Lesson 5

Movement

Grammar
Pattern 1 · [N] は [place] へ いきます
destination へmovement verb
[N] goes to [place]. Movement verb + destination particle へ. Used with いきます / きます / かえります only.
Examples

Nara noun to (direction) particle (e, written he) go (away from speaker) verb 。

I’m going to Nara.

country, home country noun to particle go home, return verb 。

I’m going back to my country.
Pattern 2 · [N] は [transport] で [place] へ いきます
transport でdestination へ
[N] goes to [place] BY [transport]. The で particle marks the means of transport.
Examples

bullet train noun by (transport) particle (de) · means Tokyo noun particle verb 。

I go to Tokyo by bullet train.

bicycle noun by particle school noun particle verb 。

I go to school by bicycle.

on foot fixed te-form · no で station noun particle verb 。

I walk to the station. (no で with あるいて)
Pattern 3 · [N] は [person] と [place] へ きました
companion とmovement verb
[N] came to [place] WITH [person]. と extends L04’s "and" meaning to "together with" when followed by a verb.
Examples

Mr. Yamada noun with (companion) particle (to) · companion noun particle verb 。

I’m going to Tokyo with Mr. Yamada.

alone, by oneself set phrase — uses で not と verb 。

I’m going alone. (ひとり で uses で, not と)
Pattern 4 · [date] に V-ます (に on specific dates)
date にverb V-ます
At [date], V. Extends L04’s に rule from clock times and days to specific calendar dates. Still NO に on relative time words (らいしゅう, きょねん, いつ).
Examples

March 25 [month] + [day] on (date) particle came (past of きます) verb 。

I came on March 25.

next week relative — no に noun particle verb 。

Next week I’m going to Tokyo. (no に — relative)
Pattern 5 · いつ V-ます か / V-ました か
いつ (when)question か
When do/did you V? いつ asks WHEN — and いつ NEVER takes に, even though it sits in a time slot.
Examples

when noun Japan noun particle verb particle 。

When did you come to Japan?

birthday noun particle noun copula particle 。

When is your birthday?
Pattern 6 · どこ (へ) も V-ません — "(not) anywhere"
question word + もnegative verb
I go / went NOWHERE. The particle も attached to a question word + negative verb = "(not) anywhere." The destination particle stays (へ), but も takes the position は would.
Examples

where noun to (still present) particle (not) any particle didn't go (past negative) verb 。

I didn’t go anywhere.

Notes

Movement verbs — the trio
L05 introduces three movement verbs that anchor the lesson’s grammar: いきます (go, away from speaker, stem いき), きます (come, toward speaker, stem き — irregular reading: read as き not き-something), かえります (return / go home, stem かえり). These three pair specifically with the destination particle へ. Other verbs (たべます, のみます — L06) do NOT take へ — they take other particles for their objects.
Particle へ — direction (written he, pronounced "e")
へ marks WHERE you’re going / coming / returning to. Spelling trap: the character is written へ (he) but pronounced "e" when functioning as the particle. Three particles, three spelling-vs-sound traps: は (ha → wa), を (wo → o), へ (he → e). You may also see に for direction (とうきょう に いきます is also grammatical). At L05 treat them as interchangeable — the subtle difference (へ emphasizes direction; に emphasizes endpoint) doesn’t change meaning yet.
Particle で — means of transport (and the あるいて exception)
で marks HOW you do something. With movement verbs that means transport: しんかんせん で いきます (by bullet train), じてんしゃ で がっこう へ いきます (by bicycle to school). The あるいて exception: "on foot" is a fixed expression that does NOT take で. Say あるいて いきます, not あるいて で いきます. (Grammatically, あるいて is already the te-form of あるきます — full coverage L13/14.) で has a second job too — "with / using a tool" (はし で たべます = eat with chopsticks). That’s L07.
Particle と — companion (and the ひとりで exception)
と with a person/group followed by a movement verb means "together with": ともだち と いきます (with a friend), かぞく と にほん へ きました (with my family to Japan). The ひとりで exception: "alone / by oneself" uses で, not と. Say ひとり で いきます. The logic: "by means of one person" — で in its tool-sense. In L04 と meant "and" between two nouns. L05’s "with" is the same root meaning (joining things) — when the noun is a person attached to a verb, it becomes "with."
Particle に on dates — when YES, when NO (L04 rule extended)
Takes に — specific calendar dates: 3月25にち に きました (came on March 25), どようび に いきます (go on Saturday), 2026ねん 5月 に はじめます (begin in May 2026). Does NOT take に — relative time words: らいしゅう いきます (next week), きょねん きました (last year), けさ きました (this morning), いつ きました か (いつ NEVER takes に). Rule of thumb: if the time has a FIXED position on a calendar (the 25th of March), use に. If the time is RELATIVE to now (last week, next month), no に.
Months — ～月 (がつ) with three traps
The month counter ～月 attaches to numbers 1-12. Three irregular readings: 4月 = しがつ (not よん). 7月 = しちがつ (not なな). 9月 = くがつ (not きゅう). Note the asymmetry with hours from L04: 4じ uses よ, but 4月 uses し. The hour rule and month rule for "4" DIFFER. For 7 and 9 the readings align across hours and months.
Days of the month — first 10 are irregular (memorize as a set)
1日 ついたち · 2日 ふつか · 3日 みっか · 4日 よっか · 5日 いつか · 6日 むいか · 7日 なのか · 8日 ようか · 9日 ここのか · 10日 とおか. From 11 onward MOST follow [number] にち regularly (11日 = じゅういちにち). Two more traps: 14日 = じゅうよっか (keeps the よっか pattern), 20日 = はつか (irregular), 24日 = にじゅうよっか. Memorize 1-10 as a set, then learn 14 / 20 / 24 as exceptions. L11 covers the rest.
どこ も + negative — "(not) anywhere"
も can attach to question words to mean "every" (with positive verb) or "any" (with negative verb). With a negative verb it becomes "(not) anywhere": どこ へ も いきませんでした (didn’t go anywhere). だれ と も いきませんでした (didn’t go with anyone — L06+). なに も たべません (don’t eat anything — L06). The particle slot stays (へ for destination, と for companion). も takes the position that は would. Order is always [question-word] [particle] も — も is the last element before the verb.
Time-period words — past / this / next (with two exceptions)
The system reuses prefixes せん (last) / こん (this) / らい (next) across week/month/year. Week: せんしゅう · こんしゅう · らいしゅう. Month: せんげつ · こんげつ · らいげつ. Year: きょねん · ことし · らいねん. Note the irregular forms: ことし (this year) does NOT follow こん~. きょねん (last year) does NOT follow せん~. Memorize these two as exceptions. 月 reads as がつ in months (3月 = March) but げつ in time-period words (せんげつ = last month).
Kanji introduced — 月 and 休
L05 is the first lesson with formally-introduced kanji. 月 has two readings to memorize now: がつ for the month counter (3月 = March), げつ for time-period words (せんげつ = last month). A third reading つき (moon) comes later. 休 is the kanji for the やすみ noun (day off / holiday) that appeared in L04. The verb form やすむ comes in L06.

Practice

Q1 Tap to reveal
Answer I go to school by bicycle.
Q2 Tap to reveal
Answer When did you come to Japan?
Q3 Tap to reveal
Answer I came with my family in September last year.
Q4 Tap to reveal
Answer Where did you go on Saturday?
Q5 Tap to reveal
Answer I went nowhere. I studied.
Q6 Tap to reveal
Answer My birthday is March 27.
Q7 Tap to reveal
Answer I go to Tokyo by bullet train.