Japanese Particle Ni

In this lesson you will read about a tense situation in the office, while you learn more about the particle に (ni), how it can be used in various ways, and how they differ.

Dialogue 1

Mr. Hayashi is in a taxi which is heading for his office. He had a cold, and had to see a doctor before going to the office because of that.

Japanese:

林：		すみません、急いでください。９時半に会議があるんです。
運転手：		ええと、右に曲がっていいですね？
林：		はい。そうだ、会社に電話しよう。
		He makes a call to the office, and his coworker Mr. Aoki  answers the phone.
青木：		あ、林さん、今どこですか？
林：		タクシーに乗っています。どうやら、会議に出られそうですよ。
青木：		それはよかった。では、また後で。
After the meeting, Mr. Hayashi and Mr. Aoki go to a coffee shop near the office to have lunch. When they get back to the office, their boss Mr. Kimura is waiting for them irritably.
木村：		(Arrogantly) どこに行っていた？
青木：		近くの喫茶店に。お昼を食べに行っていました。
木村：		林は、今朝遅れて来たな？
林：		すみません、病院に行っていました。
木村：		そんな事を言い訳にするのか。
青木：		会議がだめになったわけじゃないでしょう？
木村：		(Angily) 黙れ、お前に言ってない。
Miss Katou opens the door.
加藤：		お話中に申し訳ありませんが、木村さんにお客様です。
木村：		(In a pompous tone) わかった、すぐに行く。 (To the two men) よし、話は後だ。一日に何度も言いたくないが、俺は忙しいんだ。
青木：		(In his mind) 怒るのに忙しいんだろうね。

Roomaji:

Hayashi:		Sumimasen, isoide kudasai. 9 ji han ni kaigi ga aru n desu.
Untenshu:		Eeto, migi ni magatte ii desu ne?
Hayashi:		Hai. Sou da, kaisha ni denwashiyou.
He makes a call to the office, and his coworker Mr. Aoki answers the phone.
Aoki:		A, Hayashi-san, ima doko desu ka?
Hayashi:		Takushii ni notte imasu. Douyara, kaigi ni deraresou desu yo.
Aoki:		Sore wa yokatta. Dewa, mata ato de.
After the meeting, Mr. Hayashi and Mr. Aoki go to a coffee shop near the office to have lunch. When they get back to the office, their boss Mr. Kimura is waiting for them irritably
Kimura:		(Arrogantly) Doko ni itte ita?
Aoki:		Chikaku no kissaten ni. Ohiru o tabe ni itte imashita.
Kimura:		Hayashi wa, kesa okurete kita na?
Hayashi:		Sumimasen, byouin ni itte imashita.
Kimura:		Sonna koto o iiwake ni suru no ka.
Aoki:		Kaigi ga dame ni natta wake ja nai deshou?
Kimura:		(Angrily) Damare, omae ni itte nai.
Miss Katou opens the door.
Katou:		Ohanashi chuu ni moushiwake arimasen ga, Kimura-san ni okyakusama desu.
Kimura:		(In a pompous tone) Wakatta, sugu ni iku. (To the two men) Yoshi, hanashi wa ato da. Ichinichi ni nando mo iitaku nai ga, ore wa isogashii n da.
Aoki:		(In his mind) Okoru no ni isogashii n darou ne.

English:

Hayashi:		Excuse me, but please hurry. I have a meeting at 9:30.
Driver:		Um, we turn right here, correct?
Hayashi:		Yes. Oh, I’ll call my office.
He makes a call to the office, and his coworker Mr. Aoki answers the phone.
Aoki:		Ah, Hayashi-san, where are you now?
Hayashi:		I’m in a taxi. Looks like I’ll make it to the meeting.
Aoki:		Thank goodness. Well, see you soon.
After the meeting, Mr. Hayashi and Mr. Aoki go to a coffee shop near the office to have lunch. When they get back to the office, their boss Mr. Kimura is waiting for them irritably.
Kimura:		(Arrogantly) Where were you?
Aoki:		In a coffee shop nearby. We went there to have lunch.
Kimura:		Hayashi, you got here late this morning, didn’t you?
Hayashi:		I’m sorry, I had to go to a hospital.
Kimura:		What kind of excuse is that?
Aoki:		But that didn’t interfere with the meeting, did it?
Kimura:		(Angrily) Be quiet, I’m not speaking to you!
Miss Katou opens the door.
Katou:		I’m very sorry for interrupting while you are talking, but a guest is here to see you, Kimura-san.
Kimura:		(In a pompous tone) I see, I’ll be there right away. (To the two men) Okay, I’ll speak to you later. I don’t want to have to say it over and over again, but I am a busy man.
Aoki:		(In his mind) Probably busy getting angry!

