The から Particle: From (Source and Reason)

The から particle marks where something comes from in Japanese: a moment in time, a location, a person, a substance under transformation, or a state of affairs that gives rise to a result.^{1 2 3} One particle covers what English splits between "from" and "because," because Japanese treats each relation as a pointer back to a source.^{4 2}

Overview

What から is, in one line

から is a particle that names the origin of whatever follows it. One teaching schema covers every use: "with (A) as a starting point, (B)." Here, A is the noun or clause that から attaches to, and B is the action, transfer, transformation, or result that flows out of it.^{5 2 6}

Tofugu's image is a useful first picture: "just like a water source which springs up at the mountaintop and creates a stream, から can mark a beginning point or an origin."² Reference grammars formalise this as two separate particle entries: a case particle for noun-attaching uses, and a conjunctive particle for predicate-attaching uses. They share the same form because they descend from the same Old Japanese item.^{1 4 7}

9時くじから始はじまります。⁵
"It starts from 9 o'clock."

東京とうきょうから来きました。⁵
"I came from Tokyo."

寒さむいから上着うわぎを着きます。⁸
"Because it is cold, I will put on a jacket."

Classification and register

In school grammar, から belongs to the 格助詞 (case-particle) inventory when it attaches to a noun for source uses across time, place, person, and material.^{1 9 10} It belongs to the 接続助詞 (conjunctive-particle) inventory when it attaches to a clause-final predicate for the reason use.^{1 11 9}

The two functions share the same surface form because they descend from the same Old Japanese item; the school-grammar label depends on what から is attached to in a given sentence.^{4 7 9} The closed case-particle inventory of standard Japanese is が, を, に, で, へ, と, から, より, まで.^{12 10} The closed conjunctive-particle inventory includes から, ので, のに, ば, と, ても, けれど(も), し.^{1 9}

から is neutral across politeness levels. It is written as the two hiragana から in polite and plain speech alike. The polite or plain distinction sits on the predicate before から, not on the particle itself.^{1 2 13} A more formal alternative for the source sense is より, which suits official signs, formal letters, business correspondence, and ceremonial speech.^{1 14}

JLPT level and where it appears

から is core N5 across both senses.^{15 5 8 16} On the JLPT N5, it is one of the high-frequency particles the test treats as known vocabulary from the first reading passage onward, alongside は, が, を, に, で, and へ.^{15 5}

The most confusing N5 point is the noun-plus-から attachment rule for the reason sense. 学生がくせいから安やすい is wrong, or readable only as the stretched source reading "starting from being a student, it gets cheap." 学生がくせいだから安やすい is the natural sentence, with the copula だ supplying the predicate that から attaches to.^{8 3} Genki and Minna no Nihongo both flag this rule explicitly when the reason sense is introduced.^{17 18}

The second confusion point is the から〜まで paired construction, which is N5 core and treated as a high-frequency pattern across time, place, and numeric ranges.⁶

What sits beyond N5

Beyond N5, から extends into further uses: て-form + から for sequential actions (食たべてから "after eating"), the noun-incorporation のだから for emphatic reasoning, and clause-final から as a discourse particle. These extensions are real and well-sourced, but they lie outside the N5 scope of this article.^{1 2}

Form and pronunciation

Surface form

The particle から is written as the two hiragana か + ら and pronounced [kaɾa]. It begins with a voiceless velar stop, followed by a flapped alveolar approximant. It is two morae with no lengthening, and it carries no pitch accent of its own. It inherits the prosodic shape of the host phrase.^{1 2}

から is never written in kanji or katakana in modern standard Japanese. Historical writings sometimes used the kanji 故 ("origin, cause") or 自 for the same item, but contemporary orthography does not use those spellings.⁴

The case-particle and conjunctive-particle uses share the identical written form から. The diagnostic for which is which is the host (a noun for the case particle, a predicate for the conjunctive particle), not the spelling.^{1 9 10}

Attachment rules at a glance

The attachment rules differ between the source sense and the reason sense.^{1 8 3 13}

For the source sense (case particle), から attaches directly after a noun, with no copula inserted: 9時くじから, 東京とうきょうから, 友達ともだちから, 米こめから.^{5 2} Inserting だ between the noun and から forces the reason reading: 学生がくせいから means source, "from being a student," while 学生がくせいだから means reason, "because [I am] a student."^{5 8}

