E in Japanese used mainly in the two different ways, explained

How does “e” work as a Japanese particle?

Japanese native speakers use “e” as a particle mainly in the two different ways: indicating a particular place to which someone or something goes; starting a letter or email. In this blog post, I will explain these two usages through example sentences. Let’s get started!

Contents

• “E” to indicate a particular place
  • Example #1: how to use “e” like “to” in English
• “E” to start a letter
  • Example #2: how to use “e” at the beginning of a letter
• Summary

“E” to indicate a particular place

First, let me explain the definition and usage of “e”, used to indicate a particular place to which someone or something goes.

• e – へ : a case particle used to indicate a particular place to which someone or something goes. Based on this concept, it can also be used to indicate an object to which an action is directed.

This hiragana character itself corresponds to the “he” sound in Japanese. When it is used as a particle, however, it is pronounced “e” instead. This is a basic rule of the Japanese writing system. In this blog, however, I write it as “he” quite often to emphasize its role as a particle.

Japanese native speakers use this particle to indicate a particular place to which someone or something goes or to indicate an object to which an action is directed. So, it works in a quite similar way that the English preposition, “to”, does. In fact, it is often translated as “to”. This fact would help Japanese learners to understand the basic concept of this particle, I think.

Then, let me explain how to use this type of “e” through the example sentence below.

Example #1: how to use “e” like “to” in English

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

• watashi – 私 (わたし) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese.
• wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, it is put after the pronoun, “watashi”, to make the subject word in the sentence.
• umi – 海 (うみ) : a noun meaning ‘sea’ in Japanese.
• iki – 行き (いき) : one conjugation of the verb, “iku”, which means ‘to go’ in Japanese. It has been conjugated for the better connection with its following word.
• tai – たい : an auxiliary verb put after a verb to make its desire form. In the example, it is put after the conjugated verb, “iki”, to make its desire form, “iki tai”, which means ‘to want to go’ in Japanese.

This is a typical usage of this “e”. In this example, it is used after the noun, “umi”, to indicate the particular place to which “watashi” wants to go. Word orders in Japanese and English are different, but the role of “e” is almost the same as that of the English preposition, “to”.

When we want to mean ‘to’ in Japanese, “e” would be a good option. For this usage, however, Japanese people use the case particle, “ni”, more often. Japanese learners should know this fact, I think.

The place where “e” is not replaced by other particles is the beginning of a letter. Next, let me explain this usage in detail.

“E” to start a letter

Below are the definition and usage of this type of “e”.

• e – へ : a case particle used after someone’s name or a noun to start a letter.

Word orders in Japanese and English are different, but the role of this “e” is quite similar to that of “Dear” in English. In Japanese, this “e” is used after – not before – someone’s name or a noun to start a letter. Let me explain how to use it thorugh the example sentence below.

Example #2: how to use “e” at the beginning of a letter

Below is the new word used in the example.

• takashi – たかし : a Japanese male name.

This is it. This is a very widely-used way to start a letter in Japanese. Honestly, this particle sounds a bit casual. Yet, this style is often used also in formal situations. In very formal situations, we should pick a proper one from other honorific titles, though.

Summary

In this blog post, I’ve explained the Japanese case particle, “e”, in detail and how to use it in the two different ways through the examples. Let me summarize them as follows.

• e – へ : a case particle used to indicate a particular place to which someone or something goes. Based on this concept, it can also be used to indicate an object to which an action is directed. Word orders in Japanese and English are different, but the role of this “e” is quite similar to that of the English preposition, “to”.
• e – へ : a case particle used after someone’s name or a noun to start a letter. Word orders in Japanese and English are different, but the role of this “e” is quite similar to that of “Dear” in English.

Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.