Prepositions (前置詞) - 完全ガイド

日本語の助詞「に」「で」「を」「から」とは対応が複雑。暗記ではなくイメージで掴む。

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Time Prepositions (時間の前置詞)

AT — 時刻、特定の時点

• at 7 o'clock, at noon, at midnight, at night
• at Christmas (期間だが「時点」扱い), at Easter, at the weekend (UK)
• at the moment, at the same time, at the beginning, at the end

ON — 日、曜日、特定の日

• on Monday, on Friday, on weekdays, on the weekend (US)
• on March 5th, on my birthday, on Christmas Day
• on time (時間通りに)

IN — 月、年、季節、長い期間、「〜後に」

• in January, in 2024, in the 21st century
• in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening (ただし at night!)
• in 10 minutes (10分後に), in two weeks (2週間後に)

忘れがちなポイント

• at night だが in the morning/afternoon/evening — night だけ例外!
• on time = 時間通りに / in time = 間に合って
• The train arrived on time. (定刻通り)
• We got there just in time for the movie. (ギリギリ間に合った)
• in the end = 最終的に / at the end = 終わりの時点で
• In the end, we decided to stay home. (結局)
• There's a twist at the end of the movie. (映画の最後に)

Examples

1. I wake up at 6:30 every morning.
2. The meeting is on Thursday.
3. She was born in 1995.
4. I'll be there in 20 minutes.
5. We have a test on the first day of class.
6. At night, the city looks beautiful.
7. I always feel tired in the afternoon.
8. Let's meet at noon.
9. The cherry blossoms bloom in spring.
10. She arrived right on time.

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Place Prepositions (場所の前置詞)

AT — 地点、場所（建物の機能として）

• at the station, at the airport, at the bus stop
• at school, at work, at home (homeにはtheなし)
• at the top, at the bottom, at the front, at the back
• at the door, at the table, at the desk

ON — 表面に接触、線上

• on the table, on the wall, on the floor, on the ceiling
• on a bus/train/plane (公共交通機関の中)
• on the first floor, on the right, on the left
• on the internet, on TV, on the phone, on the radio
• on a street (US: on Main Street)

IN — 空間の中、囲まれた場所

• in the room, in the box, in the car (車の中)
• in Tokyo, in Japan, in Asia
• in the newspaper, in a book, in a photo
• in the sky, in the world, in the universe
• in a street (UK: in Main Street)

忘れがちなポイント

乗り物 — in vs on

• in a car / taxi / helicopter (小さい乗り物 = 中に入る感覚)
• on a bus / train / plane / ship / bicycle (大きい乗り物 = 上に乗る感覚)
• get in/out of a car (車の乗り降り)
• get on/off a bus (バスの乗り降り)

at vs in — 場所

• at the hospital (地点として・訪問) / in the hospital (建物の中にいる)
• at school (通学中) / in school (学校内にいる/通学中 — USではどちらも)
• at home (家に) / in my home (家の中に — よりフォーマル)

Examples

1. I'll meet you at the station.
2. The keys are on the kitchen table.
3. She lives in a small apartment in Shibuya.
4. I saw it on TV last night.
5. He's at work right now.
6. There's a spider on the ceiling!
7. The children are in the garden.
8. I read about it in the newspaper.
9. She's on the phone right now.
10. There's someone at the door.

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Direction/Movement Prepositions (方向・移動)

TO — 方向、到達点

• go to school, go to Tokyo, go to the store
• talk to someone (英) / talk with someone (米)
• 例外: go home (to なし!), go there, go here

FROM — 出発点、起源

• come from Japan, from 9 to 5
• a letter from my friend

INTO — 外から中へ

• walk into the room, jump into the pool
• translate into Japanese

OUT OF — 中から外へ

• walk out of the room, get out of the car

THROUGH — 通り抜ける

• walk through the park, drive through a tunnel

ACROSS — 横切る

• walk across the street, swim across the river

ALONG — 〜に沿って

• walk along the river, drive along the coast

TOWARD(S) — 〜の方へ (到達しない)

• walk toward the station (駅の方へ — 着くかは不明)
• vs. walk to the station (駅まで — 到達)

PAST — 〜を通り過ぎて

• walk past the store

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Verb + Preposition (動詞 + 前置詞) — 超重要

