乗る / 降りる— Getting On and Off

• バスに乗ってください。

  Basu ni notte kudasai.

  Please get on the bus.

  バス (bus) + に (target boarded) + 乗ってください (please board)

• 次の駅で電車を降ります。

  Tsugi no eki de densha o orimasu.

  I'll get off the train at the next station.

  次の駅で (at the next station — place of action) + 電車を (the train, exited) + 降ります (get off)

• 毎朝七時の電車に乗ります。

  Maiasa shichiji no densha ni norimasu.

  I take the seven o'clock train every morning.

  電車 (train) + に (target boarded) + 乗ります — boarding always takes に, never を

• ・に for boarding: 乗る moves you INTO/onto a target, so it takes に (バスに乗る).
• ・を for exiting: 降りる moves you OUT of the vehicle, so the vehicle takes を (電車を降りる) — を marks the place you leave.
• ・Taxi note: use 乗る for cars/taxis too, even though English says 'get IN' a car and 'get ON' a bus — Japanese doesn't distinguish by size.

Commonly confused with

The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones 乗る is tested against.

• は (wa) — Topic & Contrast Particle
• が (ga) — Subject Marker & Exhaustive Listing
• を (o) — Direct Object & Traversal
• に (ni) — Target, Time, and Existence Location
• で (de) — Context of Action (Location, Means, Condition)
• と (to) — And (Exhaustive), With, and Quotation
• か (ka) — Question, Or, and Uncertain Identity
• の (no) — Possession, Modification, & Nominalization