11.3) The から Particle [Part 1]

Well hello everyone! Here we are in 2021. I want to say Happy New Year to everyone reading this. I really hope we can make this year better than 2020 so I’m sending out positive vibes far and wide.

Now on to the star of the show, the Japanese! In my last 2 posts I talked about the を particle and 3 ways that it is commonly used. In this post let’s talk about the particle から and the main way it is used in Japanese sentences. First, here is the vocabulary that will help you with this post.

【Starting Points】

から is mainly used to mark starting points. Think of “from” in English. When used this way, many times it appears with either a destination or in the general direction of a destination. Usually this destination is marked with the particle まで.

｛日本から｝｛カナダまで｝ (from Japan to Canada)

｛家から｝｛仕事まで｝(from home to work)

｛駅から｝｛学校まで｝(from the station to school)

Note that in the 3 expressions above, から and まで are attached to physical locations. However these particles can also attach to expressions of time and order as well. In these cases, まで can mean “to” or “until”

｛月曜日から｝｛来週まで｝ (from Monday to/until next week)

｛夜から｝｛朝まで｝(from night to/until morning)

｛1ページ目から｝｛3ページ目まで｝ (from page 1 to page 3)

Of course, just because you use から doesn’t mean you have to use まで and vice versa. Used alone, they still mark starting and ending points respectively.

冬休みは｛あさってから｝です。

(As for winter break, it is from the day after tomorrow.)

｛昼まで｝寝る予定だ。(I plan to sleep until the afternoon.)

｛１番から｝前の方へどうぞ

(Starting from the first (person), please come towards the front.

【から or を?】

In my last post I talked a little bit about this, but I’d like to revisit から and を. Most times, they are interchangeable. If you were to switch the two particles there’d be no change in meaning and no one would think that what you said was strange. However, there are three situations where you have to use one particle or the other. I will try to explain those situations here.

1) If the departure is in a literal sense, either particle can be used. On the other hand, if the subject is leaving / departing in a figurative sense, you should use を.

2) If you include a general destination (marked by まで、に or へ), you should use から.

My impression is that when the listener hears “部屋から出た”, there is an implication that Tom went somewhere. You may have left out that information, but it is fundamentally there. Think of going from A to / towards B. When they hear “部屋を出た” the focus is only on leaving the room. Think of just leaving A.

3) If the leaving / departure isn’t volitional, you should use から.

Notice that in example G) the subject is inanimate so we use the particle が. Also there is no volition. That is, the smoke doesn’t have a “desire” to leave the room. This is why から should be used instead of を. Whether or not something has volition / desire also shows up in other ways in Japanese (for example when you use ある vs いる). More on this in a later post.

【Conclusion】

When it comes to the から particle, the main thing to remember is that it marks the starting point for movement. If there is a destination, it will be marked by the まで particle many times, other times it may be marked by に or へ. The distinction between から and を is not so important, but it is something that you can think about as your Japanese level increases. Many times even native Japanese speakers may have different opinions about what sound right! I just say keep your ears open and focus on communication!

As always, thanks for reading and see you back here as the Japanese adventure continues in 2021!

Rice & Peace,

– AL (アル)

👋🏾