For the reason sense (conjunctive particle), から attaches after a clause-final predicate, and the rules differ by predicate type:^{8 3 13}

Predicate type	Pattern	Example
Plain-form verb	verb + から	食たべるから, 行いったから, 寝ねるから
i-adjective	adj + から	寒さむいから, 高たかいから
na-adjective	adj + だ + から	静しずかだから, 元気げんきだから
Noun	noun + だ + から	学生がくせいだから, 雨あめだから
Polite-form predicate	polite predicate + から	行いきますから, 寒さむいですから

In the noun and na-adjective cases, the だ or です before から is the copula. It attaches the noun or adjective to から; it is not part of the host word itself.^{1 8 3} The polite form is preserved before から when the surrounding speech is polite. Replacing it with the plain form inside polite speech sounds register-mismatched.¹³

学生がくせいだから、安やすいです。⁸
"Because I am a student, it is cheap."

寒さむいですから、上着うわぎを着きましょう。¹³
"Because it is cold, let us put on a jacket."

Position in the clause

For the source sense, the から-phrase comes before the verb and can be ordered freely with other oblique phrases in the same clause.^{1 18 2} Japanese is head-final: only the predicate is fixed at the end of the clause. Case-marked noun phrases can be reordered without changing grammatical roles because each phrase carries its own case marker.^{12 11}

For the reason sense, the canonical clause order is [reason]から、[result]: the から-clause precedes the result clause.^{1 8 19} Reordering to [result]、[reason]から is grammatical and common in speech, where the speaker delivers the result first and then supplies the reason as an afterthought or justification.^{1 19}

The diagram above shows the two orderings: the canonical reason-first sequence, and the speech-frequent result-first sequence with the reason supplied as a trailing afterthought.

寒さむいから、上着うわぎを着きます。⁸
"Because it is cold, I will put on a jacket."

上着うわぎを着きます、寒さむいから。¹
"I will put on a jacket, because it is cold."

The three core uses of から

から spans three sense families, all sharing the same "source" semantics. The first covers nouns that name a starting point: time, place, or person. The second covers a raw material that is transformed in the product. The third covers a clause that gives the reason for a result.

The mindmap names the four noun-source slots that share the case-particle category. It also names the clause-source slot that uses the conjunctive-particle category. One particle, one schema, five canonical patterns.

1. Source: starting point in time, place, or person (9時から / 東京から / 友達から)

With nouns that name a moment in time, a location, or a person, から marks the origin of a motion, a transfer, or a span: the point the action moves away from, the place it starts at, or the person it comes from.^{1 5 2 3} All three use the same "source" relation. Only the noun type changes.^{1 2}

The canonical N5 patterns are [time-noun + から] + [event verb], [place-noun + から] + [motion verb], and [person-noun + から] + [transfer verb].^{18 5 2 3}

9時くじから会議かいぎが始はじまります。²
"The meeting starts from 9 o'clock."

来週らいしゅうから新あたらしい仕事しごとです。³
"From next week, I have a new job."

駅えきから歩あるいて来きました。¹⁸
"I walked here from the station."

友達ともだちからプレゼントをもらいました。³
"I received a present from my friend."

The verbs that allow person-source から are verbs of receiving, learning, and information transfer: もらう ("receive"), 借かりる ("borrow"), 習ならう ("learn"), 聞きく ("hear, ask"), 教おそわる ("be taught").^{1 18 2}

For these verbs, both から and に are possible. から foregrounds the source orientation (who the thing came from), while に foregrounds the relational or recipient orientation (the giver as the relational anchor).^{1 2} The full に / から contrast for receiving is treated under "から vs nearby particles" below.

2. Source: material in transformation (米から酒を作る)

から marks the raw material when a transformation hides the original substance in the finished product.^{1 2 3} The canonical pattern is [material-noun + から] + [product-noun + を] + 作つくる or できる. The canonical sentence is 米こめから酒さけを作つくる ("make sake from rice").^{1 2}

The semantic test, restated in pedagogical syntheses of Makino & Tsutsui, is simple: if the material is chemically or structurally transformed and is no longer recognisable in the product, から is the right particle.^{1 2 3} The companion treatment from the で side uses the same diagnostic: transformed source uses から, recognisable material uses で.

