に Particle (Reason / Purpose)

に Particle (Reason / Purpose) Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Particle

Essential Meaning: In order to do X / To do X

Construction: 

• Verb ます-Form + に
  • E.g. 話はなしに [In order to speak]
  • E.g. 食たべに [In order to eat]

Notes:

• に (Reason / Purpose) marks the reason or purpose for some movement and is thus paired with verbs that indicate movement from one place to another (e.g. 行いく [To go], 来くる [To come], 入はいる [To enter], 出でる [To exit]). For example, if Joe is going shopping, ‘shopping‘ is the reason that Joe is ‘going‘, so the structure 買かい物ものしに can be paired with the movement verb 行いく, as in the below example.
  • E.g. ジョーが買かい物ものしに行いきます。[Joe is going shopping (i.e. Joe is going out for the purpose of going shopping).]

• A common usage of this construction is to invite someone to go out for a drink or a meal.
  • E.g. 飲のみに行いきましょうか。[Shall we go out for a drink?]
  • E.g. 食たべに行いこうか。[Shall we go out to eat?]

• Verbs such as 歩あるく [To walk], 走はしる [To run], and 泳およぐ [To swim] represent manners of movement rather than movement from one place to another, so they are not usable with に (Reason / Purpose).
  • E.g. *私わたしは桜さくらを見みに公園こうえんを歩あるいた。[I walked through the park to see the cherry blossoms.] It is ungrammatical use に (Reason / Purpose) with a verb that indicates a manner of movement, such as walking.
  • E.g. 私わたしは桜さくらを見みに公園こうえんへ行いった。[I went to the park to see cherry blossoms.]

• If the main verb in a Verb ます-Form + に structure is a する verb such as 質問しつもんする [To ask a question] or 仕事しごとする [To work], the ます-Form of する (i.e. し) can optionally be omitted.
  • E.g. 大山おおやまさんは仕事しごとしに行いった。[Oyama-san went there to work.]
  • E.g. 大山おおやまさんは仕事しごとに行いった。[Oyama-san went there to work.] In this example, し is dropped.
  • E.g. 学生がくせいが質問しつもんしに来きた。[A student came to ask a question.]
  • E.g. 学生がくせいが質問しつもんに来きた。[A student came to ask a question.] In this example, し is dropped.

• ために expresses essentially the same thing as に (Reason / Purpose), the differences being:
  • (1) ために can be used with any verb and not just with verbs of movement.
    • E.g. 私わたしは子供こどもの写真しゃしんを撮とるためにカメラを買かった。[I bought a camera in order to take pictures of my child.]
  • (2) when ために is used with a verb of movement, the direction of movement (i.e. where the subject is going) must be specified unless it is clear from the context.
    • E.g. *僕ぼくは酒さけを飲のむために行いった。[I went in order to drink sake.] This example is unacceptable because the sentence does not articulate where the subject is actually going.
    • E.g. 僕ぼくは酒さけを飲のむために友達ともだちの家いえに行いった。[I went to my friend’s house in order to drink sake.] This example is acceptable because it clearly expresses both the reason AND direction of movement.
  • (3) ために generally indicates a fairly important purpose, whereas に (Reason / Purpose) can be used to convey an insignificant purpose. Thus, it is more natural to use に (Reason / Purpose) to express casual reasons or purposes.
    • E.g. 喫茶店きっさてんへコーヒーを飲のみに行いった。[I went to the cafe to drink coffee.]
    • E.g. *喫茶店きっさてんへコーヒーを飲のむためにいった。[I went to the cafe for the purpose of drinking coffee.] This sounds strange because it implies that drinking coffee is a crucial purpose. Generally speaking, going to a cafe is chill and casual.

Example Sentences:

私わたしはデパートへ贈おくり物ものを買かいに行いった。[I went to the department store in order to buy gifts.]

そこへ何なにをしに行いくんですか。[For what purpose are you going over there?]

村井むらいさんは昼ひるごはんを食たべにうちへ帰かえった。[Murai-san returned home in order to eat lunch.]

WILD Examples:

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