In this lesson, we are going to study the time complement also called the circumstantial time complement thanks to which we can indicate in our sentences the moment when the action is performed.
The first thing to know is that the time complement is generally placed at the beginning of the sentence and that we will indicate it either by the particle に, or by no particle.
So, the lesson is about a new use of the particle に but don’t worry, there will be absolutely nothing too complicated this time around.
When our time complement will indicate a specific point in time, a specific period, a specific date, a day of the week or even a year, we use the particle に.
And when our time complement is, in our sentence, a word relative to the moment of utterance, we do not use any particle.
For example, if I say « today », « today » indicates a specific day. But that’s going to change every day, and every day will be a different day. This is what a relative word is.
That being said, I give you below the list of relative words with which we will NOT use the particle に.
昨日 .
きのう . yesterday
今日 .
きょう . today
明日 .
あした . tomorrow
毎日 .
マイニチ . everyday
先週 .
センシュウ . last week
今週 .
コンシュウ . this week
来週 .
ライシュウ . next week
毎週 .
マイシュウ . every week, weekly
先月 .
センゲツ . last month
今月 .
コンゲツ . this month
来月 .
ライゲツ . next month
毎月 .
マイつき. every month
去年 .
キョネン . last year
今年 .
ことし . this year
来年 .
ライネン . next year
毎年 .
マイとし. every year
Now let’s see some examples of where we will use the particle に.
七時に .
シチじに. at seven o’clock
十五世紀に .
ジュウゴせいきに. in the fifteenth century
五日後に .
いつかごに . five days later / in five days
三日後に .
みっかごに . three days later / in three days
二週間後に .
ニジュウカンごに. two weeks later / in two weeks
八週間後に .
ハチジュウカンごに. eight weeks later / in eight weeks
Here are some more cases where we will use the particle に.
毎週月曜日 .
マイシュウゲツヨウび . every Monday
毎週火曜日 .
マイシュウカヨウび . every Tuesday
毎週水曜日 .
マイシュウスイヨウび . every Wednesday
毎週木曜日 .
マイシュウモクヨウび . every Thursday
毎週金曜日 .
マイシュウキンヨウび . every Friday
毎週土曜日 .
マイシュウドヨウび . every Saturday
毎週日曜日 .
マイシュウニチヨウび . every Sunday
来週の毎週月曜日 .
ライシュウのマイシュウゲツヨウ び. Monday of next week
来週の毎週火曜日 .
ライシュウのマイシュウカヨウ び. Tuesday of next week
来週の毎週水曜日 .
ライシュウのマイシュウスイヨウ び. Wednesday of next week
来週の毎週木曜日 .
ライシュウのマイシュウモクヨウ び. Thursday of next week
来週の毎週金曜日 .
ライシュウのマイシュウキンヨウ び. Friday of next week
来週の毎週土曜日 .
ライシュウのマイシュウドヨウ び. Saturday of next week
来週の毎週日曜日 .
ライシュウのマイシュウニチヨウ び. Sunday of next week
You got it now, 毎週 . マイシュウ (every week, weekly) and 来週 . ライシュウ (next week) are not considered time-accurate. However, if you add a day name to say for example 毎週金曜日 . マイシュウキンヨウび (every Friday) or 来週の日曜日 . ライシュウのニチヨウび (Sunday of next week), then this new time supplement is considered to be time accurate. So, we use the particle に.
Knowing that we won’t be seeing the past tense for a long time, we will not use time complements suggesting a past action or event. We will make sentences in the present tense... and in the future tense.
Yes, you read correctly. We are going to make sentences in the future tense. And since we are approaching the subject, just remember that, in Japanese, verbs do not change in the future tense.
To better understand, it is the context of the sentence and often a word in the sentence that expresses the idea of the future to generally express the near future.
Observe this sentence below in English : Tomorrow we are going to the zoo.
The word « tomorrow » expresses the idea of the future and the verb « we are going » is in the present tense. Verb+ing for you, English speakers for this example above.
In Japanese, we do exactly the same since we have no future tense. We use verbs in the present tense with a tense complement expressing the future.
Now let’s move on to the examples.
私は来年日本に行く。
わたしはらいねんにほんにいく。
I will be going to Japan next year.