米こめから酒さけを作つくります。²
"Sake is made from rice."

ワインはブドウから作つくられます。³
"Wine is made from grapes."

牛乳ぎゅうにゅうからチーズを作つくります。²
"Cheese is made from milk."

紙かみは木きからできています。³
"Paper is made from wood."

The chemistry-vs-carpentry test

A two-line diagnostic separates the look-alike pair. Chemistry (fermentation, curdling, pulping, dissolving) hides the source. The rice in finished sake is no longer rice, so から is the right particle. Carpentry (cutting, folding, assembling, stacking) preserves the source. The wood in a finished desk is still wood, so で is the right particle. Transformed source uses から; recognisable material uses で. Edge cases (paper from wood, bread from flour) exist, but the clean test covers the N5 cases reliably.^{1 2}

English collapses this distinction across "from," "with," and "of": it can use "from" for both fermented sake and built houses. Japanese forces the speaker to choose, and the particle reports how the speaker sees the material's fate in the product.²

3. Reason: cause of a result (寒いから上着を着る)

から marks the clause that gives the reason for the following result clause.^{1 8 19} The pattern is [reason clause] から、[result clause]. The canonical sentence is 寒さむいから上着うわぎを着きる ("because it is cold, [I] put on a jacket").⁸

The reason can be a fact, a feeling, a judgement, or an inference. から does not limit what the reason clause can say. It only fixes the clause's grammatical position (clause-final, before the result) and its relation to the result: the speaker presents it as the cause from which the result follows.^{1 8 19}

The reason clause can be headed by any predicate type. Each takes the attachment rule from the previous H2:^{8 3 19}

時間じかんがないから、急いそぎましょう。⁸
"We have no time, so let us hurry."

寒さむいから、上着うわぎを着きます。⁸
"Because it is cold, I will put on a jacket."

静しずかだから、集中しゅうちゅうできます。⁸
"Because it is quiet, I can concentrate."

学生がくせいだから、安やすいです。⁸
"Because I am a student, it is cheap."

赤あかちゃんが寝ねたから、静しずかにしてください。²
"The baby fell asleep, so please be quiet."

The relation between the two clauses is causal and explanatory: the speaker presents the reason as a basis for asserting, requesting, judging, or acting on the result.^{1 8 19} In contrast to ので, から foregrounds the speaker's own reasoning rather than presenting the cause as an externally evident fact.^{20 19}

The から〜まで paired construction

What it looks like

The pattern [start]から [end]まで pairs から (starting point) with まで (endpoint) to mark a continuous range across time, place, or number.^{6 3} Both endpoints are treated the same syntactically. The pair is the canonical N5 way to express "from X to Y."⁶

The same shape covers clocks, calendars, locations, page numbers, prices, and participant ranges:

Range type	Example
Clock	9時くじから5時ごじまで
Calendar	月曜日げつようびから金曜日きんようびまで
Location	東京とうきょうから京都きょうとまで
Page numbers	1ページいっページから10ページじゅっページまで
Price	1000円せんえんから5000円ごせんえんまで
Participants	子供こどもから大人おとなまで

9時くじから5時ごじまで働はたらきます。⁶
"I work from 9 to 5."

東京とうきょうから京都きょうとまで新幹線しんかんせんで行いきます。⁶
"I go from Tokyo to Kyoto by shinkansen."

月曜日げつようびから金曜日きんようびまでクラスがあります。³
"There are classes from Monday to Friday."

Either side can stand alone

The pair is not obligatory.⁶ Each particle can stand alone when only one endpoint of the range is relevant or known to the listener.⁶

A bare 9時くじから reports the starting time and leaves the endpoint unspecified or contextually understood. A bare 5時ごじまで reports the deadline or closing edge, with the starting point understood. The choice between the paired form and a standalone form is pragmatic, not grammatical. Use the pair when both endpoints carry information, and drop the half the listener already knows.⁶

9時くじから始はじまります。⁵
"It starts from 9 o'clock."

5時ごじまで待まちます。⁶
"I will wait until 5 o'clock."

営業えいぎょう時間じかんは6時ろくじから14時じゅうよじまでです。⁶
"Opening hours are from 6 o'clock until 2 p.m."

