Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 4: 4/13

()

To go to, To head toward

Structure Legend

Structure

Place + (1) + ()

(1)

Details

  • Part of Speech

    Expression

  • Word Type

    Verb

  • Register

    Standard

  • 品詞

    表現

  • 単語の種類

    動詞

  • 使用域

    一般

About へいく

() is a common construction used when describing a place that someone/something is 'heading'. The particles and are interchangeable, but there is a slight difference in meaning. has the nuance of 'going to', while has the nuance of 'heading to'.
  • ジョン学校(がっこう)()
    John is heading to school.
  • エルサ病院(びょういん)()
    Elsa is going to the hospital.
In these examples, while they may seem the same at first glance, focuses much more on the journey, while puts more emphasis on the destination. This is true for other uses of and as well. will always put more focus on the destination of an action, where will put more emphasis on the distance traveled/between the origin and destination.
  • 先生(せんせい)電話(でんわ)する
    To make a call to the teacher. (Focuses more on the distance between the caller and receiver)
  • 先生(せんせい)電話(でんわ)する
    To make a call to the teacher. (Focuses more on the destination of the call)

Examples

  • 学校(がっこう)()

    To go to school.

  • (えき)()

    To go to the station.

  • 東京(とうきょう)()

    To go to Tokyo.

  • 教室(きょうしつ)()

    To go to the classroom.

  • (みち)()きます

    To go toward a road.

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    • Genki I

      Page 91

    • みんなの日本語 I

      Page 38 [CH 5]

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へいく – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (4 in total)

  • nekoyama

    nekoyama

    About 3 years ago

    There is a slight difference in nuance in that へ is more about the direction and に is more about the destination. You might see へ e.g. when talking about a bus route in terms of the final destination even though the bus also stops at other locations on the way.

    In general usage, に is vastly more popular than へ and it’s almost always a safe choice. Exceptions are mainly certain set phrases that use へ, and when it’s followed by the particle の as in への (there is no にの).

  • matt_in_mito

    matt_in_mito

    About 3 years ago

    @nfive, @nekoyama is absolutely right, but I want to add that when I was learning about this, I asked so many Japanese people what the difference was and most of them didn’t know and used them interchangeably.

  • Duolingo

    Duolingo

    About 2 months ago

    I know this topic is very old but @matt_in_mito made the point that I want to ask about.

    The grammar point for へ行くsays that ‘he’ and ‘ni’ are interchangeable but they have a different nuance to them.

     'ni' has the nuance of 'going to' - it focuses on the destination.
     'he' has the nuance of 'heading to'  - it focuses on the distance traveled
    

    Then BP follows up with the following two examples to complete their point.

    • ジョンは学校がっこうく。

    John is heading to school.

    • エルサは病院びょういんく。

    Elsa is going to the hospital.

    Everything is great up to here. But then the examples for ‘he’ consistently uses it in the ‘to go to’ sense, e.g.,

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