道案内: Asking for Directions | Japanese Grammar

Asking directions is one of the few real conversations a traveler initiates, which makes 道案内（direction-giving）a high-value text to master. It is also grammatically dense in a very specific way: it is built almost entirely from motion verbs and the spatial particles を, に, and で — three particles that English flattens into a single word, "to." Getting them right is the difference between "turn at the second corner" and something a local has to squint at. This page walks through a complete exchange — polite opener, the route reply, a distance check — and pins down exactly which particle goes where.

Here is the whole dialogue: a tourist stops a passer-by to find Tokyo Station.

The opener: すみません and a humble preface

すみません、ちょっとお尋ねしますが、東京駅はどこですか。

sumimasen, chotto o-tazune shimasu ga, Tōkyō-eki wa doko desu ka

Excuse me — may I ask you something? Where is Tokyo Station?

すみません is the all-purpose attention-getter and soft apology that opens almost every request to a stranger — it acknowledges you are intruding on their time. ちょっとお尋ねしますが is a polished preface: お尋ねする is the humble form (kenjougo) of 尋ねる ("to ask"), お + stem + する, which lowers you to raise them. The が on the end is not "but" here — it is a softening connective that leaves the request hanging politely open ("I'd like to ask, and…"). Then the core question: X はどこですか, the workhorse "where is X?" frame, with は marking 東京駅 as the topic.

The route: を for the path you travel

この道をまっすぐ行って、二つ目の信号を右に曲がってください。

kono michi o massugu itte, futatsume no shingō o migi ni magatte kudasai

Go straight along this road, and turn right at the second traffic light.

This one line packs three grammar points a traveler cannot do without.

を with a path. この道を行く does not mean the road is a direct object being acted on — 行く is intransitive. Here を marks the space traversed: "go along / through this road." The same を appears with 歩く, 走る, 渡る (道を渡る, "cross the road"). まっすぐ ("straight") is a fused adverb needing no particle.

The て-form chaining the route. 行って ("go, and…") is the て-form linking two actions in sequence: go straight, then turn. Directions are basically a chain of て-forms — go, turn, continue — strung together until you arrive.

曲がる takes both を and に. This is the subtle one. 信号を右に曲がる means "turn right at the traffic light." The point you turn at is marked with を (信号を, like 角を曲がる, "turn at the corner"); the direction you turn toward is marked with に (右に, "to the right"). One verb, two spatial particles, two different jobs — and 二つ目 ("the second one") is an ordinal built on the native counter つ. Finally 曲がってください is a polite 〜てください request.

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Remember 曲がる with two hooks: を = where you turn (the corner/light), に = which way you turn (left/right). 角を左に曲がる. Mixing them up — 角で曲がる or 右を曲がる — is the single most common directions error for English speakers, because English says "turn at the corner to the left" with prepositions that don't map cleanly onto を and に.

The landmark: the と-conditional

そのまま少し行くと、左側に見えますよ。

sonomama sukoshi iku to, hidarigawa ni miemasu yo

Keep going a little further, and you'll see it on your left.

行くと is the と-conditional, the natural-consequence "when / whenever": "when you (keep) going, it comes into view." と is the direction-giver's favorite conditional because it states an automatic, reliable result — do X, and Y inevitably appears. そのまま ("just as you are / straight on") is another fused adverb. Note 左側に見えます: here に marks the location where something appears (見える, "to be visible"), and the よ softly informs you of something helpful.

The distance check: 歩いて and から

ここから歩いて何分ぐらいですか。

koko kara aruite nan pun gurai desu ka

About how many minutes is it on foot from here?

ここから uses から for the starting point ("from here"). 歩いて is the て-form of 歩く working as a means / manner — "by walking, on foot." 何分ぐらい asks "about how many minutes," with ぐらい ("approximately") softening the estimate; see the time counter 分. The reply:

そうですね、歩いて5分ぐらいです。

sō desu ne, aruite go fun gurai desu

Let's see… about five minutes on foot.

そうですね here is a thinking-aloud "let me see…," not agreement — a natural filler while the person estimates.

