Learn about the location or means-marking particle
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| Hi, everyone. |
| Welcome to the Ultimate Japanese Particle Guide. |
| In this lesson, you'll learn the particle... |
| で (de) |
| This particle is often referred to as the location particle or means particle, because it's mainly used to mark locations, the means of doing something, materials something is made from, or a reason for something. Let's first see the location-marking function. |
| In this case, the particle で (de) marks where an action takes place. |
| Let's see how it functions in a sentence. |
| 東京で会いましょう。 (Tōkyō de aimashō.) |
| This means "Let's meet in Tokyo" or "See you in Tokyo." Let's break it down, first what is "Let's meet" or "See you"? |
| 会いましょう。 (aimashō.) |
| How do we express the location, "in Tokyo"? |
| 東京で (Tōkyō de) |
| Notice that the location is followed by the particle... |
| で (de) |
| 東京で (Tōkyō de) |
| Be careful. This particle can't be used with the verbs that express existence. |
| Right, you cannot use で (de) with the verbs あります (arimasu), います (imasu), 住んでいます (sunde imasu), and 勤めています (tsutomete imasu). The location for those verbs has to be marked by に (ni). |
| Let's take a look at a few more examples. |
| 学校で日本語を勉強しています。(Gakkō de Nihon-go o benkyō shite imasu.) |
| "I study Japanese at school." |
| スーパーマーケットでパンを買います。 (Sūpāmāketto de pan o kaimasu.) |
| "I buy bread at the supermarket." |
| 北海道でスキーをしました。 (Hokkaidō de sukī o shimashita.) |
| "I went skiing in Hokkaidō.” |
| As a means marker, this particle indicates the means or material we use to do something. This is the equivalent of "by" or "with" in English. |
| It can also mark the material something is made of or from. It's the equivalent of "with," "from," or "out of" in English. |
| で (de) is also used to mark the means of transportation. |
| Let's start with some examples with means of transportation. |
| Sure. 電車 (densha) is "train," so 電車で (densha de) is "by train." バス (basu) is "bus," so バスで (basu de) is "by bus." |
| How do you say "I go to school by bus"? |
| 私はバスで学校に行きます。(Watashi wa basu de gakkō ni ikimasu.) |
| Now, let's see the particle when marking the instrument or tool used to do something. |
| 私は包丁で果物を切ります。(Watashi wa hōchō de kudamono o kirimasu.) |
| This means "I cut fruit with a knife." The means is expressed by the phrase "with a knife," which in Japanese is... |
| 包丁で (hōchō de) |
| Also languages are a tool, a communication tool, so we can easily guess that we need to use the same particle, when saying “in English” or “in Japanese.” Risa, how do you say "Please say it in English."? |
| 英語で言ってください。(Eigo de itte kudasai.) |
| "in English" is... |
| 英語で (Eigo de) |
| Like we mentioned before, this particle also marks the material something is made of or from. It's equivalent to "with," "from," or "out of" in English. Let's hear an example... |
| 私は、木でテーブルを作りました。(Watashi wa, ki de tēburu o tsukurimashita.) |
| This means "I made a table out of wood." |
| 木 (ki) is "tree" or "wood," so 木で (ki de) means “from wood” or “out of wood.” |
| Let's take a look at a few more examples with the same particle used as means marker. |
| 小麦で出来ています。(Komugi de dekite imasu.) |
| “It is made with wheat.” |
| フライパンでオムレツを作ります。(Furaipan de omuretsu o tsukurimasu.) |
| "I make an an omelet with a frying pan." |
| 寿司を手で食べます。(Sushi o te de tabemasu.) |
| "I eat sushi by hand." |
| Now, let's use what you learned in this lesson. |
| We learned how to say "Let's meet in Tokyo" in Japanese. |
| 東京で会いましょう。 (Tōkyō de aimashō.) |
| Here the particle で (de) marks the location where an action takes place. |
| The structure is... |
| [location] |
| で (de) |
| [action] |
| Now let's try with "I'll get off at the next bus stop." |
| Here are the words for "next bus stop" and "to get off." |
| 次のバス停 (tsugi no basutei) |
| 降ります(orimasu) |
| Try to say "I'll get off at the next bus stop" in Japanese. [pause] |
| The answer is... |
| 次のバス停で降ります。 (Tsugi no basutei de orimasu.) |
| Did you get it right? |
| In this sentence, the particle で (de) indicates the location of the action "getting off the bus." |
| Let's try one more. We also learned how to say "I cut fruit with a knife." |
| 私は包丁で果物を切ります。(Watashi wa hōchō de kudamono o kirimasu.) |
| Here, the particle で (de) marks an instrument or a tool used to do something. The structure is... |
| [instrument or tool] |
| で (de) |
| [verb or verb phrase] |
| Now let's try with "I write a letter with a pen." |
| Here are the words meaning "letter" and "pen." |
| 手紙(tegami) |
| ペン (pen) |
| “I write a letter” is... |
| 手紙を書きます。(tegami o kakimasu) |
| Try to say "I write a letter with a pen" in Japanese. [pause] |
| The answer is... |
| ペンで手紙を書きます。(Pen de tegami o kakimasu) |
| Well done! In this case, the particle で (de) marks the means for writing a letter, a pen. |
| In this lesson, you learned about the particle... |
| で |
| In the next lesson, you'll learn about the particle... |
| の |
| See you in the next lesson. Bye! |
| Bye~ |
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