The use of へ towards an abstract concept

Question

I understand the obvious uses of へ. My understanding gets a bit fuzzy when it comes to things other than a physical direction toward a physical place.

For example; a sentence such as this: 勝ちへ向かう

Is this limited to just goals/expectations? Is there any limit to what goals/expectations can use this particle? Honestly, I wish this particle could just mean 'to' in general. :/

I can't help but notice a slight irony in how in your question title you used "towards" in English in reference to an abstract concept ;) — ssb, Feb 05 '15 at 02:23

score 4 · Answer 1 · edited Jun 17 '20 at 08:18

4

There's nothing special about 勝ち in the sentence. In fact, I think you can safely think of へ as "to, toward, towards", both for physical and metaphorical direction.

日本語の理解へ !
Towards a better understanding of Japanese!

明るい未来へ !
Towards a brighter future!

edited Jun 17 '20 at 08:18

Community

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answered Feb 05 '15 at 03:15

Earthliŋ

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score 1 · Answer 2 · edited Feb 05 '15 at 05:37

1

The use of "へ" does not depend much on the relationship.
For "向かう", however, there are two meanings.

A:

"駅へ向かう"

I headed to the station.

I headed to *the destination*.

B:

"勝ちへ向かう"

I headed for the win.

I headed for *the state(or the time)*.

edited Feb 05 '15 at 05:37

virmaior

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answered Feb 05 '15 at 02:58

M.I.A

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The use of へ towards an abstract concept

2 Answers2