Where the full まで treatment lives

まで as a particle has further behaviours that belong to a dedicated まで-particle treatment: までに for deadlines (5時ごじまでに終おわらせる "finish by 5 o'clock," distinct from 5時ごじまで "until 5 o'clock"), focus-marker まで ("even, as far as that"), and standalone endpoint meaning independent of から.^{1 6}

At N5, this section's pair-and-standalone treatment is the practical coverage. The deeper まで-only analysis is only a concept-level mention here. It belongs in the dedicated まで article once it ships.

A concept-only contrast: から vs ので as reason markers

The two-line distinction

Both から and ので attach a reason clause to a result clause.^{1 8 20 19} The distinction is in how the reason is presented:^{20 19}

• から foregrounds the speaker's own reasoning. The speaker asserts the reason as their personal basis for the result: "here is why I think / did / want this."^{20 19}
• ので foregrounds the cause as an externally evident fact. It is softer and more polite when offering an explanation to others. The speaker presents the cause as something the listener can independently see, not as their personal assertion.^{20 19}

Register lines up with the rhetorical difference: から is more colloquial and assertive; ので is more formal and deferential.^{8 20 19} Either can be used in polite speech (行いきますから versus 行いきますので). The choice is about how the reasoning is presented, not strictly about politeness.^{20 13 19}

Recognition-only at N5

An N5 reader who only needs to recognise the contrast in real examples can stop at the two-line distinction above. The full unpacking belongs in a dedicated comparison article.^{20 19}

Why we are not unpacking it here

A full unpacking of から vs ので requires several extra topics: the request-clause restriction (ので resists imperatives and certain direct requests), the noun-plus-な before ので (versus だ before から), the discourse uses of clause-final から, and the politeness register of each form across multiple speech levels.^{20 19} Each topic adds a layer of grammar that does not belong on a from-and-because reference card for N5.^{8 20}

The forward link from this section is to the から vs. ので comparison article. Treat this section as recognition-only.

The unifying logic: から marks an origin, source, or cause

Why all three senses are the same particle

Every use of から points back to where something comes from: a starting moment, a starting place, a giver, a raw material, or a state of affairs that produced the result.^{1 4 2} None of these uses names the subject, object, or destination of the predicate. Those slots stay open for は, が, を, に, へ, で.^{1 12}

The case particle and the conjunctive particle share this "source" meaning. What changes is the host: a noun for the source uses, a predicate for the reason use. The meaning of the particle does not change.^{1 4 9}

The diagram restates the article's payoff visually: one particle with two host categories and five canonical patterns, all sharing the same "source" meaning. The historical account supports the synthesis: から descends from an Old Japanese noun kara meaning "origin, source, line of descent, kind." The modern particle uses are a grammaticalisation of that nominal meaning.^{4 7}

The reason use is the latest specialisation and the one with the most clause-level grammar attached to it. Even so, it shares the same "source" meaning with the time-from, place-from, person-from, and material-from senses.^{4 7}

Why this matters for N5 learners

Once a learner sees から as "this is the source," the apparent jump from "from 9 o'clock" to "from a friend" to "because it is cold" stops looking arbitrary.² The English glosses change ("from" four times, then "because") because English uses different words for each kind of source; Japanese reuses one particle because the relation is the same.²

The 接続助詞 reason use is a clause-shaped version of the 格助詞 source use, not a homonym. The case-particle uses point to a noun-source; the conjunctive-particle use points to a clause-source.^{1 4 9 2} The mechanism is the same. Only the host category differs.⁹

Pedagogically, this is the upgrade path from a flat list of meanings ("kara = from + because") to a unified intuition ("kara points back to the source of what just happened"). The flat list asks the learner to memorise two unrelated rules. The source intuition predicts both rules from one principle.²

9時くじから始はじまる。⁵
"It starts from 9 o'clock."

東京とうきょうから来きた。⁵
"I came from Tokyo."

友達ともだちからもらった。³
"I got it from a friend."

米こめから酒さけを作つくる。²
"We make sake from rice."

寒さむいから、上着うわぎを着きる。⁸
"Because it is cold, I put on a jacket."

