In a previous lesson, we saw the particle に which is used to indicate the place where nothing is happening. Today we will see the particle で. And this one has two uses that we’ll see today.
In its first use, the particle で is used to express the location where an action takes place. And in its second use, it can express the means. For now, let’s start with the first use.
Today we are going to see the particle で which expresses the place where an action takes place, where something happens. It is therefore used in sentences containing an action verb.
Below is a non-exhaustive list of action verbs. All these new verbs are to be learned by heart.
食べる .
たべる . to eat
行く .
いく . to go, to head, to walk over
飲む .
のむ . to drink
話す .
はなす . to speak, to talk
泳ぐ .
およぐ . to swim
歩く .
あるく . to walk
寝る .
ねる . to sleep; to lie down, to go to bed
読む .
よむ . to read
来る .
くる. to come
見る .
みる . to see, to watch
歌う .
うたう . to sing
書く .
かく . to write
待つ .
まつ . to wait
詠む .
よむ . to compose (a poem…)
録る .
とる . to record (on cassette, CD)
撮る .
とる . to take (a picture)
取る .
とる . to take, to grab
学ぶ .
まなぶ . to learn
教える .
おしえる . to teach
集める .
あつめる . to assemble, to unite, to collect
摘む .
つむ . to pick up
It may sound strange to some of you, but the verbs 寝る . ねる → to sleep and 待つ . まつ → to wait are considered action verbs.
As a reminder, I put the presence verbs below that are used exclusively with the particle に and that should not be confused with all the other verbs in the Japanese language that are action verbs.
いる . to be (for all that is alive and animated)
ある . to be (for all that is non-living or inanimate)
残る . のこる . to stay, to remain
取り残す . とりのこす . to leave behind
住む . すむ . to live, to inhabit
Of course, the verb する is an action verb, and therefore all verbs with する are action verbs. However, these verbs occupy a rather special place, so I won’t tell you more just yet. Also know that I will not give you any verb with する throughout this second season otherwise it will make things much more complicated.
We’ll see verbs in more detail once we’re done with particles, main questioners, and some grammatical forms.
To come back to the particle で, it is the particle of the place in which an action takes place. This place can be a place like a park, a zoo, a train station, a bank, the beach, a bedroom, a room, a nightclub, a shopping center, a restaurant, a cinema or theater or even a country… :
公園で .
コウエンで . in the park, at the park
動物園で .
ドウブツエンで . in the zoo, at the zoo
銀行で .
ギンコウで . in the bank, at the bank
海で .
うみで . to the beach
駅で .
えきで . in the station, at the station
デパートで . in the shopping center, at the shopping center
レストランで . in the restaurant, at the restaurant
パン屋で .
パンやで . in the bakery
日本で .
ニホンで . in Japan
英国で .
エイコクで . in England
中国で .
チュウゴクで . in China
韓国で . カンコクで . in South Korea
印度で . いんどで . in India
アフリカで . in Africa
Now that all of these explanations are done, it’s time to move on to the examples. As a reminder, here is a first example with the particle に and the presence verb いる first :
香織はレストランにいる。
かおりはレストランにいる。
Kaori is at the restaurant.
Well, we now know how to do this kind of sentence. We use the particle に because we have the verb いる which is a presence verb. Now if we mean :
Kaori eats at the restaurant.
We’ll say :
香織はレストランで食べる。
かおりはレストランでたべる。
Kaori eats at the restaurant.
Another example, this time with the verb 寝る . ねる which means « to sleep », which is an action verb, remember :
雄三は映画館で寝る。
ゆうぞうはえいがかんでねる。
Yūzō sleeps in the movie theater.
Okay, let’s try another sentence with a little more complements this time :
香織と伊月はレストランで麺を食べる。
かおりといつきはレストランでめんをたべる。
Kaori and Itsuki eat at the restaurant.
香織と伊月はかおりといつきは is the topic of the sentence.
レストランで is the place where the action takes place.
食べるたべる is the verb of the sentence, at the very end.
Good, one more sentence :
文彦は公園で風夏と文恵と話す。
ふみひこはこうえんでふうかとふみえとはなす。
Fumihiko talks with Fuuka and Fumie in the park.
文彦はふみひこは is the topic of the sentence.
公園で . こうえんで is the place where the action takes place.
話すはなす is the verb of the sentence, at the very end.
