Coming and Going: here, there and there but I mean it this time
A simple one this week, just to get it covered.
Here, there and over there
It's useful in a conversation to be able to refer to places without using proper nouns (the train station, the shop), and instead by "here" or "there".
In English we use two, the aforementioned "here" and "there", but we can modify these by saying things like "over there" or "way over there".
In Japanese, there are 3:
ここ is used in place of "here"
そこ is used in place of "there", but typically for shorter distances, or if the location is close to the listener and not the speaker.
あそこ is more like "over there", for further distances not close to either the speaker or listener.
If this pattern is familiar, you've probably seen it in これ, それ, あれ (this one, that one, that one over there) or この, その, あの (this, that, that over there). If you recognise these, you may also be wondering if you can use the ど version, like どれ, and you can! どこ just means "where" in that same way どれ means "what".
Coming and going
Now that we have some places we may want to come or go from, how would you say "I came from over there" or "I went here"?
行く(いく) means "to go". Notice the "~u" ending indicating a verb.
来る (きる) means "to come".
You can use these in mostly the same way as their English versions, however in Japanese there is more of a focus on the direction of the movement, with 行く being used when the movement is away from your current location and 来る when it's towards your current location.
For example, it's quite common in English to say that you're "coming" somewhere, from the second person perspective. If I said "I'm coming to the train station", it'd be because I am saying it in relation to the train station and not myself. In Japanese this is not allowed, you would instead have to say that "I'm going to the train station" if you had not yet arrived. This is a little confusing, but if you just pay attention to the direction of movement (if something is moving towards or away from you, or the object/location in question)1
There are some funky particles that pair with both 行く and 来る, where you can add cool things like mode of transportation or who you are going with.
To start with the basics though, to say where you are going or coming from you use に. に is a general purpose location particle (among other things).
東京に行く(とうきょうにいく) I go to Tokyo.
ここに来た (ここにきた) I came here
However, you can also use the particle へ to indicate direction. へ is used to mean "towards", and implies a more general area rather than に which is more pinpoint of a specific place.
- 京都へ行きたい (きょうとへいきたい) I want to go towards Kyoto.
To indicate a mode of transportation, you use で.
- 車で行きます (くるまでいきます) I'm going by car
There is a special case with "by walking", where you use the expression 歩いて (あるいて) without で.
- 歩いて駅へ行きます(あるいてえきへいきます) I'm going to walk towards the station
To talk about traveling with someone, you use the particle と.
- 家族と日本へ来ました (かぞくとにほんへきました) I came to Japan with my family.