PRIMARY USE: Use へ to mark direction with movement verbs like いきます, きます, and かえります. It indicates the place someone is headed toward. KEY NUANCE: へ focuses on the direction or heading, not the endpoint. に focuses more on the destination as an arrival point. In many Genki-level sentences, both particles work, but に is more common. LITMUS TESTS: 1) If the verb involves movement and you mean “toward” → へ works well. 2) If you care about arriving at a destination → に is usually better. 3) If you want a slightly broader “in the direction of” feeling → choose へ. COMMON CONFUSIONS (へ vs other particles): へ vs に: - へ = direction / heading - に = destination / arrival point (and also time, recipient, existence) If you mean “to (arrive at)” → に. If you mean “toward / in the direction of” → へ. へ vs で: - へ does not mark where an action happens. - で marks the location of an action. If you mean “go toward the library” → としょかんへ. If you mean “study at the library” → としょかんで. PRONUNCIATION NOTE: へ is written as へ but pronounced “e” when used as a particle.