に

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

Japanese

Stroke order

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɲ̟i]

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, 𛀆, ゆゅ, 𛀁, よょ, らら゚, りり゚, るる゚, れれ゚, ろろ゚, わゎわ゙, ゐゐ゙, 𛄟, ゑゑ゙, をを゙, ん, ー, ゝ, ゞ, ゟ

Etymology 2

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *ni.

Particle

に • (ni) 

1. (with nouns)
   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(がっ)校(こう)にいる。

      Gakkō ni iru.

      I'm at/in school.

   3. particle for direction; toward

      銀(ぎん)行(こう)に行(い)った。

      Ginkō ni itta.

      I went to the bank.

      学(がっ)校(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 a point in time; at

      ７(しち)時(じ)にね。

      Shichi-ji ni ne.

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

   6. particle used occasionally to replace と when organizing and counting; and
   7. particle for indicating the emotional reason that one does something; in

      お礼(れい)にお菓子(かし)を贈(おく)る

      o-rei ni o-kashi o okuru

      to gift sweets in gratitude

      復讐(ふくしゅう)に殺人(さつじん)を犯(おか)す

      fukushū ni satsujin o okasu

      to commit murder in revenge

2. (with verbs)
   1. particle indicating purpose/intent; for; to

      映(えい)画(が)を見(み)に行(い)く。

      Eiga o mi ni iku.

      I'm going to see a movie.

Synonyms

• へ (he): to; toward

  In the sense indicating destination, the particles へ (he) and に (ni) are often interchangeable, though there is a slight difference of connotation or emphasis. へ (he) 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.

Etymology 3

Alternative spelling
似

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɲ̟i]

Suffix

に • (-ni) 

1. (of a child) taking after (in appearance)

   お母(かあ)さん似(に)

   okāsan-ni

   resembling their mother

Verb

に • (ni) 

1. imperfective and stem (or continuative) forms of にる (niru) [ichidan]

Etymology 4

For pronunciation and definitions of に – see the following entries.

【二】1 [noun] two, 2 [noun] second [numeral] two, 2 【弐】S [numeral] two, 2

(This term, に, is an alternative spelling of the above Sino-Japanese terms. For a list of all kanji read as に, not just those used in Japanese terms, see Category:Japanese kanji read as に.)