から vs nearby particles

から vs に: source of receiving vs recipient (友達からもらう vs 友達にあげる)

With verbs of receiving and giving, から and に highlight different roles in the transfer.^{1 18 2} 友達ともだちからもらう ("receive from a friend") marks the friend as the source from which the thing came. 友達ともだちにあげる ("give to a friend") marks the friend as the recipient to whom the thing went.^{2 3}

With verbs that can take either role-orientation (借かりる "borrow," 習ならう "learn," 聞きく "hear, ask," 教おそわる "be taught," もらう itself), both particles are possible. The choice signals which role the speaker is foregrounding:^{1 18 2}

• 友達ともだちからお金かねを借かりる highlights the source orientation: the money came from the friend.
• 友達ともだちにお金かねを借かりる highlights the relational orientation: the friend is the borrowing-relation anchor.

The general principle: から highlights the origin of the transfer; に highlights the anchor of the transfer relation.^{1 2} When the receiver is an organisation (a school, a company, a government office) rather than a person, から is preferred and に is dispreferred. Organisations resist the relational-anchor reading.¹⁸

友達ともだちからお金かねを借かりました。²
"I borrowed money from a friend."

先生せんせいから日本語にほんごを習ならいます。²
"I learn Japanese from my teacher."

友達ともだちにプレゼントをあげました。³
"I gave a present to my friend."

学校がっこうから通知つうちが来きました。¹⁸
"A notice came from the school."

から vs で: material that transforms vs material that composes (米から酒 vs 木で家)

For the material of a made object, から and で split by whether the original substance remains visible in the product. This is the chemistry-vs-carpentry diagnostic introduced in the material section above.^{1 2 3}

• から marks the transformed source when the original substance is no longer recognisable in the product: 米こめから酒さけ ("sake from rice"), 牛乳ぎゅうにゅうからチーズ ("cheese from milk"), ワインはブドウから ("wine from grapes").^{2 3}
• で marks the preserved material when the original substance is still recognisable in the product: 木きで机つくえを作つくる ("make a desk of wood"), 紙かみで鶴つるを折おる ("fold a crane of paper"), 石いしで家いえを建たてる ("build a house of stone").^{1 2 3}

English spreads this area across "from," "with," and "of," which can hide the Japanese choice. The Japanese particles report the speaker's perception of what happened to the material between the start and the end of the process.²

米こめから酒さけを作つくります。²
"Sake is made from rice."

木きで机つくえを作つくります。²
"I make a desk of wood."

ワインはブドウから作つくられます。³
"Wine is made from grapes."

紙かみで鶴つるを折おりました。²
"I folded a crane of paper."

から vs より: ordinary "from" vs formal "from"

For the source sense, から is the everyday choice and より is the formal alternative.^{1 14} 東京とうきょうから来きました is the unmarked everyday sentence. 東京とうきょうより参まいりました is its formal counterpart, suitable for business introductions, formal letters, official signs, and ceremonial speech.¹⁴

より also carries the dedicated comparative role ("than"): 私わたしより背せが高たかい ("she is taller than I am"). から does not carry the comparative role. The two particles are functionally distinct except for the formal "from" use where より overlaps with から.^{1 14}

At N5, the recognition-level rule "より as the formal version of から" handles reading-comprehension cases. The full より treatment, including the comparative use, belongs in a dedicated より article.¹⁴

東京とうきょうから来きました。⁵
"I came from Tokyo."

京都きょうと支店してんより参まいりました。¹⁴
"I have come from the Kyoto branch."

ここより先さき、立入たちいり禁止きんし。¹⁴
"No entry beyond this point."

11時じゅういちじより会議かいぎを開始かいしいたします。¹⁴
"The meeting will commence from 11 o'clock."

Good to know

Noun-plus-から in the reason sense requires the copula だ

For the reason sense, から does not attach directly to a noun. The copula だ (or です in polite speech) is required between the noun and から.^{1 8 3} The bare 学生がくせいから安やすい is wrong, or readable only as the stretched source reading "starting from being a student, it gets cheap." The natural sentence uses the copula:

学生がくせいだから、安やすい。⁸
"Because I am a student, it is cheap."