The thanks

ありがとうございました。助かりました。

arigatō gozaimashita. tasukarimashita

Thank you very much. That really helped.

助かりました ("that helped / you've saved me," from 助かる) is the warm, idiomatic follow-up to ありがとう after someone goes out of their way for you — much more natural than a bare thanks.

Landmark and position words

Following a route means decoding position vocabulary, and Japanese slices space more finely than English "next to / near." The essentials: 右側／左側 ("the right side / left side," where 側 means "side"), 手前 ("the near side, just before you reach it"), 奥 ("the far end / back"), 向かい ("directly across from"), 隣 ("right next to, adjacent"), 角 ("corner"), and 突き当たり ("the dead end / where the road runs out"). These attach to a landmark with の: 銀行の隣 ("next to the bank"), 交差点の手前 ("just before the intersection").

銀行の隣にコンビニがありますから、そこを右に曲がってください。

ginkō no tonari ni konbini ga arimasu kara, soko o migi ni magatte kudasai

There's a convenience store next to the bank, so turn right there.

交差点の手前で止まって、左を見てください。

kōsaten no temae de tomatte, hidari o mite kudasai

Stop just before the intersection and look to your left.

Notice 手前 versus 向こう (the far side): 交差点の手前 is before you cross, 交差点の向こう is past it. Mixing these up sends you a full block wrong. And そこ ("there," the medial demonstrative for a place just mentioned) lets the guide point back to the landmark without renaming it.

に versus で: arrival versus action

The deepest particle trap in this text is に vs で, because English uses "at / to" for both. The rule: に marks a goal or a point of arrival/existence; で marks the place where an activity happens.

駅に着いたら、電話してください。

eki ni tsuitara, denwa shite kudasai

When you arrive at the station, please call. (arrival → に)

駅で友達を待っています。

eki de tomodachi o matte imasu

I'm waiting for a friend at the station. (an activity happening there → で)

Same station, two particles. You arrive at it (着く → に, a goal), but you wait at it (待つ → で, an action's location). For the full contrast, see に vs で.

Common mistakes

❌ 二つ目の角で右に曲がってください。

futatsume no kado de migi ni magatte kudasai

Wrong — 曲がる marks the point you turn AT with を, not で. で is for where an action happens, not the corner you turn at.

✅ 二つ目の角を右に曲がってください。

futatsume no kado o migi ni magatte kudasai

Please turn right at the second corner.

❌ 角を右を曲がってください。

kado o migi o magatte kudasai

Wrong — the DIRECTION you turn toward takes に, not を. Only the corner takes を.

✅ 角を右に曲がってください。

kado o migi ni magatte kudasai

Turn right at the corner.

❌ 駅に友達を待っています。

eki ni tomodachi o matte imasu

Wrong — 待つ is an action, so its location takes で. に would imply arrival, not activity.

✅ 駅で友達を待っています。

eki de tomodachi o matte imasu

I'm waiting for a friend at the station.

❌ この道でまっすぐ行ってください。

kono michi de massugu itte kudasai

Wrong — the path you travel ALONG takes を (道を行く), not で.

✅ この道をまっすぐ行ってください。

kono michi o massugu itte kudasai

Please go straight along this road.

❌ 東京駅どこ？

Tōkyō-eki doko

Too blunt for a stranger — this is friends-only casual. Cold-calling a passer-by needs the softener.

✅ すみません、東京駅はどこですか。

sumimasen, Tōkyō-eki wa doko desu ka

Excuse me, where is Tokyo Station?

Key takeaways

Directions run on motion verbs + spatial particles; を, に, and で are all "to / at" in English but do different jobs.
を marks the path you travel (道を行く) and the point you turn at (角を曲がる).
に marks the direction you turn toward (右に) and a goal / arrival point (駅に着く).
で marks where an action happens (駅で待つ) — the arrival-vs-action split is the core に／で trap.
The route is a chain of て-forms (行って…曲がって…), and the と-conditional (行くと) states the landmark's automatic appearance.
Open with すみません and a humble お尋ねしますが; close with 助かりました, not a bare thanks.

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