LEARN + JAPANESE / 7 of 186 JLPT N5
Which Way へ・に
へ and に both mark a destination and are interchangeable with plain movement verbs like 行く and 来る. に does extra work へ can’t: marking exactly where an action lands, not just the general direction of travel.
I went to Ueno Park yesterday.
I'm going back to my house in America next week.
In Real Life
With 行く and 帰る, へ and に are genuinely swappable, either reads naturally and means the same thing. へ leans slightly more formal or written; に is what you’ll hear more in speech.
I arrived at Narita Airport on Wednesday.
I got on the shinkansen on Saturday.
Hint · 힌트
着く (arrive) and 乗る (board) only take に, never へ. Both verbs describe landing precisely on a specific point, not traveling in a general direction, and that’s exactly the job へ can’t do. The safer default once you’re past 行く/来る/帰る is に.
Vocabulary
| Japanese | English |
|---|---|
| airport | |
| to arrive | |
| to board, get on | |
| bullet train | |
| to head out | |
| hot spring | |
| to go home, return | |
| school | |
| company | |
| hospital | |
| library | |
| shop, store | |
| sea, ocean | |
| country | |
| nearby | |
| far away | |
| right | |
| left | |
| straight ahead | |
| to head toward |
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