watasi ha syuumatu ni ryourikyousitu ni kayoimasu.

I attend a cooking class on weekends.

Breakdown of watasi ha syuumatu ni ryourikyousitu ni kayoimasu.

• は: topic particle
• 私わたし: I
• に: destination particle
• に: time particle
• 週末しゅうまつ: weekend
• 料理教室りょうりきょうしつ: cooking class
• 通かよう: to attend; to commute (to a class)

Questions & Answers about watasi ha syuumatu ni ryourikyousitu ni kayoimasu.

Why does the sentence use は after 私 instead of が?

は marks the topic of the sentence – what you’re talking about. Here, the sentence is about “me / as for me”, so 私 takes は.

• 私は週末に料理教室に通います。
  = As for me, I go to a cooking class on weekends.

If you used が, it would sound like you’re identifying who goes, often in contrast to others:

• 私が週末に料理教室に通います。
  = I’m the one who goes to a cooking class on weekends. (implying others don’t, or answering “who?”)

In a simple self-introduction-style sentence, は is the natural choice.

Why is に used after 週末? In English we say “on weekends,” not “at weekends” or “to weekends.”

Japanese uses に for various time expressions where English uses on, at, or sometimes no preposition at all. For time:

• 月曜日に – on Monday
• ３時に – at 3 o’clock
• 誕生日に – on my birthday
• 週末に – on the weekend / on weekends

So 週末に is simply “on weekends”. Even though English uses on, Japanese uses に as the general time marker here.

Why is に used again after 料理教室? Is it the same に as in 週末に?

It’s the same particle に, but used in a different role.

• After 週末, に marks time.
• After 料理教室, に marks the destination / target place of the action 通います.

通う means to go regularly / commute / attend a place. The place you attend takes に:

• 学校に通います。 – I go to school (regularly).
• 会社に通っています。 – I commute to a company.
• 料理教室に通います。 – I attend a cooking class (regularly).

So the two に are different uses: one is “at/on (time)”, the other is “to (place/target)”.

Why use 通います and not 行きます for “go to a cooking class”?

行きます (to go) is a single act of going. 通います (to commute/attend regularly) implies repeated, habitual going.

• 週末に料理教室に行きます。
  = I go to a cooking class on the weekend. (could be about one particular weekend or just a plan)

• 週末に料理教室に通います。
  = I attend a cooking class on weekends. (clearly a regular, ongoing thing)

In your sentence, 通います tells us it’s a repeated activity, like a course you attend over time.

Why is 通います in the present polite form? In English I might say “I will attend a cooking class on weekends.”

Japanese non-past polite form (通います) covers:

• simple present: I attend
• habitual: I (regularly) attend
• and near future: I will attend

Context decides which nuance is meant. Here, with 週末に, it naturally sounds like a habitual or planned ongoing action:

• 私は週末に料理教室に通います。
  = I attend a cooking class on weekends. / I’ll be attending a cooking class on weekends.

You don’t need a special future tense form in Japanese.

Can I drop 私 and just say 週末に料理教室に通います。?

Yes, and that’s very natural. Japanese often omits pronouns when they’re clear from context.

• 週末に料理教室に通います。
  In most situations this will be understood as I go to a cooking class on weekends, if you’re talking about yourself.

You’d usually keep 私 if:

• you’re introducing yourself for the first time,
• you’re contrasting yourself with someone else, or
• you really need to emphasize “me”.

Otherwise, omitting 私 is perfectly normal.

Could I say 週末は料理教室に通います instead of 週末に料理教室に通います? What’s the difference?

Both are grammatical, but the nuance is a bit different.

• 週末に料理教室に通います。
  – に is a time marker: “I go to a cooking class *on weekends.”* (simple time specification)

• 週末は料理教室に通います。
  – は makes 週末 the topic: “As for weekends, I go to a cooking class.”
  This can sound a bit more contrastive, like:

  • On weekdays I do something else, but on weekends I attend a cooking class.

In many everyday contexts, both can translate as “on weekends I go to a cooking class,” but 週末に is more neutral as a pure time expression.

If 週末 is singular “weekend,” how does this sentence mean “on weekends” (plural)?

Japanese usually doesn’t mark plural for time words the way English does.

• 週末に can mean:
  • on a weekend (this coming weekend), or
  • on weekends (generally, habitually),

depending on context.

Because the verb is 通います (habitual “attend regularly”), the most natural reading is “on weekends (plural)”.

If you want to be crystal clear about “every weekend,” you can say:

• 毎週末（まいしゅうまつ）料理教室に通います。 – I go to a cooking class every weekend.

Is 料理教室 one word? Could I say 料理のクラス instead?

料理教室 is treated as a single compound word:

• 料理 – cooking, cuisine
• 教室 – classroom / class (as in a lesson)

So 料理教室 = cooking class / cooking school.

You can say 料理のクラス, and people will understand it as “a cooking class,” but:

• 料理教室 sounds a bit more established / formal, like a proper class or course.
• 料理のクラス can feel more like “a class (session) about cooking,” often within some broader program, e.g. at school.

In sentences like this, 料理教室に通います is the more idiomatic phrase.

Is the word order fixed? Can I move parts of the sentence around?

Japanese word order is relatively flexible as long as you keep the verb at the end and particles attached to their words. All of these are OK:

• 私は週末に料理教室に通います。 (original)
• 週末に私は料理教室に通います。 (emphasis on “on weekends”)
• 私は料理教室に週末に通います。 (grammatically okay, but sounds awkward/unusual)

The most natural orders here keep 週末に and 料理教室に close to the verb and in a logical time → place sequence. The original sentence is the most neutral and natural.

Could I replace 料理教室に通います with 料理教室へ通います?

You will sometimes see へ with 通う, but 〜に通う is more common and more natural.

• 料理教室に通います。 – natural, standard
• 料理教室へ通います。 – not wrong, but less common; some people might avoid it

With verbs of movement, へ clearly means “towards,” and に can mean both “to” and “at (as a target)”. For habitual “attend/commute,” に is the usual choice.

So stick with 料理教室に通います.

Is this sentence polite, casual, or something else? How would it change in casual speech?

通います is the polite -ます form, so the whole sentence is in polite speech:

• 私は週末に料理教室に通います。 – polite

In casual speech, you would use the plain form 通う and often drop 私 and even は:

• 週末に料理教室に通う。 – casual, often said as:
• 週末、料理教室に通う。 – very natural among friends (dropping particles/topics is common in speech)

The meaning is the same; the difference is just formality.