Means/Location Particle: で

The で (de) particle has two very common uses: to mark the means in which an action is completed and to mark the location where an action takes place; で is frequently confused with the に particle; this is mainly a problem introduced by poorly written textbooks or teachers giving misleading and irrelevant information.

The most common misinformation causing confusion with で is that the に particle gets identified as the thing where an action takes place; this is not true, the difference to remember is simply that the に particle is the final destination where a movement action ends or it is the location describing a state of existence or being of something but only the で particle states where the action itself takes place:

There are many other uses of で like for describing what something is made of, categorizing, quantities, measurements, time and so on but in this lesson, we'll only look at the most common and basic use of location and means of so we can later learn the differences between the に, で, を and へ particles.

Using で to Mark the Location of an Action

Rather than describing the location where the topic or subject goes to, で is simply expressing where the action of a verb takes place; in the following examples, the act of "reading" happened at the "library" and the act of "playing" did not happen "at the piano".

As mentioned, で is used to mark the location where an action takes place. This is not the same as the に particle. For example: "I go [to school]" is the target destination of the action, "I am [at school]" is the state of existence or being and "The traffic lights turned [to green]" is the result of a change.

For this reason, it is best trying not to translate Japanese particles as words; both に and で could translate to words such as "on", "at" or "by" yet unlike English, these Japanese particles represent something else, even though they act similar. Trying to translate English to Japanese may result in incorrect grammar and unnatural use of the language.

The action of a verb does not need to be in a physical location but could be something more abstract:

Notice in the last example, there are two parts of the English sentence that uses the English particle "in" for: in the library and in a book; however, in Japanese, these are identified much clearer with に and で. Using に and ある tells us where the ストーリ exists (in the library); Using で tells use where the ストーリ was read (in a book).

This may seem odd if thinking about it in English but you'll eventually understand why it is this way; changing the particles will change the meaning:

1. (hon o yonda) read a book
2. (hon de yonda) read in a book
3. (hon ni yonda) read to the book

As for example (3), this one may not sound right but here に is the destination (usually a person) where the action ends: for example, "I read to a friend". Now consider the following examples:

Let's take a look at a real Japanese sentence from the video game Kirby and the Forgotten Land:

フシギなパワー (fushigina pawa—) is a noun phrase meaning "mysterious power" and is marked by the particle に to describe the destination or final result of the action 目ざめた (mezameta), the past tense of "to wake up"; in this context, "waking up" describing a state of being that gave Kirby a "mysterious power"; together, this means "woke up to a mysterious power".

うずの中 (uzu no naka) is another noun phrase meaning "inside the vortex" which is marked by the particle で to describe where the action of 目ざめた took place: "woke up inside the vortex". Altogether, this would mean that waking up inside the vortex gave Kirby a new and mysterious power.

Using で to Mark the Means of an Action

The で particle may also state the means or method by which something is done; this is basically something that allows an action to be completed. This may be a mode of transport that was used to get somewhere "I will go to Tokyo by train" or a tool used to do something "I sent an image via email" or "I recorded a video using my phone". Here are some examples, see how each thing is used to complete the action.

In the first example, we can see that に marks the destination of the message and で marks the means in which the message was sent (instead of saying "text", it's more common to hear "LINE" which is a very popular text messaging app).

As seen in the third example above, something abstract such as "using my head" can be used as a means of completing an action. In this case, I used my head as the means to solve the problem.

Anything that is used as a method or means in which something is done will generally be marked by the で particle. As a final example here, from the video game Kirby and the Forgotten Land, the new area of the map was discovered only when the player won the Boss battle: "defeating the boss" is the means in which a "new area" will be discovered.

A Note About English Translations

As mentioned before, avoid translating particles into English; while it may be tempting to associate a particle such as で with words like at, in, on, by and so on, the meanings in Japanese are not always the same; Particles in Japanese do not care about the relation to something and where it is, relative to something else but rather about the action which is being done, for example:

1. "in school" <—> "at school"
2. "on the desk" <—> "at the desk"
3. "on a book" <—> "in the book"

Japanese sentences have no strict order because particles can be used to identify what something is in relation to the verb or predicate or other parts of the sentence.

• で = where an action takes place or the means in which an action is completed.
• に = where something exists or the destination which an action goes to.

While we may use で to say "I went by bus", we cannot use で to say "This post was written by Shinobu"; after all, Shinobu is not the means (tool or method) used to write this post.

To use に or で

Also, you may see に used in a sentence such as いすに座っている (isu ni suwatteiru) to say "sitting on a chair", it may make sense that the action of "sitting" is happening on the chair so で should be used, however, this is not the case; that would be incorrect.

This sentence simply states that someone is "sitting on a chair" but "where" exactly is not clear; it is simply stating where someone exists (someone exists sitting on a chair) so we are talking about a State of existence and for that reason we use the に particle.

We would use the で particle here if the exact location is clearer, for example 部屋の中でいすに座っている (heya de isu ni suwatteiru); here we can now point to where someone is sitting . That exact place where someone is sitting would be 部屋の中で "in a room".

As you can see, で puts emphasis on where an action takes place. Using に where either particle could be used places emphasis on the action itself rather than where it takes place. Consider the follow examples:

The best way to know if a verb is describing a state of existing is to replace it with いる or ある and if the statement still holds the same or similar meaning, then it's a state verb.

As an example: やまに立っている (yama ni tatteiru) meaning "Standing on a mountain" is almost the same as saying やまにいる (yama ni iru) "Is on a mountain". If we were to say "Jumping on a mountain" then using いる instead of the verb "jumping" would not carry the same or similar meaning and for that reason is not describing a state of "to exist".

Whether you are "standing", "sitting", "riding" or "living", verbs like these simply describe a state of existing. If it's a verb such as "sleeping", it could be both and whichever you choose will place emphasis on either the action of the verb or location where the verb takes place.

This may seem confusing and there'll be many times you'll hear or see で and に used interchangeably in ways that don't conform to rules you're use to in English; the best way to get use to these are to read or listen to real Japanese, understand the meanings in context and not rely on English grammar.