Japanese speakers が間違えやすいもの

正しい	よくある間違い	日本語
listen to	✗ listen	聞く
look at	✗ look (+ を)	見る
wait for	✗ wait	待つ
depend on	✗ depend to	〜による
consist of	✗ consist with	〜から成る
belong to	✗ belong of	〜に属する
apologize for	✗ apologize about	謝る
pay for	✗ pay (直接目的語のみ)	払う
arrive at/in	✗ arrive to	到着する
discuss ∅	✗ discuss about	議論する
enter ∅	✗ enter to/into	入る
marry ∅	✗ marry with	結婚する
approach ∅	✗ approach to	近づく
resemble ∅	✗ resemble to	似ている
attend ∅	✗ attend to (= 対処する)	出席する
answer ∅	✗ answer to	答える
contact ∅	✗ contact with/to	連絡する

arrive at vs arrive in

• arrive at + 小さい場所: arrive at the station, arrive at the hotel
• arrive in + 大きい場所: arrive in Tokyo, arrive in Japan

Examples

1. Please listen to me carefully.
2. I'm looking at the menu.
3. We've been waiting for you for an hour.
4. It depends on the weather.
5. The team consists of five members.
6. I need to apologize for being late.
7. Who's going to pay for dinner?
8. We arrived at the airport at 3 PM.
9. Let's discuss ∅ the problem. (✗ discuss about)
10. She married ∅ her high school sweetheart. (✗ married with)

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Adjective + Preposition (形容詞 + 前置詞)

Expression	Japanese	Example
afraid of	怖い	I'm afraid of spiders.
angry with (person)	怒っている	She's angry with me.
angry about (thing)	怒っている	He's angry about the decision.
good at	上手な	She's good at math.
bad at	下手な	I'm bad at cooking.
interested in	興味がある	I'm interested in history.
tired of	飽きた	I'm tired of waiting.
tired from	疲れた	I'm tired from working.
proud of	誇りに思う	I'm proud of you.
responsible for	責任がある	Who's responsible for this?
different from	異なる	This is different from that.
similar to	似ている	This is similar to that.
worried about	心配している	I'm worried about the exam.
excited about	ワクワクしている	I'm excited about the trip!
famous for	有名な	Japan is famous for sushi.
jealous of	嫉妬している	He's jealous of her success.
capable of	能力がある	She's capable of anything.
keen on	熱心な	He's keen on tennis.
fond of	好きな	She's fond of cats.
aware of	気づいている	Are you aware of the risks?

忘れがちなポイント

• different from が正式 (different than は米口語OK, different to は英)
• tired of (飽きた) vs tired from (疲れた) — 意味が違う!
• angry with a person / angry about a thing

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Common Mistakes by Japanese Speakers

1. ✗ I go to home. → ✓ I go home. (homeはtoなし)
2. ✗ He married with her. → ✓ He married ∅ her.
3. ✗ Let's discuss about it. → ✓ Let's discuss ∅ it.
4. ✗ I arrived to the station. → ✓ I arrived at the station.
5. ✗ She entered to the room. → ✓ She entered ∅ the room.
6. ✗ I'm good in English. → ✓ I'm good at English.
7. ✗ I'm interested about music. → ✓ I'm interested in music.
8. ✗ It depends of the situation. → ✓ It depends on the situation.
9. ✗ I listened the music. → ✓ I listened to the music.
10. ✗ I'll wait you here. → ✓ I'll wait for you here.
11. ✗ He explained me the problem. → ✓ He explained the problem to me.
12. ✗ I lack of confidence. → ✓ I lack ∅ confidence.

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Practice Exercises

Choose the correct preposition:

1. I've been living ___ Tokyo ___ 2018. → in, since
2. She arrived ___ the airport ___ 3 PM. → at, at
3. I'm interested ___ learning ___ Japanese culture. → in, about
4. The cat jumped ___ the table. → onto (上に飛び乗った) / off (から飛び降りた)
5. We walked ___ the park and then ___ the bridge. → through, across
6. He apologized ___ being late ___ the meeting. → for, to
7. I'm tired ___ working overtime. → of (飽きた) / from (疲れた)
8. She's different ___ her sister. → from
9. The movie starts ___ 7 ___ Friday evening. → at, on
10. I'll be there ___ 10 minutes. → in