In this sentence we have two complements and as always, the Japanese sentence is the reverse of English. Below, let’s use the same sentence with the complements underlined in the sentence in Japanese and then in its translation into English.
文彦は公園で風夏と文恵と話す。
ふみひこはこうえんでふうかとふみえとはなす。
Fumihiko talks with Fuuka and Fumie in the park.
Now we are going to start from a sentence in English and go to Japanese. If we mean :
I drink in front of the konbini.
« I » is my subject, so the topic of the sentence in Japanese and « in front of the konbini » is the place in which the action take place.
So, in Japanese that gives us :
私はコンビニの前で飲む。
わたしはコンビニのまえでのむ。
I drink in front of the konbini.
(The word コンビニ is a Japanese contraction of the English term « convenience store ».)
Another example :
Daisuke swims in the sea.
« Daisuke » is my subject, so the topic of the sentence in Japanese and « in the sea » is the place in which the action of « swims » take place.
So, in Japanese that gives us :
大助は海で泳ぐ。
だいすけはうみでおよぐ。
Daisuke swims in the sea.
Another sentence a little more complex :
Daisuke works at a beach cafe opposite the hotel with Fuuka and Fumihiko.
« Daisuke » is my subject, so the topic of the sentence in Japanese and « at a beach cafe opposite the hotel » is the place in which the action of « works » take place. « With Fuuka and Fumihiko » is a complement.
So, in Japanese that gives us :
大助は風香と文彦とホテルの前のビーチカフェで働く。
だいすけはふうかとふみひことホテルのまえのビーチカフェではたらく。
Daisuke works at a beach cafe opposite the hotel with Fuuka and Fumihiko.
That’s all for this first use of the particle で. Before coming to the conclusion, know already that you will have exercises at the end of the course including the use of the particle で to express the place in which something is happening. But before we get there, it’s time to move on to the second use of the particle で.
The particle で can be used to express the means For example, the means with which we eat (a fork, a spoon), the means with which we cut meat (a knife), the means with which we open a door (a key), the means of transport used to go or return to a place (a taxi, a bus, a car, an airplane…), the means with which we protect ourselves (a helmet, an armor…) and many other things. In order for you to understand better, the most effective way is to give you some examples.
If we mean « by taxi » or « by bus » or « by car » or « by motorbike » or « by phone » and many others, we will say :
タクシーで . by taxi
バスで . by bus
バイクで . by motorbike
フォークで . with a fork
ナイフで . with a knife
車で .
くるまで . by car
電話で .
でんわで . by phone
鍵で .
かぎで . with the key, by means of the key
ヘルメットで . with headphones
Of course, in English we will sometimes translate the idea of means by using the word « with », but you have to distinguish between :
– The idea of doing something with someone or something.
– The idea of doing something by means of something.
If we mean :
I open with the key.
We are not going to use the particle と because the key is the means with which I open the door, the box or anything else. We will therefore translate the sentence as :
私は鍵で開ける。
わたしはかぎであける。
I open with the key.
If we mean :
I eat with chopsticks.
We are not going to use the particle と because the chopsticks are the means with which I eat. We will therefore translate the sentence as :
私は箸で食べる。
わたしははしでたべる。
I eat with chopsticks.
On the other hand, if we mean :
I eat with friends.
We will use the particle と because friends are just people I eat with, it is not a means. We will therefore translate the sentence as :
私は友達と食べる。
わたしはともだちとたべる。
I eat with friends.
That’s all for the particle で. We have seen a lot of things in this course, especially concerning the verbs. Remember everything that has been said, reread the course as many times as necessary and of course, I give you a list of vocabulary words below.
You also have exercises waiting for you, theme and version. In the first exercise, I give you to translate sentences initially in English into Japanese, and of course you will have to use the particle で as we have seen in this course. And in the second exercise, I give you to translate into English sentences initially in Japanese and which include the particle で. Of course, in these two exercises, it is up to you to understand whether you will have the particle で of the place where an action takes place or the particle で of the means in order to correctly translate the sentences.
Do not hesitate to copy the example sentences present in the course AND the exercises in order to memorize vocabulary.
We will meet again soon, I hope, for the vocabulary course which will focus on the human body. Good luck !
ホテル . the hotel
友達 .
ともだち . the friend(s)
海 .
うみ . the sea
ビーチ . the beach
ビーチカフェ . the beach cafe
開ける .
あける . to open (new verb)
Introduction