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Grammar detail: difference between で and に
My current mastery of this grammar:
The particles で and に can both be used as location and time indicators, and the difference between the two can sometimes be subtle.
For location, で is used to mark the location where an event occurred (ie, a focus on action). に is used to indicate object locations, destinations or directions (in the absence of a specific 'event'). For example:
- がっこうでべんきょうしました I studied at school
- がっこうにほんがたくさんあります there are many books in school
For time, で indicates the (range of) time within which an action takes place, whereas に indicates the specific time when an action is performed. For example:
- ほんを３じかんでよみ終[お]わった I finished reading the book in three hours
- ほんを３じによみはじめた I began reading the book at 3 o'clock
Just as with English, sometimes these particles are roughly equivalent. In many cases, both can be translated with the English 'in', and even in Japanese, there are situations where using either can work. However, the emphasis is usually subtly different.
The following are some more subtle examples. Here, in the second example, the wall is the location where the event of writing takes place:
Here, the different particles imply a different object of focus in the sentence:
- てでいれる I put it in *by* hand
- てにいれる I put it in *my* hand
In this pair, the first sentence simply describes when you will perform the action, whereas the second implies that you could do it now, but instead will perform it later:
- あとでやります I will do it later
- あとにします I will do it at a later time = I will put it off till later
In this example, the に implies that the room you rented is in Kyoto, whereas the で implies that the action of renting took place in Kyoto:
- きょうとにへやをかりた I rented a room in Kyoto
- きょうとでへやをかりた I rented a room (while I was) in Kyoto
In this example, the English word 'in' is used in both cases. However, both English and Japanese would use word order to indicate the different emphasis:
- にほんでこめはたかいです in Japan, rice is expensive
- にほんにたかいこめがあります there is expensive rice in Japan
One example that is commonly confusing for learners is the use of に with
す
む. Although in English we might think of 'the act of living', in Japanese it is not an action but a state of affairs, and thus takes に:- とうきょうにすんでいます I live in Tokyo
See also:
- particle に - location marker
- particle で - where an action takes place
Kanji used in this grammar
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