Particle を — Object, Path & Point of Departure [JLPT N5]
Content by NTJ Kuma · Nihongo to Japan editorial team · Updated July 27, 2026
“Eat rice,” “walk through the park,” “leave the house” — を's three uses, with examples. (JLPT N5)
「公園を散歩する」 — を is more than the “object” marker
Everyone knows 「を」 marks the object: 「パンを食べる」 (eat bread). But 「公園を散歩する」 (stroll through the park) and 「家を出る」 (leave home) use を too. 「を」 actually has three core uses — ① the object of an action ② a path passed through ③ the point departed from — plus a few traps where it clashes with 「が」 and 「で」. This guide takes を all the way down, with plenty of examples and practice.
Core: を marks “the object acted on, or the path/point moved along”
The soul of を isn't “the object” in the narrow sense but “the thing an action directly works on, or the space it moves along／departs from.” With that feel, all three uses click:
- ① Object of an action: the action falls directly on something — ご飯を食べる (eat a meal), 本を読む (read a book), 手紙を書く (write a letter).
- ② Path passed through: the action moves through／across a space (with motion verbs 歩く・散歩する・渡る・飛ぶ・通る) — 公園を散歩する (stroll through the park), 橋を渡る (cross a bridge), 空を飛ぶ (fly through the sky).
- ③ Point departed from: the action leaves／exits somewhere (with 出る・降りる・卒業する) — 家を出る (leave home), バスを降りる (get off the bus), 大学を卒業する (graduate from university).
In a line: the verb after を treats the preceding noun as “what it acts on” or “the place it moves along／leaves.”
The three uses × the verbs they pair with
| Use | Feel | Verbs | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| ① object | the action falls on something | transitive (食べる・読む・見る) | ご飯を食べる （eat a meal） |
| ② path | through・along・across | 歩く・散歩・渡る・飛ぶ・通る | 公園を散歩する （take a walk through the park） |
| ③ departure point | leaving・exiting somewhere | 出る・降りる・卒業する・離れる | 家を出る |
Examples in context
① Object
- 毎朝、パンを食べます。(I eat bread every morning.)
- 週末に映画を見ました。(I watched a movie on the weekend.)
- 日本語を勉強しています。(I'm studying Japanese.)
② Path
- 公園をジョギングします。(I jog through the park.)
- この道をまっすぐ行ってください。(Go straight along this road.)
- 鳥が空を飛んでいる。(A bird is flying through the sky.)
③ Departure point
- 七時に家を出ます。(I leave home at seven.)
- 次の駅で電車を降ります。(I get off the train at the next station.)
- 去年、大学を卒業しました。(I graduated from university last year.)
⚠️ The three spots learners get wrong most
① Path を vs. action-location で: 公園を散歩する (treat the park as a “path” to move through → を) vs. 公園で遊ぶ (do an action “in” the park → で). Test: the verb is “move through” (散歩・歩く・走る・渡る) → を; the verb is “do an action there” (遊ぶ・食べる・待つ) → で (see 〈で〉).
② Ability・liking・wanting take 「が」, not 「を」: “can speak Japanese” is 日本語が話せる (potential), “like cats” is 猫が好き, “want water” is 水がほしい — potential form・好き・嫌い・上手・下手・ほしい take が even where English/Chinese feels like an object. ⚠️But 「〜たい」 allows both: パンが食べたい ≒ パンを食べたい (が stresses wanting that thing itself).
③ One を per clause: Japanese avoids two を in one clause. In a causative like 「子供にご飯を食べさせる (make the child eat)」 — since 「ご飯を」 is already there, the person made to act takes 「子供に」, not 子供を. When you “make someone do something” and there's an object, the person takes に.
