に

Character	に U+306B, に
Name	HIRAGANA LETTER NI
Block	Hiragana
← な [U+306A] [U+306C] ぬ →

Japanese

Stroke order

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ni]

Etymology 1

Derived in the Heian period from writing the man'yōgana kanji 仁 in the cursive sōsho style.

Syllable

に ‎(romaji ni)

1. The hiragana syllable に ‎(ni). Its equivalent in katakana is ニ ‎(ni). It is the twenty-second syllable in the gojūon order; its position is な行い段 ‎(na-gyō i-dan, “row na, section i”).

See also

• (Hiragana) 平仮名; あぁ, いぃ, うぅゔ, えぇ, おぉ, かゕが, きぎ, くぐ, けゖげ, こご, さざ, しじ, すず, せぜ, そぞ, ただ, ちぢ, つっづ, てで, とど, な, に, ぬ, ね, の, はばぱ, ひびぴ, ふぶぷ, へべぺ, ほぼぽ, ま, み, む, め, も, やゃ, ゆゅ, よょ, ら, り, る, れ, ろ, わゎ, ゐ, ゑ, を, ん, ー, ゝ, ゞ, ゟ

Etymology 2

Particle

に ‎(romaji ni)

1. particle for indirect objects; to

   俺 (おれ)に返 (かえ)せ。

   Ore ni kaese.

   Give it back to me.

2. particle for location; in

   学校 (がっこう)にいる。

   Gakkō ni iru.

   I'm at/in school.

3. particle for direction; toward

   銀行 (ぎんこう)に行 (い)った。

   Ginkō ni itta.

   I went to the bank.

   学校 (がっこう)に行 (い)く。

   Gakkō ni iku.

   I'm going to school.

4. particle indicating a passive agent; by

   蚊 (か)にさされた。

   Ka ni sasareta.

   I was bitten by a mosquito.

5. particle indicating purpose/intent; for; to

   映画 (えいが)を見 (み)に行 (い)く。

   Eiga o mi ni iku.

   I'm going to see a movie.

6. particle indicating a point in time; at

   ７時 (しちじ)にね。

   Shichi-ji ni ne.

   It is at seven o'clock. (confirmation of when an event will take place)

Synonyms

• へ ‎(he): to; toward

  In the sense indicating destination, the particles へ (e) and に (ni) are often interchangeable, though there is a slight difference of connotation or emphasis. へ (e) emphasizes the journey to the destination, while に (ni) emphasizes the arrival or entering it. The distinction is not quite the same as between English to and into; に (ni) is usually best translated as to because に (ni), unlike English into, can refer to the journey in addition to the arrival or entering the destination.

Noun

に ‎(romaji ni)

1. 二: two

Kanji reading

に ‎(romaji ni)

On-reading of:

• 児
• 爾