Japanese Prepositions
Learning the Japanese Prepositions is very important because its structure is used in every day conversation. The more you practice the subject, the closer you get to mastering the Japanese language. But first we need to know what the role of Prepositions is in the structure of the grammar in Japanese.
Japanese prepositions link nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. The word or phrase that the preposition introduces is called the object of the preposition. Here are some examples:
| English Prepositions | Japanese Prepositions |
| Prepositions | zenchishi - 前置詞 |
| inside the house | okunai de - 屋内で |
| outside the car | shagai de - 車外で |
| with me | watashi to issho ni - 私と一緒に |
| without him | kare nashi de - 彼なしで |
| under the table | teeburu no shita ni - テーブルの下に |
| after tomorrow | asatte - 明後日 |
| before sunset | nichibotsu mae - 日没前 |
| but I'm busy | shikashi , watashi wa isogashii desu - しかし、私は忙しいです |
As you can see from the example above, the structure of the Prepositions in Japanese has a logical pattern. Locate the Prepositions above and see how it works with the rest of the sentence in Japanese.
List of Prepositions in Japanese
Below is a list of the Time place and demonstrative pronouns in Japanese placed in a table. Memorizing this table will help you add very useful and important words to your Japanese vocabulary.
| English Prepositions | Japanese Prepositions |
| about | yaku - 約 |
| above | ue ni - 上に |
| across | yokogit te - 横切って |
| after | atoni - 後に |
| against | ni taishi te - に対して |
| among | no aida ni - の間に |
| around | no mawari ni - の周りに |
| as | toshite - として |
| at | ni - に |
| before | mae - 前 |
| behind | ushiro ni - 後ろに |
| below | shita ni - 下に |
| beneath | shita ni - 下に |
| beside | yoko ni - 横に |
| between | no aida ni - の間に |
| beyond | koe te - 越えて |
| but | shikashi - しかし |
| by | niyotte - によって |
| despite | ni mo kakawara zu - にもかかわらず |
| down | shita ni - 下に |
| during | aida ni - 間に |
| except | nozoi te - 除いて |
| for | no tame ni - のために |
| from | kara - から |
| in | naka de - 中で |
| inside | naibu de - 内部で |
| into | naka ni - 中に |
| near | chikaku ni - 近くに |
| next | tsugi no - 次の |
| of | no - の |
| on | ue ni - 上に |
| opposite | hantai no - 反対の |
| out | soto de - 外で |
| outside | soto gawa de - 外側で |
| over | ue ni - 上に |
| per | goto ni - ごとに |
| plus | to - と |
| round | mawari ni - 周りに |
| since | kara - から |
| than | yori - より |
| through | made - まで |
| till | made - まで |
| to | ni - に |
| toward | ni mukat te - に向かって |
| under | shita ni - 下に |
| unlike | to wa chigat te - とは違って |
| until | made - まで |
| up | ue ni - 上に |
| via | keiyu shi te - 経由して |
| with | to - と |
| within | naibu ni - 内部に |
| without | nashi de - なしで |
| |
| two words | futa koto - 二言 |
| according to | ni yoru to - によると |
| because of | no tame ni - のために |
| close to | no chikaku ni - の近くに |
| due to | no tame ni - のために |
| except for | wo nozoi te - を除いて |
| far from | tooi - 遠い |
| inside of | no naka ni - の中に |
| instead of | no kawari ni - の代わりに |
| near to | no chikaku ni - の近くに |
| next to | no tonari ni - の隣に |
| outside of | no soto gawa ni - の外側に |
| prior to | no mae ni - の前に |
| |
| three words | mittsu no kotoba - 三つの言葉 |
| as far as | kagiri - 限り |
| as well as | dake de naku - だけでなく |
| in addition to | ni kuwae te - に加えて |
| in front of | no mae ni - の前に |
| in spite of | ni mo kakawara zu - にもかかわらず |
| on behalf of | ni kawat te - に代わって |
| on top of | no ue ni - の上に |
| |
| demonstrative pronouns | shiji zenchishi - 指示前置詞 |
| this | kono - この |
| that | sono - その |
| these | korera no - これらの |
| those | sorera no - それらの |
Time place and demonstrative pronouns have a very important role in Japanese, therefore they need very special attention. Once you're done with Japanese Prepositions, you might want to check the rest of our Japanese lessons here: Learn Japanese. Don't forget to bookmark this page.