**: see は and が. **と**, **も** and **の**: see Particles と, も, の.

## を: the object

| Use | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| What the verb acts on | 水みず**を**飲のみます。 | I drink water. |
| A question word as the object | 何なに**を**食たべますか。 — すし**を**食たべます。 | What do you eat? — I eat sushi. |
| A noun with **します**: do homework, do sport | しゅくだい**を**します。 | I do my homework. |
| The place you walk through or along | こうえん**を**さんぽします。 | I take a walk in the park. |

## に: time, goal and place of being

| Use | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| A clock time | 7時じ**に**ごはんを食たべます。 | I eat at seven. |
| A day of the week or a date | 土曜日どようび**に**えいがを見みます。 | I watch a film on Saturday. |
| The goal of going, coming and returning | 日本にほん**に**行いきます。 / うち**に**かえります。 | I'm going to Japan. / I go home. |
| The place where something or someone is; see あります and います | へや**に**テレビがあります。 / アンナさんはうち**に**います。 | There is a TV in the room. / Anna is at home. |
| The person who receives; see あげる, もらう, くれる: Giving and Receiving | ともだち**に**メールをおくります。 | I send an e-mail to a friend. |

- **に** marks a clock time, a day or a date; relative words such as **あした** and **きょう** take none. **あした**、日本にほんに行いきます。 (Tomorrow I go to Japan.)
- Clock times and dates: see Telling the Time and Days, Months and Dates.

## で: place of action and means

| Use | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| The place where an action happens | レストラン**で**ごはんを食たべます。 / うち**で**テレビを見みます。 | I eat at a restaurant. / I watch TV at home. |
| A vehicle | でんしゃ**で**行いきます。 | I go by train. |
| A tool | はし**で**食たべます。 | I eat with chopsticks. |
| A language | 日本語にほんご**で**はなします。 | I speak in Japanese. |
| A total amount | ぜんぶ**で**500円えんです。 | It is 500 yen in total. |

## へ: direction

| Use | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| The direction of a movement | 日本にほん**へ**行いきます。 | I'm going to Japan. |
| A person's home as the goal | ともだちのうち**へ**行いきます。 | I'm going to a friend's house. |

- **へ** goes with verbs of movement only; it marks no place of being or action.
- For a goal, **へ** and **に** are both right; **へ** looks at the way, **に** at the arrival.

## Compare: に and で

- Being at a place takes **に**; doing something at a place takes **で**.

| Use | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| The same place, being and doing | アンナさんはうち**に**います。 / アンナさんはうち**で**ごはんを食たべます。 | Anna is at home. / Anna eats at home. |
| An event takes place: **で** before **あります** | あした、うち**で**パーティーがあります。 | Tomorrow there is a party at my house. |

## Typical errors

| ✗ | ✓ |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| ごはん食たべます。 | ごはん**を**食たべます。 | write **を** after the object; casual speech may drop it, polite writing keeps it |
| うちにごはんを食たべます。 | うち**で**ごはんを食たべます。 | the place where an action happens takes **で** |
| アンナさんはうちでいます。 | アンナさんはうち**に**います。 | the place where someone is takes **に** |
| 日本にほんを行いきます。 | 日本にほん**に**行いきます。 | the goal of **行****い****く** takes **に** or **へ**, not **を** |
| バスに行いきます。 | バス**で**行いきます。 | a vehicle takes **で**; with **に** the bus would be the goal |
| あしたに日本にほんへ行いきます。 | **あした**、日本にほんへ行いきます。 | **あした** takes no **に**; **に** is for clock times, days and dates |