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 Japanese noun to a location word. To understand it better, please analyze this example:

• In front of the bank – 銀行の前 (Gakkou no mae) Play

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.)Play

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.)Play

III. Without の

In Japanese grammar, 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.)Play

The Ultimate List Of Japanese Prepositions

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

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)Play

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)Play

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)Play

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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