🔄 Compare: を (path) vs で (action location) vs が (ability・liking)
| Form | Feel | Example |
|---|---|---|
| place ＋ を | through／along (a path of motion) | 公園を散歩する （take a walk through the park） |
| place ＋ で | doing an action there | 公園で遊ぶ |
| 〜が ＋ potential/好き/ほしい | object of ability・liking・wanting | 日本語が話せる （can speak Japanese） |
| 〜を ＋ transitive verb | the object the action falls on | 日本語を勉強する （study Japanese） |
Going deeper: fixed pairings and transitive/intransitive を
A few things that give you real command of を:
- Intransitive verbs don't take を; transitive ones do: 「ドアが開く (the door opens — intransitive, on its own)」 takes no を; 「ドアを開ける (open the door — transitive, someone does it)」 does. Is the verb “happens on its own” or “someone does it”? This is を's deepest layer. Same pairs: 電気がつく／電気をつける, 水が出る／水を出す.
- More “departure” cases: 会社を辞める (quit a job), 故郷を離れる (leave one's hometown), 席を立つ (rise from one's seat) — all the “leave somewhere” を③.
- Spending time also uses を: 楽しい時間を過ごす (spend a good time), 長い年月を経て (after long years) — treating time as what you “go through.”
- The advanced compound particles をもって (by／with)・を通じて (through)・をめぐって (concerning) are separate topics; at the basics, master these three uses ＋ the transitive/intransitive pairing first.
💡 The key point in use
を is usually assumed to have “just one use — the object,” but it also handles “moving through (公園を散歩)” and “leaving (家を出る).” Keep one anchor: を marks “the object acted on, or the path／point moved along／departed from.” Two high-frequency traps to lock in: ability・liking・wanting take 「が」 (日本語が話せる, 猫が好き), and one を per clause (in causatives the person takes に). One level deeper, feel the paired “intransitive (が) vs. transitive (を)” relationship. Master these and を goes from “looks easiest” to “you actually get it.”
❓ Common questions
Q: Why is it 「公園を散歩する」 but 「公園で遊ぶ」 — one を, one で?
「散歩する・歩く・走る」 is “moving, passing through” the place (treating the park as a path) → を; 「遊ぶ・食べる」 is “doing an action at that spot” → で. Ask whether the verb is “moving through.”
Q: Is 「日本語を話せる」 correct, or 「日本語が話せる」?
The standard is 日本語が話せる (potential takes が). 「話す」 normally takes を (日本語を話す = speak Japanese), but in the potential 「話せる」 (can speak), the object switches to が — the object of an ability gets “subject-ized” in Japanese. Likewise 漢字が読める, 車が運転できる. (Some say を colloquially, but が is standard.)
Q: Does the を in 「家を出る」 mean “the house” as an object?
No. Here を is ③ the departure point — “leave from the place ‘home.'” 出る・降りる・卒業する all “leave somewhere,” and を marks that “place left.” Don't force it into “the object.”
Q: Why does 「ドアを開く」 sound off?
Because 「開く (あく)」 is intransitive (the door opens “on its own”) and takes no を — say 「ドアが開く.」 To “open the door,” use the transitive 「開ける」: 「ドアを開ける.」 Intransitive vs. transitive take different particles (が vs. を) — the easily-missed but crucial deepest layer of を.
🖊️ Practice Quiz
Q1. 「毎朝、公園___ジョギングします。」Which particle?
(A) で (B) に (C) を (D) が
Q2. 「七時に家___出ます。」Which particle?
(A) に (B) が (C) で (D) を
Q3. 「水泳___できません。」Which particle?
(A) を (B) は (C) が (D) に
Q4. 「この橋___渡ると、駅があります。」Which particle?
(A) で (B) を (C) に (D) が
Q5. 「彼は去年、大学___卒業しました。」Which particle?
(A) に (B) で (C) が (D) を
Answer Key
1. (C) を ── jogging is moving through the park (a place passed through), so を. で is for an action fixed at one spot.
2. (D) を ── 出る (leave) uses を for the point of departure: 家を出る.
3. (C) が ── the object of できる (ability) uses が: 水泳ができない.
4. (B) を ── 渡る (cross) uses を for the place passed through: 橋を渡る.
5. (D) を ── 卒業する uses を for the point of departure: 大学を卒業する.