The #1 Easy List Of Japanese Prepositions

Japanese is considered one of the most challenging languages to learn on earth. People probably think so because of the kanji writing system and the Japanese grammar.

Yes, Japanese grammar is pretty different from English, but that doesn’t necessarily make learning Japanese difficult. Once you start studying Japanese grammar, you realize everything is in order and makes sense.

This is the case with Japanese prepositions as well. Don’t become discouraged yet! Because in this post, you’ll learn the most commonly used Japanese prepositions and how to use them in sentences.

But first, let’s see what actually is a preposition in linguistic terms.

What Is A Preposition?

A preposition is a word or group of words used right before a noun, pronoun, and noun phrase. They can indicate a direction, time, or location or introduce an object. The most common English prepositions are “in, at, on, of, and to.”

I think prepositions are a kind of assistant words that help us to complete our sentences fully and perfectly.

What Is The Difference Between Prepositions In English And Japanese?

Prepositions in Japanese have the same function as in English; however, they show differences in how they are formed in a sentence. Japanese prepositions often come right after the noun phrase they modify. So they’re like postpositions in English.

The other difference is that a Japanese preposition is usually separated between one or more words, usually the standard Japanese particles.

How To Use Japanese Prepositions In A Sentence?

Unlike English, Japanese has an SOV sentence structure, is generally agglutinative, and usually adds particles at the end of sentences. Due to those reasons, prepositions in Japanese are formed differently than in English.

First, let’s look at the three different ways to use prepositions in Japanese, and then we’ll give you a list of Japanese prepositions where you can find any preposition you need.

I. _の + Preposition

Usually, you add aの (no) before the preposition so that you can connect a noun to a location word. To understand it better, please analyze this example:

In front of the bank – 学校の前 (Gakkou no mae)

If you want to describe where something is located in relation to another thing, you should use the particle は (wa). To understand it better, please analyze this example:

The library is next to the park. – 図書館は公園のとなりです。(Toshokan wa kouen no tonari desu.)

II. _と_の + Preposition

If you have to attach a preposition to two different nouns, you can connect them with と (to). The most common example of this situation is 間 (aida)which means ”in between”.

To understand it better, please analyze this example:

In between the park and the hospital. – 公園と病院の間です (Kouen to byouin no aida desu.)

III. Without の

It’s possible to use a preposition without の (no). However, you must figure out what the preposition is related to based on the context. Most of the time, it is from the speaker’s perspective.

(I) saw something interesting to my right. – 右に面白物ものが見。(Migi ni omoshiroi mono ga mieta.)

The Ultimate List Of Japanese Prepositions

English	Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji
about	約	やく	yaku
above	上に	うえに	ue ni
according to		によると	ni yoru to
across	横切って	おこぎって	yokogit te
after	後に	あとに	atoni
against	に対して	にたいして	ni taishi te
among	の間に	のあいだに	no aida ni
around	の周りに	のまわりに	no mawari ni
as		として	toshite
as far as	限り	かぎり	kagiri
as well as		だけでなく	dake de naku
at		に	ni
because of		のために	no tame ni
before	前	まえ	mae
behind	後ろに	ろに	ushiro ni
below	下に	したに	shita ni
beside	横に	よこに	yoko ni
between	の間に	のあいだに	no aida ni
beyond	越えて	こえて	koe te
by		によって	niyotte
close to	の近くに	のちかくに	no chikaku ni
despite		にもかかわらず	ni mo kakawara zu
down	下に	したに	shita ni
due to		のために	no tame ni
during	間に	あいだに	aida ni
except	除いて	のぞいて	nozoi te
except for	を除いて	をのぞいて	wo nozoi te
for		のために	no tame ni
from		から	kara
in	中で	なかで	naka de
in addition to	に加えて	にくわえて	ni kuwae te
in front of	の前に	のまえに	no mae ni
in spite of		にもかかわらず	ni mo kakawara zu
inside	内部で	ないぶで	naibu de
inside of	の中に	のなかに	no naka ni
instead of	の代わりに	のかわりに	no kawari ni
into	中に	なかに	naka ni
near	近くに	ちかくに	chikaku ni
near to	の近くに	のちかくに	no chikaku ni
next	次の	つぎの	tsugi no
next to	の隣に	のとなりに	no tonari ni
of		の	no
on	上に	うえに	ue ni
on behalf of	に代わって	にかわって	ni kawat te
opposite	反対の	はんたいの	hantai no
out	外で	そとで	soto de
outside	外側で	そとがわで	soto gawa de
outside of	の外側に	のそとがわに	no soto gawa ni
over	上に	うえに	ue ni
per		ごとに	goto ni
plus		と	to
prior to	の前に	のまえに	no mae ni
round	周りに	まわりに	mawari ni
since		から	kara
than		より	yori
through		まで	made
to		に	ni
toward	に向かって	にむかって	ni mukat te
under	下に	したに	shita ni
unlike	とは違って	とはちがって	to wa chigat te
until		まで	made
up	上に	うえに	ue ni
with		と	to
without		なしで	nashi de

3 Japanese Words That Mean ”Next To”

There are three different words that you can use to say ”next to” in Japanese. Since it may be a little confusing for new Japanese learners, we wanted to shed some light on this issue.

となり (tonari)

となり implies that something is right next to the object you’re talking about. There are no other objects in between.

よこ (yoko)

よこ implies that something is on a horizontal line from the thing you’re talking about. It may sometimes be used instead of となり. However, keep in mind that よこ has other stuff in between.

わき (waki)

わき implies that there is a small gap or space in between. For example, it’s usually used for the side of the road.

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