Marking a recipient with に
Open chapter 1 and use the word support directly below. Then read the sending example aloud and point to the recipient and the item sent.
1. Person + に receives item + を
In 家族に荷物を送ります, 家族 is the recipient and takes に. 荷物 is what is sent and takes を. Ask ‘to whom?’ first and then ‘what?’.
The past form does not change the roles: 家族に荷物を送りました. Practise the full pattern before omitting known parts in conversation.
家族に荷物を送りました。
2. Add a means with で
A means of sending takes で: 先生にメールでレポートを送りました. The teacher receives, email is the channel, and the report is the item sent.
Keep three questions separate: to whom = に, by what means = で, what = を. The means may be omitted if it is not relevant.
3. Person, place, and family perspective
For a person as recipient, this lesson uses に. For a place destination, the basic contrast uses へ: 家族に荷物を送ります versus 中国へ荷物を送ります. Natural Japanese can also allow に with places; do not treat that as generally wrong.
When speaking to outsiders, call your own father 父 and your own mother 母. Use お父さん and お母さん to address someone or speak politely about another person's parent. The practice situations are fictional.
中国へ荷物を送ります。
父にカードを送りました。
4. Make a fictional sending message
Choose a recipient and a logical item. In a second sentence, also add a means. Do not use real names, addresses, or family details.
Check each block from its meaning rather than word order alone. With a parent, also check whose perspective you are speaking from.