The same rule covers na-adjectives, which take だ before から for the reason sense: 静しずかだから集中しゅうちゅうできる, 元気げんきだから大丈夫だいじょうぶ, 便利べんりだから使つかう.^{8 3} The だ before から is the copula. It turns the noun or na-adjective into a predicate that から can attach to as a conjunctive particle; it is not part of the noun or adjective itself.^{1 8} In polite speech, です replaces だ: 学生がくせいですから安やすいです.¹³

This is the most-missed surface rule for から at N5. It distinguishes the case-particle source sense (noun + から, no copula) from the conjunctive-particle reason sense (noun + だ + から).^{5 8}

The polite form is preserved before から in polite speech

In polite (です・ます) speech, the predicate before から keeps its polite form: 寒さむいですから ("because it is cold," in polite speech), 行いきますから ("because I am going / will go"), 学生がくせいですから ("because I am a student").¹³ This is grammatical and common in formal contexts.¹³

Replacing the polite form with the plain form inside polite speech (e.g. 寒さむいから inside an otherwise です・ます register passage) sounds register-mismatched in formal contexts. This is the more common direction of error for learners coming from textbooks that default to plain form throughout.¹³

The general principle is one rule the learner can take everywhere: から itself is register-neutral, and the host predicate carries the politeness. The listener reads the speaker's register on the reason clause from the register of the predicate before から.^{1 2 13}

寒さむいですから、上着うわぎを着きましょう。¹³
"Because it is cold, let us put on a jacket."

行いきますから、待まっていてください。¹³
"I am going, so please wait."

Clause-final から can stand alone in speech

In conversation, a speaker can end a turn with から and leave the result implicit.^{1 2} A line like もう遅おそいから… ("because it is already late…") invites the listener to fill in the result: so I should go, so let us stop, so we cannot do that.^{1 2}

This is a discourse use of から that belongs in a dedicated reason-conjunction treatment elsewhere on the site. Recognition-only at N5: notice the trailing から in conversation and understand that the speaker is gesturing at a result the listener can supply.^{1 2}

から〜まで is symmetric across time, place, and number

The same [start]から [end]まで pattern works for clocks (9時くじから5時ごじまで), calendars (月曜日げつようびから金曜日きんようびまで), locations (家いえから駅えきまで), page numbers (1ページいっページから10ページじゅっページまで), prices (1000円せんえんから5000円ごせんえんまで), and participants (子供こどもから大人おとなまで).^{6 3} Once the pattern is learned, the vocabulary slots in.⁶

The symmetry is structural: から marks the lower, earlier, or starting endpoint; まで marks the higher, later, or ending endpoint; and the predicate (works, runs, reads, costs, ranges) holds across the whole interval.⁶ This is one of the easiest cross-domain generalisations at N5, with one of the highest payoffs per minute of study.⁶

Etymology aside

から is attested from Old Japanese as a noun meaning "origin, source, line of descent, kind, will, way, extent."^{4 7} The particle uses are a grammaticalisation of that nominal meaning. The ablative case particle (time-from, place-from, person-from, material-from) and the conjunctional particle (reason-from) all share the same nominal ancestor.^{4 7}

The Old Japanese conjunctive mono kara (ni) construction (literally "the thing being-the-source-that…") shows the noun-to-particle pathway. In that construction, a noun meaning "origin, way, manner" combined with a relative-clause-like complement and was eventually re-bracketed as a clause-final conjunctive particle.⁷

The case-particle uses (noun + から) and the conjunctive-particle use (predicate + から) are the modern reflexes of this single etymon. They are split by host category but unified by the "source" meaning that the nominal kara already carried.^{4 7} The reason use is the latest specialisation and the one with the most clause-level grammar attached to it. It is not a separate item from the source uses; it is the clause-shaped descendant of the same nominal meaning.^{4 7}

For the learner, the etymology is not a memory aid layered on top of unrelated facts. It is the grammatical core those facts grew out of. It also explains why one particle covers what English splits across "from" and "because."^{4 7 2}

Mnemonic: から points back

"から points back": back to a clock-time (9時くじから), back to a place (東京とうきょうから), back to a giver (友達ともだちから), back to a raw material (米こめから), back to a reason (寒さむいから).² When in doubt, ask what から is pointing back to. The answer is the source.²

The mnemonic generalises across the case-particle and conjunctive-particle uses without distinguishing them. In every case, what comes after から is what flows out of the source, and what comes before is the source itself.^{5 2} Once the basic mnemonic is internalised, pair it with the chemistry-vs-carpentry test for the から / で material contrast and the source-vs-anchor frame for the から / に receiving contrast.^{2 3}

