Kotomora
JLPT N4Particle
Furigana

Departure point

marks a place, vehicle, or institution that someone or something leaves. It is used with established leaving verbs such as , りる, and はなれる.

The place is left behind

The noun before is the starting place of the movement: the person or thing crosses out of it or moves away from it. Although this is the same particle spelling used with objects, the place here is not something affected by the action.

部屋へやると、あめっていた。

When I left the room, it was raining.

Analyze

部屋へや is the enclosed place being exited.

Pronunciation

As a particle, it is written but normally pronounced .

Common leaving patterns

Learn the particle together with the leaving verb rather than treating it as a general marker meaning “from.”

つぎえきでんしゃります。

I will get off the train at the next station.

Analyze

かのじょじゅうはっさいふるさとはなれた。

She left her hometown at eighteen.

Analyze

あにきょねんだいがくそつぎょうした。

My older brother graduated from university last year.

Analyze

Leaving a place versus moving through it

Departure-point presents the marked place as something left behind. Route instead marks the space through which movement occurs. The following sentence is the route use, not the departure use.

どもたちがこうえんはしっている。

The children are running through the park.

Analyze

The park is the area of movement; the sentence does not say that the children leave it.

More examples

まいあさしちはんいえます。

I leave home at seven thirty every morning.

Analyze

じょうきゃくしゅうてんバスをりた。

The passengers got off the bus at the last stop.

Analyze

けんなので、すぐたてものはなれてください。

It is dangerous, so please move away from the building immediately.

Analyze

さんがつこうこうそつぎょうしました。

I graduated from high school in March.

Analyze

ねこはこて、まどのそばにすわった。

The cat came out of the box and sat by the window.

Analyze

ふねはゆっくりみなとはなれた。

The ship slowly left the harbor.

Analyze
を (o) – Departure point