(We do not use the particle に because « next year » is not considered to be time-precise. It could be any day of the next year.)
広年は今日図書館に行く。
ひろとしはきょうとしょかんにいく。
Hirotoshi is going to the library today.
(We do not use the particle に because « today » is not considered to be precise in time.)
私は週に一度泳ぐ。
わたしはしゅうにいちどおよぐ。
I swim once a week.
広美は週に五日学校に行く。
ひろみはしゅうにごにちがっこうにいく。
Hiromi goes to school five days a week.
白石は普通９時に寝る。
しらいしはふつう９じにねる。
Shiraishi usually goes to bed at nine o’clock.
大牙は毎晩十一時に寝る。
たいがはまいばんじゅういちじにねる。
Taiga goes to bed at eleven o’clock every night.
私は６時に起きるだ。
わたしは６じにおきるだ。
I get up at six o’clock.
滝は毎日林檎を食べる。
たきはまいにちりんごをたべる。
Taki eats apples every day.
(We don’t use the particle に because « every day » is not considered to be precise in time.)
香織は毎週龍吉君に黒すぐりとアプリコットを贈る。
かおりはまいしゅうたつよしくんにくろすぐりとアプリコットをおく。
Kaori gives Tatsuyoshi blackcurrants and apricots as gifts every week.
(We don’t use the particle に because « every week » is not considered to be precise in time.)
明日10時45分に若松と四葉は美術館に行く。
あした10じ45ふんにわかまつとよつばはびじゅつかんにいく。
Tomorrow at 10:45 am, Wakamatsu and Yotsuba will go to the museum.
(In this sentence we have the word « tomorrow » and « 10h45 », the latter being a precise indicator in time, we use the particle に.)
安森は毎週土曜日に市営プールに行く。
やすもりはまいしゅうどようびにしえいプールにいく。
Yasumori goes to the municipal swimming pool every Saturday.
浜松祭りは中田島で午前8時35分に始まる。
はままつまつりはなかたじまでごぜん8じ35ごふんにはじまる。
The Hamamatsu festival starts from 8:35 am in Nakatajima.
Note : for your general knowledge, the Hamamatsu festival takes place from May 3 to May 5 every year.
アニメ「ドラゴンボールスーパー」は午前10時に始まる。
アニメ「ドラゴンボールスーパー」はごぜん10じにはじまる。
The ‘‘Dragon Ball Super’’ anime begins at 10 am.
バイオリンの試験は来週の火曜日に行われる。
バイオリンのしけんはらいしゅうのかようびにおこなわれる。
The violin exam takes place on Tuesday of next week.
ゴミ収集車は毎週火曜日に行く。
ゴミしゅうしゅうしゃはまいしゅうかようびにいく。
The garbage truck comes by every Tuesday. / The dump truck comes by every Tuesday.
I told you there would be a lot to say about the particle に and we’ve seen quite a bit already. We haven’t seen it all yet, there is one more thing to do about this particle but we can only tackle it once we have seen all the other particles... And by the time we finish with all the other particles, plus the specifics of the Japanese language, we’ll have to wait until season three before we finish with the particle に. But for now, that’s where we are.
I now give you your exercises, theme and version as always so… there you go!
Before I leave you, a quick note: you will have noticed that throughout this second season so far, I regularly give you in the example sentences and exercises some Western names and, more rarely, some Japanese names. Until the end of this season, I will most often give you Western names in katakana, but from season three you will have Japanese names much more often. So, every time you find yourself with a Japanese name in a sentence, learn it by heart.
Good, that’s all I had to say. Take your time to reread this course as well as all the previous courses on the particle に in order to memorize all the uses of this particle. Do not hesitate to copy the example sentences and the exercise sentences to practice writing. Read the vocabulary courses over and over again, this is very important.
Thank you for reading this course and... see you later !
起きる .
おきる . to get up, to wake up (new verb)
贈る .
おくる . to give, to offer a present (new verb)
美術館 .
ビジュツカン . the art museum, the art gallery
浜松祭り .
はままつまつり . the Hamamatsu festival
始まる .
はじまる . to start, to begin (new verb)
バイオリンの試験 .
バイオリンのシケン. the violin exam
行われる .
おこなわれる . to occur, to happen (new verb)
Introduction