The particle に

N に N ni Marks a time, a goal or a place

に (ni) marks a point: a clock time, the place you go to, where something is, and who you call or write to. English splits it into at, on, in and to.

Level: JLPT N5, beginner
Type: Particles
English links: prepositions of time, prepositions of place, prepositions of movement

What it means

に points at a spot or a target. At N5 it has four main jobs: a time (七時に, at seven), a destination (学校に行きます, go to school), where someone or something is (机の上にあります, it is on the desk), and the person on the other end of an action (母に電話します, I call my mother).

For time, use に with clock times, days and dates: 三時に, 月曜日に, 五月三日に. Do not use it with words that depend on today: 今日, 明日, 毎日, 来週. Those stand alone, just like "tomorrow" and "next week" in English.

For place, に goes with あります and います (there is, be somewhere). It marks where something is. When something happens at a place, use で. 教室にいます (I am in the classroom) uses に, but 教室で勉強します (I study in the classroom) uses で. English says "in" for both, so this pair trips up many of us learning Japanese.

For destination, に and へ both work with 行きます, 来ます and 帰ります. に points at the arrival point. へ points at the direction. In daily speech, に is more common.

How to build it

Pattern	How it works
Time + に + verb time + ni + verb	Clock times, days of the week, dates: 七時に, 日曜日に. Not with 今日, 明日 or 毎朝.
Place + に + 行きます / 来ます / 帰ります place + ni + ikimasu / kimasu / kaerimasu	The place you go to. へ also works here.
Place + に + あります / います place + ni + arimasu / imasu	Where a thing or a person is.
Person + に + verb person + ni + verb	The person on the other end: 母に電話します, 友達に手紙を書きます.

Examples

毎朝七時に起きます。 maiasa shichiji ni okimasu. I get up at seven every morning.
日曜日に京都に行きます。 nichiyoubi ni kyouto ni ikimasu. I am going to Kyoto on Sunday.
先生は職員室にいます。 sensei wa shokuinshitsu ni imasu. The teacher is in the staff room.
辞書は机の上にあります。 jisho wa tsukue no ue ni arimasu. The dictionary is on the desk.
毎週、母に電話します。 maishuu, haha ni denwa shimasu. I call my mother every week.

How English says it

English has no single word for に. It splits the job across prepositions (the small words before a noun that show time or place). Time takes "at", "on" or "in": at seven, on Sunday, in May. Places take "in", "on" or "at". Movement takes "to".

English also drops the preposition in places where Japanese keeps に. "Go home", not "go to home", although 家に帰る has に. "Call my mother", not "call to my mother". And "tomorrow" and "next week" take nothing, the same as 明日 and 来週.

Why it can make English hard

One particle becomes three or four prepositions. Choosing "at", "on" or "in" for a time is a long-running problem for many students: "in Sunday", "at May".
に marks the goal with 行く, so some students put "to" before every place: "go to home", "go to there", "go to abroad".
に marks the person with 電話する (call). Some students carry it into English as "to": "call to my mother".

Mistakes you will hear

I go to home at five. I go home at five. 家に帰る has に, but "home" needs no "to" in English.
See you in Monday. See you on Monday. に covers every time word. English uses "on" for days, "in" for months and "at" for clock times.
I will call to my mother. I will call my mother. 母に電話します has に. "Call" takes the person straight after it, with no "to".
I went to there yesterday. I went there yesterday. "There" and "here" work like "home": no "to".

In the classroom

Draw three boxes on the board: AT (clock times), ON (days and dates), IN (months, years, seasons). Students sort time cards into them. Point out that every card is に in Japanese.
Keep a "no to" list on the wall: go home, go there, go abroad, go downtown, call someone. Point at it each time someone says "go to home".
Ask "Where is the ...?" questions about the classroom. Students answer with "in", "on" or "under": "The eraser is on the desk." This practises the あります / います use of に.

Practice

Try each one, then open it to check.

1. Fill the gap: 七時＿起きます。 (I get up at seven.)

Answer: に

A clock time takes に.
2. Fill the gap: 明日＿学校に行きます。 (I am going to school tomorrow.)

Answer: No particle: 明日、学校に行きます。

明日 depends on today, so it takes no に. In the same way, "tomorrow" takes no preposition.
3. A student writes "I go to home by bus." Fix it.

Answer: I go home by bus.

"Home" needs no "to".
4. Translate: 本は机の上にあります。

Answer: The book is on the desk.

に marks where the book is. 上 (top) tells you the English word: "on".