Part II of に・へ・で・を Denoting Location + Their Differences

Introduction

Legend has it that when Velociraptor Steve was first learning Japanese (yes, he studied Japanese for many years), he was very confused about when to use each locational particle, and ended up not being able to leave his house for like, two weeks. Why? You’ll have to read on to find out…

Ahem. Welcome to the first “locational” lesson of the Apprentice (N4) region! First, we’re going to review some of the basic particles we used when talking about locations (such as に, へ, and で), and then we’re going to introduce how を can be used “locationally” as well! Ready, set, を!

Location, location, location!

Let’s quickly review the differences between using に, へ, and で to denote location.

に is like a red X on a treasure map—it simply says where something is.

Or where one’s target destination is.

へ, can also mark a target destination but it includes a sense of “journey” as well as destination. So you probably wouldn’t say:

Unless your fridge containing delicious mango juice was like, on top of a mountain or something.

And last, but not least, で tells us where something, such as an event or action, takes place.

Is it all coming back to you? Excellent. Now, let’s go ahead and dive into some more ADVANCED territory using an unexpected particle…

The motion of the をcean

That’s right! を is our next “locational” particle. Basically, you can use を when your sentence involves a verb of motion. The を particle tells us that a certain motion takes place across a part of or the entirety of a given place.

We can break up these “motions” into different categories.

Verbs of “leaving”

This can be 出でる, 出発しゅっぱつする, やめる (”to quit” as in “to quit your job”), etc!

Verbs of “passage”

There are lots of these! 歩あるく (to walk), 行いく (to go), 通とおる (to pass), 渡わたる (to cross), etc! Think of using を when “passing through”, or “passing by” something.

Verbs of “direction”

When your verb involves a direction, such as left, right, up or down, you can use を!

Confusing cases!

As usual, there are some confusing situations where you can use, for instance, either を or で. And there are cases where you might think you can use を, but actually can’t! I’ll cover some of the common ones for you.

“What the?!” Part One: Transitive vs Intransitive

Remember your lesson on transitive and intransitive verbs? If you have a good memory, you might have been confused by example 4.1 above. After all, 登のぼる is an intransitive verb and is paired with the を particle instead of が. Let’s take a closer look at what’s happening here.

Remember that we can use を with verbs of motion. Basically what is happening here, is that を is marking a direct object that becomes the place where a “motion” happens. This isn’t the same as when を marks a direct object, and is followed by a verb that directly acts upon it such as:

In 5.1, we describe Mike’s motion going “up” the hill. But in 5.2, Mike’s action of “eating” (a transitive verb), is done directly to the pizza. Probably, when Mike was done, the pizza was gone. (Rest in deliciousness, pizza.) But on the other hand, when Mike finished climbing the hill, it was probably still there, minimally affected by Mike. を just marked his motion of going up on it.

This is the difference between using を with a transitive verb vs an intransitive verb! When you use を with a transitive verb, the verb directly acts upon the direct object marked by を. This is not the case when を is paired with an intransitive verb such as 登のぼる.

Here are some more examples of を paired with an intransitive verb (of motion):

“What the?!” Part Two: を vs で

There are many instances where these particles are interchangeable, but I’ll try and give a general feel for their difference in nuance.

This pair is pretty well-illustrated by the differing English translations. を has the nuance of motion through something. This means を could indicate that you walked a specific route or path more than 6.2, which simply means that the forest was the place where you walked. Pretty straightforward right? Let’s see a couple more examples.

These two are completely different. If you combine で and a verb like 通とおる (to pass), you’re describing what method or means you used to pass something by. In 6.4 it was a car, but it could also easily be a truck or a spaceship. If you use を and 通とおる, however, を now marks the space you passed through. Now this is a bit unintuitive for English speakers since we can just say "I passed the car" without being mistaken for passing through the car, but with just「車くるまを通とおった」, that's what you'd be saying. Oops.

So keeping that in mind, how do we say we passed by a car, and not through, in Japanese? Like I mentioned in a previous callout, we need to define a "space" around an object whenever we use を with a verb like 通とおる. So just like in 6.3, we needed to add 前まえ to clearly say that we passed by in front of the car, not through it.

Phew! Glad we got that hammered down. Let's keep going with an example of a sentence that has both を and で.

As you can see, we designate the space in front of the supermarket, so we can use を, and then we use で to describe the method of our passage. Easy right?

Nice. Let’s take a look at one more verb, 泳およぐ (to swim).

This is a similar scenario to the forest in 6.1/6.2 above. In 6.6, we're describing Mike's motion swimming through the ocean. In 6.7 we're simply saying that the ocean was where Mike did his swimming. There's no need to designate a specific "space" for を to work here, because the ocean isn't designated to one particular area, it's something you can pass through.

“What the?!” Part Three: No を? Uh-を.

Sometimes you just can’t use を, even when it seems like you should be able to.

So, you can say:

But you can’t say:

This is because the verb 入はいる (to enter) will almost never take the を particle (but please do get excited about finding exceptions).

So instead it would be:

Some other common verbs that don’t tend to take を are 会あう (to meet), and 着つく (to arrive).

And that’s all for the confusing cases, and that's all for this lesson!

Hopefully you feel more confident in regard to the differences between を, に, and で! Verbs of movement and motion can be tricky to master, so give it time. For now, as long as you feel you’ve gained the awareness that を can be used with verbs of motion such as 登のぼる and 歩あるく, I think you can say you’re winning!

Summary

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  The を particle can be used in conjunction with verbs that involve “motion”.

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  These verbs can be put into three main categories: “leaving”, “passage” and “direction”.

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  When dealing with verbs of motion, を can mark an intransitive verb.

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  When contrasted with the particle で, を refers much more to a specific route or path, rather than で which describes where a verb takes place much more generally.

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  When describing motion past an object or specific place, を requires a defined "space" to pass through. Otherwise, you risk stating that you passed through the object, instead of by it.

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  Some verbs, such as 入はいる and 会あう don’t usually take the を particle.