See also

• The へ Particle: Direction Marker
• The と Particle: With, And, Quote
• The の Particle: Possessive, Nominalizer, Attributive
• に vs. で for Location in Japanese: Existence vs. Action
• Japanese Particles (助詞): The Eight Categories Explained
• How Japanese Grammar Works: A Big-Picture Overview

References

Footnotes

1. Makino, Seiichi, and Michio Tsutsui. A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar. The Japan Times, 1986. ISBN 978-4-7890-0454-1. Entries: "kara¹" (case particle: starting point of time, place, person, material) and "kara²" (conjunctive particle: reason). Treatment of the kara / node / de three-way contrast for cause, and the kara / yori contrast for source. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹ ↩²⁰ ↩²¹ ↩²² ↩²³ ↩²⁴ ↩²⁵ ↩²⁶ ↩²⁷ ↩²⁸ ↩²⁹ ↩³⁰ ↩³¹ ↩³² ↩³³ ↩³⁴ ↩³⁵ ↩³⁶ ↩³⁷ ↩³⁸ ↩³⁹ ↩⁴⁰ ↩⁴¹ ↩⁴² ↩⁴³ ↩⁴⁴ ↩⁴⁵ ↩⁴⁶

2. Tofugu. "Particle から: Starting Point Marker." https://www.tofugu.com/japanese-grammar/particle-kara/ (limitation: language-learning publisher; used for the unifying "source" framing across spatial, temporal, transition, material, reception, and reason senses, the water-source / stream metaphor, and verified beginner example sentences across all senses including the から / で material contrast and the から / に reception contrast.) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹ ↩²⁰ ↩²¹ ↩²² ↩²³ ↩²⁴ ↩²⁵ ↩²⁶ ↩²⁷ ↩²⁸ ↩²⁹ ↩³⁰ ↩³¹ ↩³² ↩³³ ↩³⁴ ↩³⁵ ↩³⁶ ↩³⁷ ↩³⁸ ↩³⁹ ↩⁴⁰ ↩⁴¹ ↩⁴² ↩⁴³ ↩⁴⁴ ↩⁴⁵ ↩⁴⁶ ↩⁴⁷ ↩⁴⁸ ↩⁴⁹ ↩⁵⁰ ↩⁵¹

3. Migaku. "Japanese Particle から (Kara): Meanings, Grammar, and Examples." https://migaku.com/blog/japanese/japanese-particle-kara (limitation: language-learning publisher; used for the five-sense enumeration (spatial, temporal, reason, source-of-receiving, raw material), the noun + だから rule for the reason sense, and verified beginner example sentences across the five senses.) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹ ↩²⁰ ↩²¹ ↩²² ↩²³ ↩²⁴ ↩²⁵ ↩²⁶ ↩²⁷

4. Frellesvig, Bjarke. A History of the Japanese Language. Cambridge University Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0-521-65320-6. Treatment of Old Japanese particles; から as a grammaticalisation of an Old Japanese noun kara "origin, source, line of descent, kind," with the ablative case-particle and conjunctional uses derived from the nominal meaning. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴

5. Bunpro. "から (JLPT N5 Grammar Point: From)." https://bunpro.jp/grammar_points/%E3%81%8B%E3%82%89 (limitation: language-learning publisher; used for JLPT-level confirmation, verified beginner example forms for the source sense, and the rule that から attaches directly after a noun without だ for the source sense, since adding だ would shift the reading to "because.") ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵

6. 80/20 Japanese. "The particles から (kara) and まで (made): Saying 'from' and 'until' in Japanese." https://8020japanese.com/particles-kara-and-made/ (limitation: language-learning publisher; used for the から〜まで paired construction across time and place, the rule that either particle can stand alone, and verified beginner example sentences for the paired and standalone uses.) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶

7. Frellesvig, Bjarke. "Old Japanese Particles." Workshop on Japanese Historical Linguistics, Cornell University. https://conf.ling.cornell.edu/japanese_historical_linguistics/3.3%20Particles.pdf Treatment of the Old Japanese noun kara "will, way, extent, line of descent" as the source of the ablative case particle から and of the conjunctive mono kara (ni) construction. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

8. Bunpro. "から (JLPT N5 Grammar Point: Because)." https://bunpro.jp/grammar_points/45 (limitation: language-learning publisher; used for JLPT-level confirmation, the attachment rules for the reason sense (verb + から, i-adjective + から, na-adjective + だから, noun + だから), and the contrast with ので.) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹ ↩²⁰ ↩²¹ ↩²² ↩²³ ↩²⁴ ↩²⁵ ↩²⁶ ↩²⁷ ↩²⁸