Vocabulary

Notes on the Dialogue

As you can see, the particle “に” has lots of usages, and some of them don’t always correspond with particular English preposition or other word. In this article we will cover a couple of usages, as listed below. You can find many more in a detailed grammar book, such as for indicating time.

• Direction of an action
• Receiver of an action
• Position of something
• Purpose of an action
• Adverbs and other combinations

Direction of an action

Probably the clearest usage is when the particle is used to indicate a direction or destination of the action, or a place where an action is performed. It is probably also easy to understand when it is used to show the time when an action is done.

Note that when indicating a place where an action occurs, the particle で (de) is used.

会社に電話しよう。
kaisha ni denwa shiyou
I’ll call (my) office.

お前に言ってない。
omae ni itte nai
I’m not speaking to you.

In above case, the particle is used by putting it after an object or person which (who) is the target of the action. The similar examples:

車に乗る。
Kuruma ni noru.
I’ll get in a car.

友達にメールを送る。
Tomodachi ni meeru o okuru.
I’ll send an e-mail message to my friend.

Note that the particle を (o) is for getting out of a vehicle; for example, バスをおりる, getting off a bus.

Indicating the Receiver of an Action

On the other hand, the particle in the following example is used as “for”:

木村さんにお客様です。
kimurasan ni okyakusan desu
A guest is here for Kimura-san.
or
A guest is here to meet with Kimura-san.

Other examples:

林さんに手紙です。
Hayashi-san ni tegami desu.
Here is a letter for Hayashi-san.
or
A letter came here for Hayashi-san.

Indicating Position

When you are in a specific place, you can use the particle as English preposition “in”. This is used only for location verbs, like imasu, aru, and sumu. For action verbs, the particle should be で. It does not only work for yourself, but for anyone or anything you want to give the location of.

タクシーに乗っています。
takushii ni notte imasu
I’m in a taxi.

近くの喫茶店にいました。
chikaku no kissaten ni imashita
We were in a coffee shop nearby.

Indicating the Purpose of an Action

In this case, the particle is putting after the continuative form of the verb and indicates the purpose of the action.

お昼を食べに（そこに）行きました。

ohiru o tabe ni (soko ni) ikimashita.
We went (there) to have lunch.

Besides 行く (go), you can use verbs which express moving the place such as 来る (come), 出かける (go out // leave), 訪れる (visit), 寄る (drop in) and so on. But as for lots of verbs, you can’t use this form. Instead of “masu-stem + に”, another one like “the plain, dictionary form + ために” is used:

お昼を食べるために座りました。

Ohiru o taberu tame ni suwarimashita.

I sat down to eat lunch.

This expression is a little formal or written one rather than daily speech, but you can use this form about any verbs.

Adverbs and other Combinations

In the following case, “に” from “すぐに” isn’t used individually. Some Japanese adverbs include “に” at the end of the word such as 静かに (shizuka ni – quietly), 真面目に (majime ni – seriously) and so on. This one is used how the thing is doing.

すぐに行く。
sugu ni iku
I’ll go soon.

The following example is used by putting after a noun which is a reason, origin or motivation of the action. But this particle will be changed easily to another one depending on one after the subject, I guess.

そんな事を言い訳にするのか。
sonna koto o iiwake ni suru no ka?
Do you use such a thing as an excuse?

そんな事で言い訳をするのか。
sonna koto o iiwake o suru no ka.
Do you make an excuse with such a thing?

Indicating result of an action

In the dialogue, the following was said.

会議がだめになったわけじゃないでしょう？

Here, “だめになる” is used as a kind of an idiomatic phrase (be damaged) here, but anyway, this used as a result or change of the action.

とうとう冬になった。
toutou fuyu ni natta.
Finally it (the season) became winter.

結局失敗に終わった。
Kekkyoku shippai ni owatta.
after all, it ended up with failure.

Indicating the degree of comparison

In the dialog, the following expresson was used.

一日に何度も言いたくない。

In this case, the particle に (ni) is used to express about the degree of comparison or so.

５回に１回は満点です。
Go kai ni ikkai wa manten desu.
Once per five times is perfect (about exams) with me.