The Mountain, the River, and Hana
Hana lives by a river. Every morning she climbs the mountain to call out encouragement to her dad, who works at the factory below.
The basic “X is Y” structure. は marks the topic, です is the copula.
の links two nouns: possession, description, or location.
で marks the place where an action happens, or the means by which it is done.
に marks a specific point in time for an action (hour, day, year).
へ marks the direction of motion. Often interchangeable with に for verbs of movement.
The ~て form chains actions in one sentence: did A and then did B.
Quote + と + a verb of speaking. と acts as spoken quotation marks.
見える means “to be visible.” The subject takes が. Not “to see,” but “to come into view.”
Ongoing action or state: ~て + います.
も means “also / too.” It replaces は or が and adds the sense of “and Y as well.”