I know how to use に instead of で but what confuses me is how it replaces the を particle. I don’t know if the に particle is going to be explained more throughout genki but im still lesson 5 and I only know how to use に when marking a location where a verb takes place. example here 私はあした友だち に会います。Why does 友だち have the に particle instead of the を particle when it is not a location?
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Tae Kim succinctly explains it like this:
> The 「に」 particle can specify a target of a verb. This is different from the 「を」 particle in which the verb does something to the direct object. With the 「に」 particle, the verb does something toward the word associated with the 「に」 particle. For example, the target of any motion verb is specified by the 「に」 particle.
In this case, 友だち has に instead of を because your friend is the *target* of 会います。You’re not meeting your friend in the same way that you would [verb] a different [noun] (like eating a meal or buying a shirt). Instead, meeting is the action, and your friend is the “target” of that action.
を denotes a direct object, so it can technically only be used with transitive verbs (I’ve seen exceptions, though I believe they are exclusive to informal speech). 会う is an intransitive verb, so the person you meet has to be an indirect object, which is what に is used for. Think of it as meaning “to meet with” rather than just “to meet”.
Another example that might illustrate this better might be あげる “to give”. It takes a direct object (the thing that is given), so you use を for that. To denote the recipient, however, you would use に again, which is similar to how you would use the directional preposition “to” in English.
に has a bunch of different uses, among other things it is actually a directional particle as well. You’ll probably learn about that soon (I don’t know the structure of Genki), so that might make it easier to make sense of it.
Overall just keep in mind that there’s rarely a 1:1 translation from Japanese to English and vice versa. Translating あげる as “to give”, for instance, is generally correct, but might give a wrong impression of how the word is used. But that’s a whole other topic.
>I only know how to use に when marking a location where a verb takes place
That’s で, not に.
に has a huge number of meanings; Genki only gives them one or two at a time.
Many particles take many jobs.
に can show a unilateral approach. One thing goes to the other. It’s similar to the に in 学校に行きます.
In these unilateral statements, the subject is the one making a movement towards another.
先生に話します。I speak to the teacher. (I’m initiating the conversation).
友達に会います。I meet a friend. (I’m either running into them by chance OR I’m on my way to the meeting place).
車が壁にぶつかりました。 The car bumped into the wall (the wall obviously can’t move, to the car approached the wall and struck it).
The opposite is a bilateral approach with と. It assumes both the subject and target are equal partners in the exchange.
メアリーさんは先生と話します。 Mary speaks WITH the teacher. (They’re equal contributors to the conversation)
日曜日によく友達と会います。I often meet WITH my friends on Sundays. (We have plans to come together).
check out Yuko Sensei’s に particle video:
https://youtu.be/q-Wumg6PXvI