9. 庵功雄 (Iori, Isao). 『新しい日本語学入門』(Atarashii Nihongogaku Nyūmon), 2nd ed. スリーエーネットワーク (3A Network), 2012. ISBN 978-4-88319-606-5. Chapters on 格助詞 (case particles) and 接続助詞 (conjunctive particles); treatment of から as a particle that crosses the two categories depending on its host (noun vs predicate). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

10. Wikipedia contributors. "Japanese particles." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_particles (limitation: encyclopedic reference; used only for the standard taxonomic labels 格助詞 / 接続助詞 and the case-particle inventory が, を, に, で, へ, と, から, より, まで.) ↩ ↩² ↩³

11. Kuno, Susumu. The Structure of the Japanese Language. MIT Press, 1973. ISBN 978-0-262-11049-5. Chapters on case particles and clause-final conjunctions; treatment of から as a homophonous case particle (noun-attaching) and conjunctive particle (predicate-attaching). ↩ ↩²

12. Shibatani, Masayoshi. The Languages of Japan. Cambridge University Press, 1990. ISBN 978-0-521-36918-3. Chapters on case-marking in Japanese; treatment of から as the ablative case particle in the closed inventory が, を, に, で, へ, と, から, より, まで. ↩ ↩² ↩³

13. Wakoku. "Kara Japanese Explained: When & How to Use から." https://wakokujp.com/kara-japanese/ (limitation: language-learning publisher; used for the polite-form preservation rule (です・ます form before から in formal speech), the 学生だから / 学生ですから politeness alternation, and the formal-register usage of から after polite predicates.) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³

14. Tofugu. "Particle より: A Formal Version of 〜から (From)." https://www.tofugu.com/japanese-grammar/particle-yori-from/ (limitation: language-learning publisher; used for the から / より register contrast, the formal-sign and formal-letter usage of より, and the example pair ここから / ここより for the same locative content at different registers.) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

15. 国際交流基金・日本国際教育支援協会 (Japan Foundation & Japan Educational Exchanges and Services). Japanese-Language Proficiency Test Official Practice Workbook N5 / 『日本語能力試験 公式問題集 N5』. 凡人社, 2012. ISBN 978-4-89358-840-1. Official JLPT N5 practice materials use から for source (time, place, person) and for reason from the first reading and listening passages. ↩ ↩²

16. JLPT Sensei. "JLPT N5 Grammar: から (kara) Meaning." https://jlptsensei.com/learn-japanese-grammar/%E3%81%8B%E3%82%89-kara-meaning/ (limitation: language-learning publisher; used for JLPT N5 level confirmation and verified N5 example sentences for the source and reason senses.) ↩

17. Banno, Eri, Yoko Ikeda, Yutaka Ohno, Chikako Shinagawa, and Kyoko Tokashiki. Genki I: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese, 3rd ed. The Japan Times, 2020. ISBN 978-4-7890-1730-5. Chapter 6 introduces から for "from" (starting point of time and place); chapter 9 introduces から for "because" (explanation within a sentence). ↩

18. スリーエーネットワーク (3A Network). 『みんなの日本語 初級I 本冊』(Minna no Nihongo Shokyū I), 2nd ed. 3A Network, 2012. ISBN 978-4-88319-603-4. Lessons 4 through 9 introduce から for starting point of time and place, source of receiving, and reason. The pattern N(location)から vehicleで N(location)へ verb (e.g. 会社からバスで家へ帰ります) appears as a canonical sentence frame. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

19. JP YoKoSo. "から vs ので vs ため: Expressing Reasons in Japanese." https://jpyokoso.com/kara-vs-node-vs-tame/ (limitation: language-learning publisher; used for the から / ので / ため three-way contrast, the subjective / objective framing, the request-clause restriction of ので, and verified beginner example sentences for the reason senses.) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵

20. Tofugu. "Conjunctive Particle ので: For Expressing a Reason." https://www.tofugu.com/japanese-grammar/conjunctive-particle-node/ (limitation: language-learning publisher; used for the ので side of the から / ので reason contrast and for the request-clause restriction of ので.) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