A question about the particles へ (he) & に (ni)

[Nakagawa Izumi]

Hello, it's me again, back with another question

Lately I've been a tad confused about the usage of the particles へ and に, and I thought you guys could help me out.

If I want to say:
"I will go to school.", in Japanese, it becomes "僕は学校へ行きます."

But if I convert it into past tense:
"I went to school.", then in Japanese, would the sentence become "僕は学校に行きました."?
Or would it be "僕は学校へ行きました."?

I'd appreciate it if someone could clear this up for me, thank you in advance!

[chikara]

The tense of the verb does not change the particle used.

You could use either へ or に but they change the nuance of the sentence. Using へ means that you will go in the direction of school but you may not actually reach it. In the past tense using に is more like "I went to school" in English, ie you definitely reached school.

僕は学校に行きました
I went to school

僕は学校へ行きました
I went towards school

[farly]

Hello, it's me again, back with another question

Hey, just want to say.

I do not know how long you are learning, for me it is several years, I know へ and に are interchangeables sometimes, and when, and when not, and such, but I have not thought the nuances through, entirely yet. So please do keep that kind of questions coming. You helped me with it. Though yeah, one goes through many sweat-tissues, me too (maybe half one each then? )

And thanks for the explanation to someone else