に Particle (Time) Japanese Grammar Lesson
Grammar Type: Particle
Essential Meaning: At (X time) / On (X day) / In (X month)
Construction:
- Time Expression + に
- E.g. 3時に [At 3 o’clock]
- E.g. 月曜日に [On Monday]
- E.g. 一月に [In January]
Notes:
- に (Time) is used wth specific time expressions that can be expressed numerically, such as particular dates (e.g. クリスマス [Christmas]), days of the week (e.g. 月曜日 [Monday]), years (e.g. 令和二年 [Reiwa Year 2]), and times of the day [e.g. 3時 [3 o’clock], etc.) に (Time) is not used with time expressions that are defined relative the current moment (e.g. 朝 [Morning], 今日 [Today], 明日 [Tomorrow], 昨日 [Yesterday], 来年 [Next year], 一昨日 [The day before yesterday], et cetera). Days of the week are acceptable because they can be expressed in an immutable numerical order (i.e. Sunday is the 1st day of the week, Monday is the 2nd, etc.).
- に (Time) can optionally be used with time nouns such as the seasons (i.e. 春 [Spring], 冬 [Winter], 秋 [Autumn], 夏 [Summer]) as well as with ごろ, 時, and 間(に) in order to emphasize the point in time at which something takes place. An example of this usage is the expression間 (に). Without に (Time), the event in the main clause continues throughout the duration of the 間 clause, and with に (Time), the action in the main clause occurs somewhere within the time span of the 間 clause.
- E.g. 子供が学校に行っている間手紙を書いていた。[Throughout the time that the kids were at school, I was writing a letter.] The lack of に (Time) indicates that the time periods of the kids being at school and writing the letter coincide totally
- E.g. 子供が学校に行っている間に手紙を書いていた。[At some point while the kids were at school, I was writing a letter.] The に (Time) particle indicates that writing the letter occurs at some point within the period of the kids being at school, but does not occupy that full period of time.
- E.g. 今朝5時半ごろ(に)おきました。[I got up around 5 AM this morning.]
- E.g. 春 (に)結婚します。[I’m getting married in the spring.]
Example Sentences:
私は毎朝六時半に起きる。[I wake up every day at 6:30.]
私は四月一日に生まれました。[I was born on April 1st.]
来年の夏(に)外国旅行をするつもりです。[Next summer, I plan to travel abroad.]
田中は大学にいる時(に)今の奥さんと出会った。[While Tanaka-san was in university, he met his present wife.]
WILD Examples:
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