trying to think about what part of the sentence is attached to what… i think

Question

This question has probably been asked to death, but better to ask than not to.

I'm currently using "Basic Kanji Book 1" and this is one of the sentences in it. I can work out the meaning, but not intuitively and visually.

e.g. If I say 'as the water flows from the top to the bottom', I can visualize and interpret the meaning as the sentence is spoken..

水は高いところから低いところへながれる

water, high と here from, と low here flows

Is it simply a lack of understanding of the と particle itself?

I think this step is kinda important as it may effect how I interpret and continue to learn in the future.

Thanks for your time.

Answer 1

「水{みず}は高{たか}いところから低{ひく}いところへながれる。」

There is no particle と used in this sentence, I am afraid to say.

「ところ」 is one word meaning "place". It is not 「と + ころ」 as you seem to have analyzed it.

"Water flows from a high place to a low place."

is the literal translation of the sentence.

Answer 2

I don't think that's the particle と. It is the word ところ meaning place or location.

You can break the sentence down as follows:
水 - water
は - particle wa
高い - high
ところ - place
から - from
低い - low
ところ - place
へ - to
ながれる - flow

高いところ can then be understood to mean a place above, or an elevated area.
低いところ similarly can be understood to mean place below, or a lower area.
高い and 低い are the adjectives modifying the noun ところ.