で
で
Location (area) marker (“in” or “at”)
“how” or method marker (“with” or “by”)
The で particle has two main uses:
- An area marker (The area of the sentence)
- Means marker (The how of a sentence)
Area marker
As an area marker, it is similar to に (ni) but, it marks a location as an area instead of a point. The closest English word is “in” or “at”
- 家で食べる。ie de taberu – Eat in (my) home.
- 学校で勉強する。gakkou de benkyou suru – Study in school.
Comparison with に
As mentioned earlier で marks an area and に marks a point.
- としょかんで勉強する – Study in the library. – Library is an area. (using the library)
- としょかんに勉強する – Study at the library. – Library is a place. (static place).
- がっこうでいる✖- Exist as/in the entire school ✖ (Exist is a point)
- がっこうにいる – Exist at the school.
How marker
で also marks the means or “how” of a sentence. This typically notes the thing used to do an action. In English it translates to “on” “with” or “by”. Answers the “how” of a sentence.
- てれびで見る。Terebi de miru. – See on TV (see how? the tv)
- 電話で話す。denwa de hanasu. Talk on the phone. (talk how? on the phone)
- えんぴつで かく。enpitsu de kaku. – Write with a pencil. (Write how? with a pencil)
- くるまで いく kuruma de iku – Go by train. (go how? by train)