QuackingShoe wrote:In those contexts, I don't believe there's a difference. Overall, I believe で would give you more of a 'for' that time period kind of idea, while に would give you a more 'during' that time kind of idea.
Your instinct has served you will this time, but to clarify, で marks the quantity/duration within which something can be accomplished, eg この本は一時間で読めますよ "one can read that book in an hour." Whereas に above in 一時間に means "per hour."
To the best of my knowledge, one should never use を with a potential. It's effectively intransitive. However, the Japanese, like anyone else, really enjoy murdering their own language. So you'll see it. I've seen を分かる etc as well. Them's the breaks. <-- murders his own language!
Yeah, but they do all the time. Kind of like how you see それをしたい instead of それがしたい. From my understanding there are situations where both are correct, but I'm not fully aware of the nuances, so I'm in no position to instruct it.
で in that sentence is marking who is being talked to/with. The whole sentence is "The person who isn't able to speak English with the Japanese person(people?) living abroad is here also." That sentence doesn't actually make a lot of SENSE to me, but the grammar's there. Except for that を *shakes fist*.
Where is this sentence from?
Not quite. Kudos for the gallant effort, however. The particle one should use for "to speak
with" is と. As for that で, in grammar-ese one could say that it means the "pre-existing condition accompanying the verb" or some such gobbledygook, or if it's easier just think that it means "of the." So onto the sentence:
海外に住んでいる日本人で英語を話せない人もいる。
This sentence has two relative clauses in it, and as such is almost guaranteed to warp the minds of those without considerable speaking practice.
At any rate, the first part:
海外に住んでいる = living overseas.
海外に住んでいる日本人 = Japanese people living overseas
海外に住んでいる日本人で = of the Japanese people living overseas (or: with the pre-existing condition that they are Japanese people living overseas)
Second part:
英語を話せない = cannot speak English
英語を話せない人 = people who cannot speak English
英語を話せない人もいる = there are also people who cannot speak English
Putting it together:
海外に住んでいる日本人で英語を話せない人もいる = of the Japanese people studying overseas, there are also those who can't speak English. (with the implication that, of course, there are also those who can)
Clear, I hope? Let me know!