Kurabu e odori ni ikimasu
"verb stem" + "ni" = purpose
"...ni iku" = go to...
"...ni kuru" = come to...
In Japanese, the structure of sentences requires that verbs come at the end and never appear in the middle. This affects how certain phrases are constructed. For example, the English expressions ‘go somewhere to do something’ and ‘come somewhere to do something’ are restructured in Japanese to place the verb at the end. They become ‘to somewhere, something, to do, go’ and ‘to somewhere, something, to do, come’. This word order is typical and frequently used in Japanese, reflecting the language’s syntactic rules and natural flow.
“…ni ikimasu” and “…ni kimasu”
When constructing these types of sentences in Japanese, you should add “ni ikimasu” or “ni kimasu” after the stem. If the stem ends with a consonant, you must insert an i-sound before adding “ni ikimasu” or “ni kimasu”. The particle “ni” is used to indicate a point of motion. When combined with a verb, it denotes the purpose of going or coming somewhere.
Therefore, “…ni ikimasu” and “…ni kimasu” always come at the end of sentences, following the natural syntactic structure of Japanese. For example, to say ‘I go to the library to study,’ you would structure it as “toshokan ni benkyou shi ni ikimasu.” Similarly, to say “I come to the park to exercise,” you would say “kouen ni undou shi ni kimasu.”
kaku >>> kaki >>> kaki ni ikimasu
nomu >>> nomi >>> nomi ni ikimasu
odoru >>> odori >>> odori ni ikimasu
taberu >>> tabe >>> tabe ni ikimasu
au >>> ai >>> ai ni ikimasu
miru >>> mi >>> mi ni ikimasu
suru >>> shi >>> shi ni ikimasu
Expressions
Justin says:
Satousan wa kondo no nenmatsu-nenshi ni doko ni ikimasuka?
Satou says:
Nanmatsu wa hakuba ni sukii o shini ikimasu.
Oshougatsu wa toukyou ni kaerimasu.
Jasutinsan wa dokoka ikimasuka?
Justin says:
Dokonimo ikimasen ga, firipin no kazoku ga asobi ni kimasu.
Word
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| odoru | dance |
| au | meet |
| nenmatsu | year-end |
| nenshi | beginning of the year |
| hakuba | A popular place for skiing |
| oshougatsu | New Year’s day |
| kaeru | return |
| kazoku | family |
| asobu | play, have fun |
Exercise
Question
- I go to the club. >>>
- I go to the club to dance. >>>
- Do you go to Tokyo?
- Do you go to Tokyo to see Sumo? (see-miru) >>>
Answer
- kurabu ni ikimasu
- kurabu ni odorini ikimasu
- touykou e ikimasuka?
- toukyou e sumou o mini ikimasuka?